Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 32 and Version 15 of King Edward VII, E15 4BQ

Version 32 Version 15
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Pub near [[Stratford Station]], offering a rotating range of bottled beers as well as cask ales. Also known as "King Eddie's" or "The Prussia", the latter being a reference to its pre-WWI name, "The King of Prussia". It [http://eatoutmagazine.co.uk/stratfords-king-eddies-pub-secures-its-olympic-legacy changed hands] in June 2012, but a year and half later not an enormous amount seems to have changed.
 Good Beer Guide pub near [[Stratford Station]], offering a rotating range of bottled beers as well as guest cask ales and interesting food. Also known as "King Eddie's".
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There are four handpumps on the bar. On our March 2012 visit these offered Eddie's Best (the house ale, brewed by Nethergate), St Austell Tribute (£1.70/half), Bombardier, and Woodeforde Wherry; while in February 2014 the options were Hop Back Summer Lightning, Purity Mad Goose, Sharp's Doom Bar, and Bombardier. A pint of lime and soda in February 2014 was a shockingly expensive £3.20 — the soda came from small bottles, which gives some excuse for the price, but they really should have warned us about this before starting to pour it.
 [[Kake]] and James visited late on a Monday evening in March 2008. The place was quite full but we managed to grab a table in the back room. There were a number of interesting beers on, all at £2.60 or £2.70/pint; Nethergate Suffolk County, Bombardier, Woodforde Wherry, and Nelson Trafalgar. The Trafalgar was very tasty. Background music was reasonably interesting, and just on the right side of "too loud".
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On our evening visits here (a Monday in March 2008 and a Thursday in September 2008) it's been quite full, though we managed to get a table both times. At the second of these they'd closed the kitchen for walk-in diners since they had a couple of large groups who'd reserved tables for dinner and the kitchen had reached capacity; on this visit, we had a little trouble hearing each other speak over the music and the conversations of others.
 [[Kake]] visited again on a Wednesday lunchtime in August 2008. There were a fair few people in eating lunch, but I had no trouble getting a table. The music was jazz this time, quiet enough that it mostly hid behind the noise of conversation. Beers available on this visit were Bombardier (£2.80), Eddie's Best (their house beer, brewed by Nethergate, £2.60), Broadside (£2.90), and Woodeforde Wherry (£2.70). I had the Wherry, and it was fine.
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On our lunchtime visits (a Wednesday in August 2008, a Friday in March 2012, and a Saturday in February 2014) there have been a fair few people in, but plenty of spare seats. On the first two of these visits there were several other people eating lunch; this wasn't the case on our 2014 visit but this could have been because it was quite late for lunch (gone 2pm).
 I also tried some food; the lentil, mushroom, and coconut dahl with rice (&pound;8.50) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2743075742/ photo]</small>. Unfortunately, this was quite disappointing. The dhal was overly sweet (it obviously had some kind of sweet chutney mixed in; I suspected this from the flavour and it was confirmed when I found a few chunks of the stuff). Extremely indistinct spicing too; I couldn't distinguish a single individual flavour. It reminded me of the curry powder/banana/desiccated coconut "curries" my mum used to make in the 1980s. The oddness of the dish was only amplified by its being served with rocket. The rice was fine though, and both rice and dhal were provided in generous portions. Another nice touch was the enormous linen napkin I got brought. I do suspect this dish was a one-off "miss", as a couple of people have told me how good the food normally is, and I would be more than happy to give the kitchen another chance.
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According to the King Eddie's website as of February 2014, food is served noon-10pm Mon-Sat and noon-9pm Sun. The menu aims for pub food, but on the interesting side, though vegetarian options are scarce; see [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/12266264866/sizes/l menu photo from February 2014]. In the past they've also had specials written up on a blackboard, though this wasn't the case on our most recent visit.
 In September 2008, [[Kake]], [[bob]], [[ilmari]], and Ryan attempted to give the food another go, but the place was very busy (it was around 8pm on a Thursday evening) and they'd closed the kitchen for walk-in diners since they had a couple of large groups who'd reserved tables for dinner and the kitchen had reached capacity. The beer was fine though. We were sitting in the back room/restaurant and had a little trouble hearing each other speak over the music and the conversations of others.
