Viva!, 25th January

Every now and again I get a hankering for Wahaca's guacamole. Well, now I think my dreams might be invaded with the guac' from Viva! instead!

A low-lit and unnamed restaurant venue at the bottom of Stoke Newington High Street is what houses Viva! We walked in and were lucky enough to be seated immediately as two others were leaving. Otherwise, we may have had quite a wait - the place is what you could call 'cosy'. Which is great, but only if you're lucky enough to get a seat. There are a few seats at the bar and then maybe ten or so other tables. We got ourselves some nachos with some guacamole and a couple of cocktails. The nachos were great - warm, thick, proper corn tortillas, daubed in sour cream, coriander and 'salsa' - or halves of cherry tomatoes. The guacamole was quite smooth, with lots of coriander, garlic and lemon. Delicious. The only thing it didn't really need were the large chunks of tomato but I didn't mind them being there. A nice touch were the slices of radish to give a bit of crunch. Radishes really do deserve more of an outing in Mexican food. They go well in salsas also.

Our cocktails were tasty enough but didn't quite reach the heights of cocktail sophistry like they do at Nightjar or Opium where we went the following night. To start I had a fruity drink and my companion made the mistake of ordering one which turned out to be creamy. I can't remember the names now! Mine was accompanied by a little garnish of sliced chili and was quaffable enough. For my next drink I couldn't resist the sound of the agave sangaree and whew! They do not skimp on the alcohol on that one. Naturally, for our next round, we ordered that again.

We decided we ought to get something else to line our stomachs, and the couple next to us** had ordered what looked interesting and what we rightly guessed was the moqueca. This is what I would term a Brazilian version of a thai curry - prawns, coconut milk, spices but with a little booze, some plantain and served with a lovely long piece of bread to dip. It was delicious, the coconut being on the mild side (which I prefer) and enough prawns that we both felt guilty about eating more than our fair share of them, until we discovered that we both felt that way.

To order our moqueca we'd had to ask for the food menu again (they had taken it after we ordered the nachos) and when we finally flagged someone down to order, they told us the kitchen had closed! This was at 10 pm. Well, not closed, but not taking any more orders. We were disappointed but took it well and as you can guess from the paragraph above, there was a happy ending to this story. Ten minutes or so our waiter came back and told us they'd fit our order in.

I enjoyed the several hours we spent there, arriving at around 8 and not leaving until past 11.  However, it has to be said, that had they been a little quicker with their service, then we would have asked for that other dish well before the kitchen stopped taking orders. We hadn't planned to spend out whole night there, and for the amount we ate and drank, we wouldn't normally have stayed in a place so long - we don't exactly nurse our drinks. No, it was because the staff here take a "relaxed" attitude to service. We always had to flag them down to get our next drink/request the menu/order more food and I prefer my wait staff to be a little more attentive, although they were more than friendly when they deigned to give you attention.

I liked this place, it had good vibes, a buzzy yet intimate atmosphere, and I liked the food. If we'd had further plans other than just getting drunk then the service would have been very frustrating. By all means go (and I will have to return for more guacamole, and I would love to try their taquitos) but be prepared to wait.

**look at me being all cool - the couple next to us happened to be The Libertines' drummer and his partner. Yeah, we chatted, ended up hanging out for a bit at the Dalston Social. Whevs.





Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato

London Cringe, 24th January

The concept is simple and brilliant. People far too generous with their humiliation get on stage and read from their teenage diaries. Or, failing a diary, a poem  from those days when everything was all-too naively from the heart would also do.

It's a hugely popular night, taking place upstairs at The George on the Strand. I got there at 6:30 in order to grab some seats and by 7 if there were a few of you, you'd be struggling to get somewhere to sit together. By the time it started, people were crammed in everywhere even standing somewhat outside the room and peeking in!

