Palm Tree, Mile End  

The Palm Tree has a great setting - really strikingly standing alone in the grass by the canal - but it's ridiculously priced and a bit miserable on the inside. The staff are very slow but it's the prices that really hurt. You'd expect to pay £3.60 for a warm pint in a plastic glass in a poncy pub in Hackney, but not in Mile End. Shame. Plus last time we were there there was a man at the bar with swastikas and a Nazi eagle tatooed on his forearms going on about "the Eastern Europeans". On the plus side, it's a great pub if you bring your own booze and sit outside on the grass in the sunshine - just use it for the toilet basically.

The place itself is fine but I was very put off by the incredible meanness of the management/person serving. They refused me a tasting of the guest ale, and refused a friend a glass of tap water even though it was asked for as part of a round of drinks. There is also no card facility, which while perfectly excusable at a cheap and cheerful local pub, is rather annoying at somewhere charging 3.60 a pint (and with no cash point nearby). A shame.

Having read the review I went to the Palm Tree on Saturday evening with high expectations. Unfortunately, I must have chosen a bad night because I found none of the attributes mentioned. By the time we left at 9.25 there was no sign of any live music, nor any hint of a singsong. Indeed, the only atmosphere was generated by a dozen or so youngsters celebrating a birthday. While the beer (Wandle?) was fine, neither the draft or bottled lager were served cold enough. And did I mention the prices? £3.50 for a beer and £3.60 for lager. If a band had been playing I might have understood it, but I have paid a lot less in the West End. When those East Enders have their "great night out" they must start with big fat wallets.

Can anyone tell me the name of the jazz group that play at the Palm Tree. Many thanks

Me and three people from work went to the Palm Tree pub in Mile End on Friday night. It's well known as being a great East End boozer. We were drinking in there from about 6.30pm and must have had six or seven pints each - so, in other words, we'd spent a lot of money. After about my fifth pint, at the same time as buying a round of four drinks, I also asked for half a pint of tap water. They refused to serve it. I thought it was the law and told them this. I was told that it certainly wasn't the law and it was at the manager's discretion. I asked to speak to the manager and she came over and said that it's not their policy to serve tap water and that if I wanted water I would have to buy bottled water. They said that people often come in off the street and just want to use the pub to get a free glass of water. Really!!?? Who does that? And anyway, this is a small pub and they knew full well we had been drinking there for hours (and spent about £70-£80), so why couldn’t they give me a glass of water? I've been reading up on this on the Internet and it seems that it does really annoy some people when people order tap water in pubs. But I have ordered tap water in literally hundreds of pubs and never ever been refused, and if you’re buying loads of drinks at the same time, I think that it's a reasonable request. What do people think about this? And is it against the law not to serve tapwater or not?