A living room for local East End hipsters, this tatty - in a lovable way – boozer is a great hangout for afternoon pizzas, cocktails and social gatherings.

The Venue
Just off Roman Road, on a quiet residential street, The Florist Arms stands proud in its painted green glory. Walk 50 yards further and you’ll come to The Camel, a quality pie-serving bar, but don’t be fooled into thinking they’re in direct competition – they’re owned by the same people. In keeping with the name, the exterior showcases a mix of hanging baskets and potted flowers, and the interior has a flowery patterned wallpaper with a homely burgundy-red background. Tasseled lanterns and fairy lights give a warm glow and daylight streams though the big windows, with patches of colour from the stained-glass details. The jumbled furniture ranges from comfortably worn sofas and low wooden coffee tables to benches and velvet barstools, all arranged around the central bar. The individual table tops depict an assortment of pictures – from TFL maps to flowers to comic strips, and the (always-first-to-be-occupied) naked ladies table.

The Atmosphere
Hipsters with lumberjack shirts are served by hipsters with lumberjack shirts. The odd friendly local East London throwback balances his pint on the bar, as a steady flow of more recent arrivals in the area gather in groups. Well-loved board games rest in the shadow of the big plasma screen sitting high up on the right wall. It shows the big matches but also, and more importantly, the pub quiz PowerPoint on Monday nights. An upright piano leans against the front booth and is welcome to all who fancy a tinkle.

The Food
Food is ordered at the bar and customers are then handed an empty wine bottle with a numbered wooden spoon inside – a nice little touch. The menu is easy going; salads (£7.50), pizzas (£6.30-£7.90) and oven baked dishes (£7.90). Pizzas are handmade, stone baked and served on massive wooden platters. The Capricciosa is an appetising mix of tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, ham and olives, with a fried egg incorporated into the centre of it. The oven baked dishes are all served with garlic bread and the parmigiana di melanzane (with aubergines, peppers, parmesan and mozzarella) is a hot and gooey cheese-lover’s dream.

The Florist special is available everyday of the week, from 11am-4.30pm, and offers a standard pizza and house drink for a very reasonable £8.50.

The Drink
There are 10 cocktails to sample, ranging from £5 to £7. The lemongrass and ginger mojito is fresh addition to the menu with lemongrass-infused rum, but the apple and cinnamon mojito is far sweeter and it has a strong alcoholic kick.

The wine menu is adequate with bottles starting at £13.60 and the bottled beer is slightly on the expensive side averaging around £4. A large range of English, German and Belgium beers are available on draught, including the Rothaus Wheat Beer at £4.50.

The Last Word
The odd new lick of paint and stylish extras has certainly planted some seeds for The Florist, but the irresistible shabbiness remains and its laid-back character continues to lure in locals and typecast trendies alike.

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