The Kings Arms
Six cask lines, about fifty bottles drawn from the UK, Scandinavia and the US, and a keg range CAMRA's East London and City branch calls
ever changing,all in a corner pub up a side street off Bethnal Green Road (CAMRA, February 2026).
Why go
Time Out's area guide puts the geography exactly: "The Kings Arms is marooned up a side street, a castaway of 19th-century pub craftsmanship surrounded by 20th-century council estate." The pub changed hands in 2013 and came back in dark green panelling and contemporary tiling, then changed hands again in November 2024. Since that second change it has been the sister pub of the Sutton Arms in Clerkenwell, and CAMRA records the operator as independent. The beer range is the reason to walk up Buckfast Street rather than stop at the main road. Because both the casks and the kegs rotate, there is no house pour to ask for by name, so ask what went on most recently. Food is a Yard Sale Pizza kitchen, alongside the scotch eggs and the cheese and meat boards that CAMRA's survey still lists.
Order this / avoid
- Order: whatever cask is freshest, then work through the bottle list. Time Out on what is on tap, from 2015:
It's all about craft beer here - plenty of it on tap, from new-wave IPAs to comforting bitters and jet-black stouts.
3 A Yard Sale pizza if you want dinner. - Avoid: turning up with only cash. CAMRA's branch survey records the pub as card payments only. Also avoid a late Sunday plan, since it closes at 9pm, and a late Monday, when it closes at 10pm.
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA, East London & City branch (survey last updated 14 February 2026):
This pub serves up to 6 cask ales... About 50 bottled beers from the UK, Scandanavia and the US are served. An ever changing range of keg beers... Pub was taken over in November 2024 and is now the sister pub of the Sutton Arms in Clerkenwell. Card payments only.
1 - Oliver Keens, Time Out (25 March 2015), 5 out of 5 stars:
Dimly lit like a Brooklyn dive bar, boasting a rotating selection of craft beers and with chic wooden trimmings,
and on the room,this isn't a pretentious hangout. It's the perfect update of a local community boozer,
with a clientele thatreflect all shades of local life.
This was written nine years before the pub changed hands, so read it as evidence about the room and the crowd.3 - Local rec: on Jeff's list. REAL.
Good to know
- Hours: noon opening every day, closing 10pm Monday, 11pm Tuesday to Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday, 9pm Sunday. CAMRA's London Region page and the pub's own site give the same schedule.
- Payment: card only.
- Booking: none. Walk in.
- Which Kings Arms: this one is 11a Buckfast Street, E2 6EY. A different Kings Arms at 67 Old Bethnal Green Road has its own CAMRA listing and was converted to flats in 2001.
- The sister pub: the Sutton Arms in Clerkenwell, since November 2024. Same batch, separate entry.
- Groups: it is a one-room corner pub. Fine for a few, wrong for a party.
- Dietary: nothing published that could be read. The pub's site runs on JavaScript the crawler cannot execute, so ask at the bar or check the Yard Sale menu.
- Hygiene: rating 3, Tower Hamlets, last inspected 16 March 2026. That is
generally satisfactory
and the lowest score in this batch, which is worth knowing before you order food5.
Craft signals (beer: cask and keg both turning)
Two signals, both drink-side. CAMRA's February 2026 survey records five changing beers and no regulars across up to six handpumps, plus a keg range it calls ever changing and about fifty bottles from the UK, Scandinavia and the US. Time Out's five-star review independently described a rotating selection of craft beers in the room. The November 2024 change of hands matters here and is worth re-checking: the pub is now the sister of the Sutton Arms, which runs an identical zero-regulars policy, so the rotation has an owner-level reason behind it rather than a habit.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Local rec" REAL.
Verdict
should-visit — Worth the detour for the beer, which is the thing the previous ruling did not score. Up to six cask ales rotate here with no house pour to fall back on, the keg range is described by CAMRA's own survey as ever changing, and around fifty bottled beers from the UK, Scandinavia and the US sit behind them. Time Out gave the room five stars and called it a rotating selection of craft beers in a pub that reads like a Brooklyn dive without the pretension, and since November 2024 it has been the sister pub of the Sutton Arms in Clerkenwell, which runs the same zero-regulars cellar policy. Food is a pizza residency plus scotch eggs and boards, the hygiene rating is 3, and it is card only. Go for the taps.