WANSTEAD: Residents give optimistic welcome to new restaurant (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WANSTEAD: Residents give optimistic welcome to new restaurant

5:57pm Thursday 8th July 2010 in

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ONE of the area's landmark pubs is about to be unveiled in its newest guise as a steakhouse, a move which has been greeted with cautious optimism by residents.

The British Queen in New Wanstead has seen a series of different owners in the past few years, most recently in January, after laying empty for the previous six months.

Queen's British Steakhouse and Grill is set to open in the coming weeks and rumours have been circulating that it will be run by the team behind the well-established Blue Boar restaurant in Abridge.

People living near the premises in New Wanstead said they hoped the business would operate without the kind of noise and disturbance that the pub sometimes caused in its former life.

Rebecca Rydel-Green, 32, said: “When it was a open a couple of years ago it was fairly noisy sometimes, especially at the weekend, so a restaurant should be better suited to the area.

“It's good that it's becoming a restaurant because it appeals to more people than a pub might.

“We're pleased it's not becoming a block of flats, that's for sure, because there are already enough of those around this part of Wanstead."

Gary Llewellyn, 64, said: “We shall definitely go over there when it's open to see how it is. We're pleased that its becoming a restaurant but sometimes these places say they're going to be one thing and then turn out as another.

“If it's properly run by someone who is wise to who he should and shouldn't serve then it could be a good thing for the area.”

Meanwhile, Jon Alders, 69, said: “It's an odd place for a pub, in the middle of a residential street, so I think a restaurant will fare a bit better.”

But not everyone agrees that the arrival of a restaurant will be a good thing.

Bill Green, from the East London and City branch of the Campaign for Real Ale said: “At the rate pubs are closing across Britain there will be none left by 2037. Obviously the rate of closure won't go on for ever but that's an indication of how bad the situation is.

“Pubs are an essential part of the community, where people meet for a social drink and see their friends. They have a lot of history associated with them too, which can be lost when they're redeveloped, either as a more modern restaurant or something else.

“I've nothing against gastropubs per se, as long as they serve good beer.”