I finally got to The White Horse around 7.30pm after waiting around for a friend in Liverpool Street, she picked me up in a taxi, and in no time we were there. We got there expecting it to be a busy 'push your way through the crowd' place, but to my surprise it was quite mellow, which was a pleasant surprise, after a long day at work! We already had some friends there at the table we'd booked beforehand. I first noticed the lovely reservation sign with my name on, chalk on a mini blackboard stood up in the middle of the table - Rather quaint, I was seriously taken back by this, as this wasn't what I was used to; a scribbled down piece of paper with your name on, like most venues do - it's true, the little things really do make a difference.
Drink & Food
We got ourselves seated, and made our way to the bar, I ordered a double Hendricks & Tonic, and it came to £8.00 which isn't too bad, although the singles are £4.00, so you normally don't except to pay double, for a double, it's normally a better deal to 'go double' for a couple of quid more onto a single. But never the less, the drinks were fresh, and they were all garnished correctly. This can be a little pet hate of mine if they aren't finished properly.
Big Dirty Burgers @ White Horse
Unfortunately we didn't get any food, I think this was being down to the fact we were celebrating a birthday and we wanted to catch up on drinking with the others. But I had the pleasure of capturing the sight of some very familiar food; burgers. I asked the table next to us, devouring these enormous monsters called the 'Big Dirty Burger' which looked immense, oozing with cheese and bacon, if they were good? To no surprise they responded with a big greasy grin. I took that as a yes. Plus i've heard the pizzas are a must have too.
Décor
There is a continuous theme of dark wood, from the floor boards to the chairs and benches, which all really play up to the fact it presents itself as a 'traditional pub' even though it's had a refurbishment not so long ago. Plus the stone brick walls give it a feel of an old French county farm house too. The dim lighting and faint candles on every table make this the ideal place for simply 'catching up' earlier in the night, as the music is at a nice volume, not like some London bars I could mention, where you have to shout at your friend across the table for them to hear you, then by 9pm you've both lost your voice.
The pleasant traditional pub setting
Music
I think by about 9.30pm most of our group had spread out over The White Horse. This was nice and endearing, as we all had room to stand and mostly sit and have a good catch up, plus the bouncer (who was lovely!) let you take your drinks out until it got too late. The DJ - Neville Watson came on pretty early too, on a decent sound system and played a good mix of Reggae, which seemed to pull a few people in, and in return they graced the dance floor for a couple of hours, swinging and shaking their hips. It never got too loud that we couldn't hear each other, especially as by then we'd all started slurring!
The relaxed ambience at the White Horse
Summary
Overall, The White Horse is a charming little secret, which needs to be let out! I shall certainly be telling others about this place, about it's helpful staff, decent music and good old pub drinks. Plus it owns other perks such as a function room, which can be used for private do's, which on this particular Friday, I didn't have the pleasure of seeing it in it's full glory, but I can only imagine what good use you could put it to? There is a mix of people, aged from mid 20's to late 30's, ranging from artists, a cool crowd (well it is Hoxton) to general workaholics looking for a good vibe on a Friday night. They've kept' The White Horse effortless, which works in its favour. I'll be going back...
