I went on Saturday night for the first time and, yes, it was full of "hipsters" (this IS Shoreditch, remember!), but everyone was friendly and the atmosphere was really laid back. The loos are pretty nifty too. Downstairs was packed, so we went upstairs to get our drinks - it was absolutely dead up there, no idea why! The barstaff seemed pleasant and weren't stingy with the mixers and the doorstaff weren't rude. Winner.

Went there on a Friday to see the refurb- £4.50 a pint and still smelt a bit funny. Left after one.

"it’s not so pretentious that you’ll feel ill at ease" ...hmm, have you been there lately?
"The clientele consists mostly of twentysomethings and doesn’t attract agro" ...no, just ego.

Could be a nice place but far too Shoreditch for my liking. Mostly full of posey rude people, staff included.

Saved by the odd great band, and a few customers who shared our opinion!

Beverages: 7/10. Positives: Good Guinness, negatives: no Strongbow.

Snacks: 6/10. Limited. No bar snacks when asked. However, pub rolls are provided for £1, one flavour: Wedge of cheese and a slab of sweaty onion in a 10 day old bap. What else do you want?

Bar staff: 7/10. Positives: Friendly and female, keen to get us on the C&O rolls.

Atmosphere: 8/10. Dingy, smelly and grim. Positives: Dingy, smelly and grim. Pool table and bad pictures on the wall. Furniture mainly consists of "canteen" style paraphernalia. Negatives: No resident drunk spotted for character-based light entertainment. Hopefully it was his night off, maybe in rehab.

Clientele: 8/10. Varied. Positives: Wide range of locals including cockneys and the odd drunk Welshman from South Wales who knew allot about Brecon Jazz Festival, and had once had a fight in Hereford. There were also a few geeky looking chaps with massive Dennis Taylor style glasses, sipping halves to make us look handsome, witty and intelligent.
Negatives: Noticed some hard cockneys in the corner, who don't like Northerners "what speak funny" or people from the sticks who have seen real-live cows. Also no "easy" women spotted, but it was a Wednesday night and they could have been simply out on the game.

Entertainment: 8/10. Positives: Fri, Sat and Sun they have live bands till late. On Sat they have an 'upstairs' disco which is open until 3am! And its upstairs! What's that all about? Also noted was some kind of "members only" backroom for private affairs. Need to find out about this. Also show footie, but mainly only London teams, so no Conference games. Bah!
Negatives: Conference games unlikely to be shown on TV. No karaoke night that I know of.

Location: 8/10. Positives: Lots of 'after' bars in the area. Negatives: Decent kebab shop at least 15 minutes walk away.

Overall: 8/10.

Summary: Very good potential to be the 'local'. We could be onto a winner.

The Old Blue Last might be traditional, and it might not be cool, trendy or even remotely aligned with the Shoreditch scene but to suggest as a previous reviewer did that its not welcoming or friendly is very unfair. Take for example the monthly night put on there "Everything You Do Is A Baboon" - bands, djs, hundreds of people of all backgrounds and colours. This pub is part of the charm of the night. Other nights it's quiet and the people who drink there are normal everyday Londoners. Tommy the owner is a diamond geezer. The bar girls always have a smile and witty remark...

This bar sums up the East End of old...You have to be of a certain age, certain gender, and a certain colour to get into this pub. They are not welcoming if you don't "look" right.