R Bar, 237 Mile End Road, Stepney Green, London E1 4AA Revisited

 

This pub used to be Loasis which was a gastro pub and I wrote a less than complimentary  review about it back in March when it opened as the R Bar.

 

Well since then it has changed a bit as there is a new manager and some attempts are finally being made to make the place a bit more interesting.  I visited this pub last Thursday after being told the menu had changed.  The steak sandwiches, chicken sandwiches (both with or without chese) Lamb shank and pasta have been swept away.  This was ok but 5 average dishes was never going to be a sustainable menu.  Now we have Mediterranean  tapas with a Turkish or greek feel including coftas of chicken or lamb, Pickled Octopus salad, filau pastry filled with cheese or lamb, calamari and mixed olives to name a few dishes.  Also they have taken my and a few other local suggestion to heart and started doing bottled real ales, currently including the range available from the wichwood brewery such as Hobgoblin and Scarecrow.  The place is a little busier now and staff are a bit more friendly.  You are for example far more likely to be asked if your food is OK.  Prices of dishes vary but expect to pay around £2.50 per dish.  3 of these dishes with pitta bread should fill most people as portions are quite generous and some dishes come with rice or mixed vegetables on the side.

 

I had Lambs liver fried and served on a sizzling  hot plate with onions and peppers, Calamari with mayo and lemon, pastry stuffed with chese and mixed olives and toasted pitta.  I was bursting after that lot and with 2 pint sized bottles of scarecrow the total came to just over £15.

 

I’d like the option of a full meal or tapas some tapas dishes consisting of rice, vegetables or fried potatoes or similar to give dishes a bit more bulk.  Now some dishes come with rice and others with mixed veg and others nothing at all.  There are too many chill out sofas and not enough eating space perhaps but over all new management arrived at the R Bar not a bit too soon.

 

I give it 7 out of ten and look forward to seeing how things develop.