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[[Kake]] first tried the food in August 2008, before the change of management. The lentil, mushroom, and coconut dahl with rice (&pound;8.50) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2743075742/ photo]</small> was quite disappointing. The dhal was overly sweet (it obviously had some kind of sweet chutney mixed in; I suspected this from the flavour and it was confirmed when I found a few chunks of the stuff). Extremely indistinct spicing too; I couldn't distinguish a single individual flavour. It reminded me of the curry powder/banana/desiccated coconut "curries" my mum used to make in the 1980s. The oddness of the dish was only amplified by its being served with rocket. The rice was fine though, and both rice and dhal were provided in generous portions. Another nice touch was the enormous linen napkin I got brought.
 Food is served noon-10pm Mon-Sat; noon-9pm Sun. The menu is small, and although it does include some pub staples such as sausages and mash (&pound;8.25 as of August 2008) and fish and chips (&pound;8.50 as of August 2008), it also has a number of more interesting dishes such as crab on toast (&pound;6.50 as of August 2008), brie and spinach spring roll with mushroom ragu (&pound;9 as of March 2008), and Spanish-style fish stew with mussels, clams, and tomato (&pound;11 as of March 2008).
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In February 2014, after the change of management, [[Kake]] was again rather disappointed with the food. Confit Gressingham duck leg with bean cassoulet, buttered leeks, and mash (&pound;14) <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/12265673285/ photo]</small> sounded good, but the duck was dry, the "cassoulet" was actually tinned mixed beans and sweetcorn in a rather unpleasant tomato-chilli sauce, and the gravy poured around the side had very little flavour. (No linen napkin this time &#8212; just a paper one.)
 The menu changes regularly but a [http://kingeddie.co.uk/food-menu.php sample menu] can be viewed on the King Edward website or on Kake's Flickrstream: [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2352891584/ March 2008 menu], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2746844998/ August 2008 menu]. They also usually have some specials written up on a blackboard (the one on Kake's August 2008 visit was "mushroom soup with soft herbs" at &pound;4.75).
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According to the King Eddie's website as of February 2014, pub quiz is on Sunday night and there's an open mic almost every Thursday (but not <i>every</i> Thursday &mdash; call ahead to check).
 Pub quiz is on Sunday night, and there's an open mic almost every Thursday (but not <i>every</i> Thursday - call ahead to check).
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[[Kake]]'s verdict: I like this as a pub, though I much prefer it in the daytime to the evening. I wouldn't eat here again unless it was something very simple as an accompaniment to beer.
 Accessibility: One step down to get in. Half a dozen steps up to the back room, from which the toilets are also accessed. Not sure about the saloon bar.
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Accessibility: One step down to get in. Half a dozen steps up to the back room. Two steps to the saloon bar at the side, from which the toilets and beer garden are also accessed.
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* [http://fancyapint.com/pub/1407 Fancyapint review]
* [http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubreviews/25271/ Pubs Galore comments]
* [http://boakandbailey.com/2009/10/26/stratford-has-a-decent-pub/ Boak And Bailey review]
* [http://access-eat.blogspot.com/2011/03/king-eddies-47-broadway-stratford.html Access-Eat review]
 * [http://www.inaccessible-uk.com/show.php?id=130 Accessibility review from Inaccessible]
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* [http://fancyapint.com/pubs/pub1407.html Fancyapint review]
* [http://www.timeout.com/london/bars/reviews/10860.html Time Out review]
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* [http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/king-edward-vii-london Yelp comments]
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<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], February 2014. Opening hours and food times taken from the King Edward website, February 2014.</div>
 <div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], [[bob]], [[ilmari]], and Ryan, 24 September 2008. Opening hours taken from the 2008 Good Beer Guide and verified with the King Edward website, September 2007. Food times taken from the King Edward website, September 2007.</div>
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category='Beer Garden,Featured Article,Function Room,Good Beer Guide 2008,Good Beer Guide 2009,Good Beer Guide 2010,Open Mic,Pub Food,Pub Quiz,Pub Quiz On Sundays,Pubs,Real Ale'
 category='Beer Garden,Featured Article,Food Served Evenings,Food Served Lunchtimes,Function Room,Good Beer Guide,Good Beer Guide 2008,Good Beer Guide 2009,Open Mic,Pubs,RGL Recommended,Real Ale'
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formatted_website_text=' class="external">kingeddie.co.uk'
host='2a00:1098:86:4d:c0ff:ee:15:900d'
 formatted_website_text='http://kingeddie.co.uk/ '
host='213.165.225.132'
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latitude='51.541001'
 latitude='51.540490'
== Line 41 == == Line 38 ==
longitude='0.002677'
 longitude='0.004273'
== Line 53 == == Line 50 ==
summary='Pub near Stratford station, with real ale and food.'
 summary='Good Beer Guide pub near Stratford station, offering guest beers and interesting food.'

