The Lauriston pub - possibly the best pizza in east London...

I've eaten so much pizza this month, I may turn into a pizza (this is not a bad thing, especially as all the pizza I've eaten this month has been pretty amazing.)

After the sad discovery that my fave local pizza place Fire & Stone in Spitafields had closed down, I needed to find somewhere else ASAP. The Lauriston Pub on Victoria Park Road in Hackney, more than filled the void. 

I went there one Tuesday night with my friend Shauna who loves pizza (almost) as much as me. She is on team 'buy two pizzas and share them between two' NOT team 'buy one pizza and share between two'. No one wants to be on that team. 

After ordering a bottle of Prosecco (obvs) we browsed the menu and after much deliberation went for the Cotta Ham with chorizo and salami and controversially the Baby Octopus which involved squid, tiger prawns and lemon. 

I say controversially because I never normally go for seafood on pizza. And after having this one, I'm not really sure why not. 

It was DELICIOUS. Really fresh ingredients and very tasty. The Cotta Ham was also good - as was the token salad we ordered to make us feel healthy. They really were exceptional stone baked pizzas. 

I left very happy indeed that I had a new have pizza place less than a 15-minute walk away. 

Oh AND they deliver to Victoria Park! There staff cycle round the park on a specially designed deli bike taking orders… This is something I'll definitely be taking advantage of. You know how I feel about eating pizza al fresco… 

Check The Lauriston pub out here and on twitter here

Well & Bucket, Bethnal Green

One of my new favourite pubs, the Well & Bucket, is just up the road from me in Bethnal Green. 

It used to be a (dodgy) Chinese restaurant, one that I frequented once after one to many on Brick Lane. But the next morning I declared I'd never go there again (though to be fair, the fact I was throwing up was more than likely down to one to many fish bowls in Casa Blue than anything I'd eaten.)

Anyway, I digress. 

Gone is the Chinese restaurant and its place is a upper cool pub with 18 craft beers on tap (our choice was Camden pale ale) an a great wine and spirit selection. 

But of course, what I was most impressed with was the food menu. Oysters are what Well & Bucket go big order but me being me there was only one thing I was drawn too - the burger sliders. 

At £3 a slider or 3 for £7.50 it is a real bargain as they're not really small. 

Soldier and I went for two cheeseburgers, a ginger beer chicken burger with sesame 'slaw, a bucket if prawns with smoked aioli (£10) and (like we hadn't ordered enough already) the oxtail chilli cheese fries (£5.50). 

When it all arrived to the table I didn't know which to try first! The burgers were juicy and flavoursome and the prawns were really fresh - and huge! The oxtail chilli cheese fries were by far the best I've ever tasted. 

For the price it was a real bargain. You got loads for your money and it was all fresh with quality ingredients. 

With it's cool ambience you can easily spend a whole afternoon in the Well & Bucket, and now it's warmer you can sit in there small garden out the back. 

And with it being just up the road I can happily say it's my new local… 

Well & Bucket, 143 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 7DG. Follow on twitter.