The Bow Bells

Featured reviews

• G

  Google user

  ·1 month ago

  “Absolutely brilliant pub! The service is outstanding, the staff are friendly, quick, and always up for a bit of banter that made the whole experience even better. The atmosphere was exactly what I was hoping for in an East End pub, warm, lively, and full of character. It’s also incredibly diverse, with people from all walks of life enjoying themselves together, which gives it such a genuine community feel. Great people, great laughs, and fantastic service. Highly recommend!”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 month ago

  “Great service. Nice venue with a pool table inside. Indoor and outdoor seating. Music is not too loud making it a good place to be able to converse. The food was really good! I had a burrito bowl which I would recommend.”

• G

  Google user

  ·2 months ago

  “There is honestly no better place to enjoy time with friends, watch a match, or simply hang out with locals. Atmosphere is fun, warm, and filled with history without taking itself too seriously haha Great drinks, great food, great staff. Friendly to everyone.”

• G

  Google user

  ·3 months ago

  “Fantastic night out, great atmosphere with food and drink to match. Friendly bar staff who were all well humoured and helpful. Looking forward to going back and would highly recommend to anyone in or around the area”

• G

  Google user

  ·11 months ago

  “Awesome pub with great drink selection. Super friendly staff. Lovely vibes. Loved the outdoor seating, too.”

• G

  Google user

  ·11 months ago

  “You can't miss the Bow Bells, it's a bright orange, double fronted pub on the main drag in Bow. Its column tops are picked out in gold, there's a beauty of a copper lamp over the door and spotlights illuminate the pub's name. So far, so grand, as befits the pub's 165-odd year history. Despite the traffic highway directly outside, there are tables in the street, either for the smokers or those who enjoy a mouthful of fumes with their pint. Inside, it's a pretty traditional boozer. There's a pool table and a the bar takes a corner spot with tables around it in an L shape. There's an impressive fireplace, and plenty of room for people to spread out during the Saturday afternoon drinking session. There's flock wallpaper and the occasional small barrel around the place. A disco ball and huge tv hint at the entertainment in the pub, while an old poster proclaims the Bow Bells brewery and its ice cold lager. Another more modern poster highlights craft beer, cask ales and draught cider. I must admit to not being able to find any of these on my visit, so I opted for a Brixton pale ale. I first visited the bells more than 10 years ago with a former colleague and friend whupped me at pool. And it's sad to say, I've not been back since, until this visit. I'm glad to have been back though, the pub remains a heavyweight among east London's proper locals”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 year ago

  “This became our local for our two day trip to London. Really nice pub with a great atmosphere. Had the Fish Tacos for lunch, which were super fresh and tasty. They even had Guinness on tap, which despite how it looked (too many bubbles in the head), was really good. I really liked this spot.”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 year ago

  “🚇 Bow Road 🍺 £5.70 Cruzcampo The Bow Bells is located close to Bow Church on busy Bow Road in London’s East End. The nearest Tube is Bow Road. This brightly decorated pub was built in 1866 and is named after the famous bells of The Church of St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, City of London. This is a traditionally decorated one bar pub that has a proper oldschool feel. The bar is set out in an ‘L’ with the servery located front right. In front of the servery is a cosy seating area with a lovely piece of furniture and a burgundy banquette. The main bar area is a good size and stretches down to a pool table and a projector screen at the far end. The decor consists of Damask wallpaper, gold cornicing, dark wood wainscoting and a proper pub carpet. The beer selection offers a line up mainstream keg brands and one cask ale. I decided on a Cruzcampo, my pint was most agreeable, price point was below average. The food option is new with @deadpedros taking up residency serving up Mexican street food. I arrived just after 3pm on a drizzly Saturday afternoon in February. The pub was fairly quiet to start but filled up quickly and was buzzing in no time at all. The Rugby was on mute on the screens around the bar whilst a soulful soundtrack played in the background. The service was great, the team on duty were down to earth and friendly. I met up with Jamie from @tour_de_sarnie for a couple of pints and spoke about, yes you guessed it, London Pubs and London’s best Sarnies places. His Insta is one of my favourite accounts, a must follow if want to know where London’s best handheld eats are. I have visited this pub a number of times over the years and never got around to doing an actual post about it. This is a lovely oldschool boozer that offers a warm and friendly local pub experience. Next time you’re over in Bow, be sure to check out @thisisthebowbells 📅 15th February 2025 More London Pub info @londonpubmap 🍻”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 year ago

  “5* Food! Really really enjoyed the new food here. We need to support this new guy. The length of the Bow Rd is nothing but fried filth. Had the fish and beef, big portion size (the fish was overfilled, which was great). Even if you're fat and lazy, walk round and grab a takeaway. We only keep good food in Bow when we support new start-ups.”

• G

  Google user

  ·3 years ago

  “FOR MORE, GO LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST - PUBTROTTERS PUBCAST WE ALWAYS GIVE 5s AS ALL PUBS ARE DIFFERENT AND GREAT! CONTEXT I was actually there to record a podcast! Its out now. It was a Wednesday afternoon, we were there from 3pm - 5/6pm. ATMOSPHERE I didn't realise it was near a studenty area, so was please to see it with a good amount of people in there at 3:30, both students drinking lemonade (healthy buggers these days) and locals having a pint, of which i was only to happy to join in with. They were playing lo volume music (90s garage, which was great fun) and the bar staff were lively and chatty and more than accommodating. SERVICE As mentioned above, great service, they were prompt, friendly, chatty with a good amount of energy for Wedendsday afternoon. STYLE You may be mistaken by the BRIGHT ORANGE front, but this is a clasicc East End 'boozer' with a modern twist. They have some great beers on tap, pool table, show live sports and have drag act bingo, kareoke and more. Its not easy to cater for locals who have grown up in the area AND students from all over the world, but from what i can see they do this with ease and aplom. Lots of pictures from the pub in the 'olden days' as well as family and friends from the same eara. The Landlord talked of the ghost in the womens toilet as well as some classic cockney rhyming slang scattered around the pub, giving it lots of character. TOILET Well, sadly i didn't get to experience the ghost as they were only in the womens toilet (check out podcast for more). The mens were a classic toilet, no frills, but smelt lovely (until a customer seemingly dropped off ALL THE KIDS in there for a bit, but thats another story). PRICE Its East London, but not the 'trendy part', but still London all the same. Pint of Brixton craft pale ale was £6.40, fairly common price these days. Didn't have a pizza, but they seemed priced well. FOOD & DRINK As mentioned great selection of both keg and cask beers, as well as bottled cocktails (we tried the bloody mary on the podcast) and other various wines and spirits. They serve pizza in the evening only, from a local kitchen that is a residency in there and they looked amazing!”