Indo

Judging by the other Unilocal reviews, Indo has upped its game from dive bar to, um, less so divey bar.
Staying in the area recently and looking for somewhere close to my hotel for a quick drink, Indo popped up as basically the only option. People are right that it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside smacks of somewhere I could happily spend a lot of evenings.
There’s definitely a feeling of ‘the locals’ in here, but this predominantly comes from the bar staff being so nice they treat everyone in the same way. Lots of suits were pouring in for a big catch up after work but there were also a few older gentlemen propping up the bar.
We were greeted with a huge smile and ordered a bottle of house white for £15, not too bad for a fairly ‘in’ area of London.
The bench seating wasn’t exactly comfortable, especially when other people moved further down and we ended up rocking not unlike being at sea, but at least there was somewhere to sit!
The lady who served us came to check up part way through our visit and to make sure our wine was chilled to our satisfaction. She offered to put the bottle back in the fridge for us or bring over a cup of ice to add to our glasses, which was a really nice touch, especially as you can usually go forgotten in a pub.
Good to have on the radar for any future visits.

This was a gem of a find. It really doesn’t look much from the outside — in fact I walked past twice looking for it before I realised that this was it. It’s pretty small when you venture inside, but it has quite a few tables, a couple of sofas and nice bar seating.
I had met a friend for lunch and the only thing on the menu really was pizza. Luckily I like pizza, am not intolerant to wheat and was actually feeling rather hungry, so I ordered a larger (Brooklyn lager) and a mushroom pizza. Interestingly, if you order half a pizza and salad (as you can do at lunchtime), then it is actually more than a whole pizza. Lettuce, it seems, is in short supply!
That pizza was very very good — loads of cheese, which I am not a huge fan of, but also loads of mushrooms and a very thin base. The service was lovely, and it felt like a place that friends of the staff come in to hang out. It felt local, fun and very very cool.
I’m going to head back there next week in fact, as I want to check out the Whitechapel art gallery that is just a few doors away.

Small, friendly inviting pub, the perfect place for a pint before Tayyabs.
It’s hard to write anything more accurate than the framed review they have by the front door (see photo). The staff made this place for me — I spent five minutes talking to the landlord about the beers he had on offer and after testing 3 I settled on a Helle Weisse, a lovely German wheat beer.
So good we came back for another drink after dinner and a game of conkers.

So far my fav bar in London. Dark, small and a nice vibe. Can quiet easy be left alone or start up a chat with someone at the bar
A decent but limited selection of beers, mainly in bottles. But it’s always nice to find Brooklyn and Tatcher’s cider

Most of the reviews here mention it being a dive bar… Well if the new term for a place with ants on the tables, some well dodgy characters around and shocking toilets I guess this is a dive bar. At least it does have a decent line up of real ale…

I like this place. It’s quite a bit like The Phoenix in Canberra, but Indo smells better and serves excellent pizzas. (Proper Neapolitan style ones, thin base not overloaded with stupid toppings.) Mix of hipster-​y customers who’ve wandered out of Shoreditch, locals and regulars and randoms. Good! If you can’t deal with divey places leave it alone and go to a Wetherspoons or an All Bar One.

A laid back Shoreditch battered boho style bar, situated right opposite the East London Mosque, that has a limited range of food and drink to match its narrow interior space, but that does everything right, from the music policy, to the pizzas with salad, to the house wine and draft pale ale. Perfect in price and contrasting style for a pre or post curry house stop, and not a bad place to meet friends to talk for the evening — or even friendly strangers on neighbouring tables (whilst awaiting the arrival of mine!)

I’ve tried and tried with Indo.
You see, my best pal lives nearby and he loves the place. The problem is the place is a dive and not in any kind of good sense. I don’t mind a bit of grime, i can put up with dodgy characters and it doesn’t bother me if the lavvys don’t really work all the time.
I can’t put up with people starting fights and a filthy bar.
Sorry, it’s no good.
On a plus point it’s kind of cheap and some times the music is good.

Admittedly, I don’t feel like I should really be writing this place up. As a dive bar connoisseur, I realize that you need to spend more than one night in the place before really speaking of its awesomeness.
My first impression was «this is it?» Because my companion seemed super jazzed to take me here. The layout is weird and awkward and I wasn’t feeling it. But it is dark and divey in all the right ways.
Mostly, I wanted to write because nobody on here has mentioned the pizza. Why is the pizza so good!!! It doesn’t even make sense. But please, if you’re hungry and in the neighborhood, give it a shot. It’s really worth it. Might be the best I’ve had in London.

oh Indo how i love theee… especially after a bottle of your merlot and the delicious ‘garden’ pizza. what a cosy local with good vibes, great tunes and interesting characters you most likely end up being best mates with.
so so many happy chappy memories :)
i will miss you x

A small, dark bar with lots of cool types hanging out and an eclectic music selection. And: they have Rothaus Pils, which is a beer I used to drink in Berlin, so of course I fell instantly in love with the place. Despite its hipness, the atmosphere here is very welcoming (even if, like me, you are anything but cool), and I had a great time. Too bad it’s a little far from where I live, otherwise I’m sure I would become a regular.

