The Palm Tree
Haverfield Road, Bow,
London, E3
Tel: 020 8475 0057

£2.90 a pint

"Hot sex is it?" inquires a dolled up lady in her sixties. “No Raw Sex - with Mel Smith and French and Saunders I think.” Typical eavesdropping at the Palm Tree in Mile End Park.

The Palm Tree is very exotic. Well with its original gold-leaf wallpaper and manual cash till, it is nothing like its neighbouring refurbished pubs and bars with their belly-dancing nights and Thai menus (the wrong sort of exotic). Here you get an authentic East End night out 'round the joanna with great banter. They've even preserved features like no Sky Sports and only being able to pay in cash. It's one of CAMRA's pubs of the year, but don't let that put you off - there's so much more to love here than the beer.

The punters are a motley crew. Young hippy-types with plaited beards and the denim mini-skirt plus cut-off tights brigade share a joke with the older local east-enders. Although on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday, there is a bit of a divide between the drinkers. The younger crowd want to be outside in the sun, so they don't mind drinking out of a plastic cup for the privilege. Whereas the older ones stay inside as they just want to enjoy their ale out of a decent pint glass. It is lovely sat on the grass by the canal, but even on a sunny day, you miss out on so much by being outside... Like the jazz. Tonight it's Eileen and The Fast Banana with Reg on piano and Phil on the 6-string bass. It's great to watch the older regulars getting lost in the music, closing their eyes, moving their heads and smiling to themselves at the cleverness of Reg’s tinkling.

The Palm Tree deserves a lot of respect for not surrendering to a revamp. The park surrounding it used to be terraced houses, but they were flattened in the Second World War. This has given it a great location, which is one of the reasons why it's so popular and maybe how it's managed to remain intact. Well, if it's withstood bouncing bombs, then it can resist a gastro/theme pub makeover. CE