The Clapton Hart, London E5, pub review

The Clapton Hart, formerly the White Hart Hotel (est 1722), sits with mildly affronted dignity on the Lea Bridge roundabout, the psychic epicentre of what used, in the far-off 2000s, to be known as Hackney’s “murder mile”. It is a testament to gentrification, then, that any lingering anomie is more to do with the outlandish scale of that ill-conceived gyratory behemoth than ongoing anxieties about anti-social behaviour.

In fact, the area has long been a powerhouse of human-scale business acumen, notably in the forms of the first Tesco warehouse and the first Percy Ingle bakery, both in Clarence Road just around the corner.

The Hart remains one of London’s biggest beer palaces, with an unusually successful shabby-chic vibe, for which Antic London’s 2011 refurbishment (from a state described as “beyond derelict”) should be generously credited. Rarely is décor so well matched to architecture, and now the pub – along with its large beer garden – draws a pleasingly broad mix.

Two local pale ales – one from Bethnal Green, the other from Hackney – were lemony and delicious, if hard to tell apart, but a delicately floral elderflower cider from Kent deserved its own toast. Also on the menu is a show-stopping deep-fried Mars bar, which brought stars to the retinas.

Yet the Clapton Hart will soon be subject to the late-night levy, an auxiliary local tax that is being rolled out across several London boroughs. Max Alderman, Antic’s operations director, told me the levy is a “blunt instrument” that sets cash-starved police and local authorities against each other – at the expense of small businesses.

“It’s the independents that will suffer when the bills go out: the bars that are trying really hard and have a nice little business, but are vulnerable because of their scale and low margins,” he said.

Let’s hope this fine boozer is resilient enough to survive into its fourth century, quixotic local government policy notwithstanding.

Emma Hartley is co-founder of 24hourlondon.co.uk, which alerts Londoners to late-opening bars, restaurants and clubs nearby

231 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 8EG

020 8985 8124; claptonhart.com