At first you may think the Thai aromas come from the two restaurants Brown Bear is squeezed between, but actually this is the food they serve here. And with a rather lively atmosphere, too.

The Venue
Pretty frosted glass, booths with wooden partitions, old prints on the walls, and traditional pub furniture: it could hardly be more typical. Yet Brown Bear has some hints of rebellion against the stereotype. This small venue wants to be lived in, not looked at: its best point is the loud, casual atmosphere.

The Atmosphere
Just when you were about to give up on this area, penalised by the presence of too many huge office buildings, Brown Bear emerges as a lively pub with a young crowd of jolly regulars. The place is loud on game nights, thanks to a screen and a projector. Otherwise, there are a dartboards and game machines – including an old Space Invaders low table – to excite the crowds.

The bar staff are friendly and probably can name most of the clients, who are mostly young locals in their twenties with a few older couples thrown in. The atmosphere is enjoyable even during the week since this is one of the busiest pubs of this area, south of Brick Lane.

The Food
If you are really not keen on Thai, you can still resort to a handful of traditional English mains (£5.50-£6.50) and sandwiches (£3.30-£5.50), but trying the curries and stir fries is recommended. With the choice of the main ingredient - chicken, beef, pork, prawns, or veg - and cheaply priced at £5-£6.50 including side rice, you cannot go wrong. The massam curry (traditional potatoes, coconut and peanut sauce) is truly flavourful and so are the pad kee mow rice noodles (garlic, chilies, soy, basil). More known red and green curries and pad Thai are also available as well as some starters (£3.50-£4.50).

The platters (£10) are a particularly good options with a mix of chicken satay, prawns, spring rolls, prawns on toast and veggie tempura. Whilst the menu is far from the pretentiousness of upmarket gastropubs, at Brown Bear you can definitely satisfy your hunger with good, no-frill dishes and the Thai flavours are really rather delightful.

The Drink
The bottles are more interesting than the draughts with Gaymers (£3.50), Michelob Ultra, Miller, Tiger, Estrella (all at £3) and the Thai wine spritzer Sabay on offer. The draughts are more common but fairly priced at £2.80-£3.20.

Brown Bear serves a dozen wines as well, mostly sold by the bottle (£11-£15) with exhaustive descriptions. The Cotes Du Rhone Mas Arnaud Rhone red is the most interesting. Glasses are priced at a standard £3-£4 for small ones and £4-£5 for large.

The Last Word
For a friendly service, a nicely loud atmosphere, and unpretentious Thai food, Brown Bear is definitely a good choice.

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