A few days ago, I was walking down Bethnal Green Road when I noticed that the old Green & Red space had been transformed into a new pub. The decals on the window pronounced: “Mason & Taylor: Craft Beers, Real Ales, and British Food”. Hmmm…I like all those things. And anything would be an improvement on the god-awful predecessor. I filed Mason & Taylor’s presence away in my memory bank and returned last night to check it out.

I took a seat at the bar and liked the place immediately. There were about a dozen beers on tap, including Ginger Marble from Manchester-based Marble Brewery, which I sipped, appreciating its spicy tang as I perused the rest of the menu. There are another 40 bottled beers, which change seasonally. At the moment, Dark Star’s Hophead is the house ale and the other three change on a weekly basis.

I was excited to see quite a few UK craft brewers on the menu, including Kernel and Brodie’s (London), Breconshire (Powys), Acorn (Barnsley), Brew Dog (Aberdeenshire), and Dark Star (East Sussex).

There is also a rotating selection of ciders to choose from. I tasted three of them, pictured above. The bartender was super helpful and really willing to answer questions, which made navigating such the unfamiliar menu (not a single Italian brew in sight–man I felt clueless!) a lot less daunting.

I saw some of the food come out of the dumbwaiter, including a gorgeous braised lamb shoulder, but I didn’t try anything off the food menu. There’s plenty of time for that on my next trip, which will be in no time at all.

You can follow Mason & Taylor on twitter, Facebook, and their website. Mason & Taylor is located at 51-55 Bethnal Green Road. Open Mon-Wed 5pm-midnight, Thursday 5pm-1am, Friday 5pm-2am, Saturday noon-2am, and Sundays noon-midnight.