Good Beer Guide pub near Stratford Station, offering a rotating range of bottled beers as well as guest cask ales and interesting food. Also known as "King Eddie's".

It has three interior areas, as well as a beer garden out the back. The front bar has seating for maybe about 30-35 people, at sturdy wooden tables with upright chairs, and a small amount of standing room. The saloon bar isn't incredibly obvious, but is reached via a door to the right of the bar; it's sometimes booked out for private parties. Finally, there's another room reached via a half-flight of stairs to the left of the bar; this one is more spacious, with a couple of sofas too photo.

Kake and James visited late on a Monday evening in March 2008. The place was quite full but we managed to grab a table in the back room. There were a number of interesting beers on, all at £2.60 or £2.70/pint; Nethergate Suffolk County, Bombardier, Woodforde Wherry, and Nelson Trafalgar. The Trafalgar was very tasty. Background music was reasonably interesting, and just on the right side of "too loud".

Kake visited again on a Wednesday lunchtime in August 2008. There were a fair few people in eating lunch, but I had no trouble getting a table. The music was jazz this time, quiet enough that it mostly hid behind the noise of conversation. Beers available on this visit were Bombardier (£2.80), Eddie's Best (their house beer, brewed by Nethergate, £2.60), Broadside (£2.90), and Woodeforde Wherry (£2.70). I had the Wherry, and it was fine.

I also tried some food; the lentil, mushroom, and coconut dahl with rice (£8.50) photo. Unfortunately, this was quite disappointing. The dhal was overly sweet (it obviously had some kind of sweet chutney mixed in; I suspected this from the flavour and it was confirmed when I found a few chunks of the stuff). Extremely indistinct spicing too; I couldn't distinguish a single individual flavour. It reminded me of the curry powder/banana/desiccated coconut "curries" my mum used to make in the 1980s. The oddness of the dish was only amplified by its being served with rocket. The rice was fine though, and both rice and dhal were provided in generous portions. Another nice touch was the enormous linen napkin I got brought. I do suspect this dish was a one-off "miss", as a couple of people have told me how good the food normally is, and I would be more than happy to give the kitchen another chance.

In September 2008, Kake, bob, ilmari, and Ryan attempted to give the food another go, but the place was very busy (it was around 8pm on a Thursday evening) and they'd closed the kitchen for walk-in diners since they had a couple of large groups who'd reserved tables for dinner and the kitchen had reached capacity. The beer was fine though. We were sitting in the back room/restaurant and had a little trouble hearing each other speak over the music and the conversations of others.

Food is served noon-10pm Mon-Sat; noon-9pm Sun. The menu is small, and although it does include some pub staples such as sausages and mash (£8.25 as of August 2008) and fish and chips (£8.50 as of August 2008), it also has a number of more interesting dishes such as crab on toast (£6.50 as of August 2008), brie and spinach spring roll with mushroom ragu (£9 as of March 2008), and Spanish-style fish stew with mussels, clams, and tomato (£11 as of March 2008).

The menu changes regularly but a sample menu can be viewed on the King Edward website or on Kake's Flickrstream: March 2008 menu, August 2008 menu. They also usually have some specials written up on a blackboard (the one on Kake's August 2008 visit was "mushroom soup with soft herbs" at £4.75).

Pub quiz is on Sunday night, and there's an open mic almost every Thursday (but not every Thursday - call ahead to check).

Accessibility: One step down to get in. Half a dozen steps up to the back room, from which the toilets are also accessed. Not sure about the saloon bar.

See also:

Last visited by Kake, bob, ilmari, and Ryan, 24 September 2008. Opening hours taken from the 2008 Good Beer Guide and verified with the King Edward website, September 2007. Food times taken from the King Edward website, September 2007.

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