This place is a real gem, but I have to qualify that. It’s kind of rough around the edges. There is always something that sort of bothers me about it (sometimes another punter, sometimes the music’s ridiculously loud — and I like loud music, sometimes it’s hard to get past the first corner of the bar and the first table), but having said that, I’ve never had a bad night in the place, and I’ve had a couple great nights! I really feel at home there. A good place to settle in for a «session.»

Indo makes me feel kinda stupid. I have been living in whitechapel 4 years and always thought of it as a evitable boozer.
Well, have they got booze. They do an impressive range of imported beers. But don’t go to Indo for the drinks.
Go for the pizzas, the music and the vibe.
Pizzas are thin, crusty, flavoursome. They are massive as well. Four cheeses was amazing but you can’t go wrong with the arteries clogger chorizo+pepperoni one either.
The vibe makes you feel at home quickly. It has the shoreditch allure but without the pretentious individuals that make staying in the ultimate plan. Massive glasses crew I am talking about here.
Lastly, music. From rare dub to soul, Indo has a brilliant selection of music. The perfect excuse to enjoy music you never seek or, if you are fan, to discover minds alike.

I’m definitely not cool enough to be in this bar, but hell… it’s my birthday and I’ll party in a sultry east London dive if I want to.
What I respect and appreciate most about this warm and well warn little boozer is how real it is. Most bars try so hard to push their intended image — these guys just let it all hang out and let it come to them. And it’s working. (Playing soul classics and serving up cheap booze doesn’t hurt.)
Cool art, cool tables, cool seating, cool bartenders, cool music, cool patrons, and … Laura. But I must be honest, drunk birthday Laura *is* pretty cool. You should meet her next year.

This place smelt of arm pit and I’m still not convinced it did it in a good way. You know what I mean when you walk into some dirty east London den you expect it to be wiffy but this was well… strong! So we came here after a curry house dinner for a drink and a chat and it was great. Lovely sofas, mix and match chairs, fabulously funky staff.
They do take card but only over a tenner, so it’s rounds all the way. The locals are a little scary and you do get some twats from the local uni popping in every now and then but generally it a nice boozer, I’d do it again.

I spent a bittersweet evening at Indo last night. Sweet because it is a great pub, bitter because I went to uni just down the road and spent most of my student loan in some truly hideous poo brown dives when I could have been at Indo, had I known of its existence. Nevertheless, and no matter how tinged with sadness and regret last night was, it is always a joy to find a new favourite pub.
What’s so good about Indo? I hear you cry, well it’s small and warm with good music and nice people. Being slightly off the beaten track in Whitechapel — or ‘La Chapel Blanc’ as a few friends of mine have renamed this unsung hero of an area, means that most of the people in there are regulars. This can often mean a slightly unwelcoming atmosphere, but it was quite the opposite at Indo, almost like a house party in a provincial town where people are kind and wear Harris tweed.
I might try and become a regular there to make up for all those wasted university days when I should have been drinking in a decent pub. I’m sure it wont be too hard as they have a late license, nice art on the walls, friendly staff, good music and lots of alcohol. Back of the net as Alan P would say.

Indo is a cool little dark bar, I love dark bars. It has a very arty vibe to it which i love too. The wooden tables seem quite worn down and it has a very lived in feel to it.
Whenever I have been in here there seems to be a really cosy and warm vibe. Also the music they play is right up my alley.
The drinks are pretty average from what I can remember. Lovely place to come for a cosy catch up with a friend or date.

It’s sort of nondescript from the outside, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s another Indo-​inspired restaurant like I did on first impression until ducking inside on an icy winter’s night.
There’s a busy clutter of artwork behind the bar and an ironic picture asking that all important question, ‘Will have sex for fish’ which I know I ask myself from time to time! They serve food (as yet untried) and an odd beer selection with Mort Subite alongside Bombardier on draught offered by eager staff.
Entertainment-​wise, it’s pretty varied too, with DJs hosted every Saturday night and some Sundays, open mic and spoken word evenings with that time-​honoured call for artists’ submissions to fill our walls with joy. They are also keen to find bands we like, we put on gigs, we promote them with vigour and everyone has a good time. I can think of far worse pub mantras than that.

Skinny room, skinny jeans, cool types but a really nice feel in Indo. Like they got loads of photos of the clientele through the ages. Nice touch. Errm, things like, just a really battered feel, well worn well loved. And the two times I’ve been there, they have had a QUALITY DJ on, playing old soul and motown. To compliment the vibes.
I think the drinks were a bit expensive. Guinness was cheap. And we had to sit at the bar, ’cause they only have limited tables and seating. But top marks Indo, a good little pub to boot!

I’ve taken to frequenting this arty little boozer. In the afternoons it’s generally dead meaning it’s a great place to relax with a book or to have a really good chat. Serving both coffee and a range of alcohol it’s good for both days and nights.
I think the guy that runs it is an artist, either that or he exhibits because there’s lots of wacky pencil drawings throughout this small establishment — a good one of Margaret Thatcher if my memory serves me. Even without the art this place is pretty original, all the fixtures look like they’ve been there since the stone age and I’m fairly certain the floor hasn’t been swept in years. Rather than revolting however, this only endeared the place to me, the dust and broken furniture make the place seem more human.
Drinks are fairly reasonable. Best to avoid it at end-​of-​work hours when it becomes packed with trendy city suits.