6th September 2008
Lovely to hang out, eat and drink
The Mariners is a pub with a local feel, it has its regular customers as well as people who pop in for a quick drink after work. It's welcoming though and the decor is clean and bright: painted wood wall panels and bare wooden benches at long tables. There are flowers on the tables and nice big windows looking onto the ever-busy Commercial Road. The staff here are really great and the owner will always have a chat at the bar about his life, your life and the lives of anyone else you don't know living locally. I like this as it gives Limehouse a sense of community that seems to be lacking in other areas of London. The food is really good, cooked from fresh ingredients and made to order in front of you - it's an open kitchen behind the bar. The prices are a bit higher than your average Wetherspoons but the quality is there (Sunday roast is excellent but £10, they also do very good pasta, lamb brochettes, steaks and cod, all between £7-£12). A pint of lager (peroni) is average London pub price nowadays at £4. The coffee and chocolate cake is great - again coffee is served in a percolator at your table, rather from out of a machine, so everything here really is the home-made real deal. Never super-busy, this is a welcoming place to meet friends and relax.