THE closure of a much-loved East End pub to make way for an ironic replica of itself has been greeted with widespread protests.
A Shoreditch fixture since the 1890s, the Angel & Crown is known for its red velvet bar stools, flock wallpaper and local ales, plus a menu that includes pies, jellied eels and fish and chips.
However, the premises have now been gutted and refurbished with vintage flock wallpaper and antique red velvet barstools, with “Angel & Crown” owner Tom Booker promising locally-sourced ales and a retro menu of pies, jellied eels and fish ’n’ chips.
Booker said: “Using original photographs of the pub in its heyday, we’ve created an authentic pub experience which is actually a hugely postmodern experience of planting the past in the present day.
“There’s ‘darts’, there’s a ‘busty barmaid’ who you can ‘flirt’ with, there’s a piano in the corner for if anyone wants to have a ‘Cockney knees-up’, and on Saturdays we have an ironic strip-show where we collect ‘quids’ in a ‘pint-pot’.
“Ooh. I’ve come over all Danny Dyer.”
Booker added: “We’re doing a roaring trade of hipsters costumed as builders and taxi-drivers being ironically racist. They never laugh, but that’s how I know they’re in on the joke.”