And you could see why. It's really up to the reader how much or how little they read and it rather depends on their diary-writing style. The first person to read was the organiser/hostess who treated us to several entries from her "slaggy period" when she was kissing more than one boy, maybe even more than two while simultaneously being in love with several others. Though it's called London Cringe, most of the cringing, it has to be said, is done by the poor fool who is brave enough to share their entires - the rest of the audience mainly falls about with laughter.

Next up was a man who pretty much read us his entire diary for one year. Being male, they were all typically brief and often practical - he made sure to document not only temperatures but the more important world events, juxtaposing them with the even more important events in his personal life, such as what he had for tea. 

We heard about one girl's fashion disasters - after burning a hole in your dress with your iron, no one would make the mistake of doing the same thing with her back up dress would they? Would they? Yes. 

And would you read from a diary in which you ended every entry with "I love Duran Duran"? Except for when, of course, you put it at the beginning of the entry so you don't forget. And then confess to rummaging in your "Duran Duran drawer"? Oh yes, we had an uberfan here. 

One volunteer treated us to her three-part epic poem on the evil seductiveness of drugs, disguised under the analogy of a fairground ride. This was gritty, urban stuff - clearly the work of someone who had lived through it all, could have come from the mean streets of The Wire. Oh the children, the poor, dying children that drugs had under their spell! Which of course meant she came from some quiet country town near Somerset (or similar). Special kudos to this "performer" who, like us, was so struck by the hilarious seriousness of her poem, she could barely recite it through her laughter, but she somehow made it through to the end. 

People are encouraged to sign up in advance to share their teenage worlds, but you can also come along on the night with your diary and let Ana, the host, know you want to get up on stage. In fact, most of the people who read that night were volunteers, as several people were stymied by the snow. 

What all of the excerpts we heard had in common were an innocent earnestness and frankness, which was utterly addictive. I can see why it is so popular. Everyone would love to read another person's diary, get a sneaky look into their lives, but with this event, you can do just that and spare yourself the guilt! 

The next on is March 27th and I can't wait. 

Tapeheads Video Quiz, 9th January

Well, Hot Breath have knocked it out of the park again, creating a completely silly, highly entertaining version of a pub quiz.

The concept is a multiple choice quiz with questions based around the dubious videotape collection of the host's, including, but not limited to, his own appearance on a TV gameshow, a tragic vehicle for Bill Cosby in his prime, an ass-kicking Burt Reynolds and, The Fat Boys' classic: Disorderlies.

It's a quiz for people of a certain age - my age - late 20s, thirtysomethings who can laugh fondly at the awful 80sness of the videos, even if we don't actually recognise the films themselves.

So Mike, he of Hot Breath fame, plays a clip and then it's kind of a "what happens next" deal, and you pick the option you think is most likely/makes more sense/is most ridiculous. For example, in Leonard Part 6, does Bill Cosby kill the evil henchman by a) stuffing a hot dog down his throat? b) smothering him with a steak? or one of two other equally ludicrous options? (It was a by the way, although I went for b.) To get some extra prizes there are bonus point rounds, and one grand prize in which you have to guess how many times the word "Dude" gets said in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I wildly overestimated and was no way near. It's a mere 48.

The prizes on offer were pretty darn good, as it was all in aid of charity. The grand prize was a 50 pound bar tab and food for 8 at the Sebright Arms, which, incidentally is where the quiz took place.

It was busy when we got there, packed before the quiz started and chaotic to say the least as the co-host went around trying to take people's entry fees and hand out the answer sheets, while people were still trying to wiggle into spaces to sit.

But once the first clip was up on screen everyone's attention was fully focused on the cinematic delights which could lead to victory. As you can probably imagine, watching such unheard of movies, most people didn't have a clue what the correct answers were, although sometimes you could make an educated guess. This meant that, unlike with most pub quizzes, there wasn't that group of smug, older know-it-all men (it's always men) who get everything right. Winning was more a game of luck than anything else. Of course, I still didn't win anything, but two of my party won one of the bonus rounds and got to take away some rather special beauty products. This was for answering the question on how old we thought the host of a video showing you how to work out your face to make you look younger was. She was a creepy 61.

I had an uproariously good time, and get this - I wasn't even drinking! Note: I did not say I wasn't drunk - I said I wasn't drinking. This was stone-cold sober fun. If they do another one, I'm there.

Catch, 31st December

I have had Catch on my List for so long, I can't even remember when or why I put it on there in the first place. My attention has been drawn to it anew and my resolution to go to it rallied when Death by Burrito opened up their residency there recently.

But it was only my friend suggested we go there for New Year's Eve because her friend was DJing that provided the excuse to go. That and the fact that the entrance fee was only eight quid, which as I'm sure you'll agree, is fabulous for a New Year's Eve.

I have often passed by Catch without realising it was where it was. It's at the start of Kingsland Road, along the same stretch of street that has Dreambags and Prague, but with such an unassuming facade, and tiny lettering decrying its existence that it is easy to miss. 

As I suspected, Death by Burrito weren't operational that night, so I couldn't kill two birds with one stone in this instance. 

No, for tonight, it was just a common or garden club and I had a wicked night there. Downstairs is a fairly ordinary room but with a few booths to the side, presumably where the grub is served when service is on. Then they also have an upstairs which is another fairly ordinary room. Really, that's it. Just a little club with no pretensions to be anything other than a provider of somewhere to dance. Upstairs there's a little raised dancefloor in the corner, but the whole room is basically one big dance floor. There was one table, and a sort of banquette against the wall, but that was it.

Now, as I said, my friend's friend was DJing with his fellow DJs under the monkier of Loose Synths, so I cannot rightly say how much of our enjoyment was just down to the good DJs, and how much Catch contributed. I guess hats off to them for having Loose Synths DJ in the first place. Apparently, they did a set that was a bit special - it was mostly old school hip hop, garage, and RnB, but some of the numbers had a remix twist, bringing out the bassline, or mashing it up with a more ragga style. With a few shots and a few vodka tonics in us, it was the sort of nostalgia-inducing music that made you want to dance. Whether or not you really cared for the music the first time round or not. There was a remix of Destiny's Child Bills, Bills, Bills, they played Mr. Vegas's Heads High , there was a bit of DMX thrown in, Sweet Female Attitude's Flowers, and of course Regulaaaate had to feature! But there was some more modern stuff thrown in too- Disclosure's remix of Jessie Ware was popped in smoothly right in the middle of the set. We spent a goodly amount of time up there before finishing off the evening downstairs where the music was a bit of everything really, as far as we can remember! (We may have had a few more shots and vodka tonics by this point.)

There were a few negatives - I drank spirits the whole night because the wine wasn't up to much, and there didn't appear to be any kind of cloakroom. Had I known I might not have brought the massive, new winter's coat with me, which I then had to stash and slightly fret over in case it disappeared. Also, I'm pretty sure that the lights went up a little earlier than advertised, which, naturally I was very disappointed about, but considering the hangover I had the next day, was probably quite fortunate. 

Now that I've been here, Catch is definitely more firmly on my radar. Music aside, I think we had a good night because it just felt like a fun, friendly little club. No attitudes, just a place to dance and drink. I'll of course be back to try the Mexican food, but I'll have no problem in staying after my dinner is done to throw some shapes, and it's good to know there's a proper club down in Shoreditch amongst all the late night bars. 

Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato

Mousetrap...for Soul Shakers, 15th December

I didn't really think places like this existed. But I'm ever so glad they do.

I had a very detailed image in my mind of what I expected the venue to look like. I knew it was a wine bar and I basically imagined it as looking like Concrete in Shoreditch, but with wood panelling and low lights everywhere instead of, well, concrete.

It wasn't quite like this. Not quite the sleek, imposing wine bar, more of an underground little cavern. And by little I mean tiny. I don't think I have ever been to such a tiny club.

We arrived at a little after 11, in order to avoid having to pay a whole 2 pounds more after midnight than the 8 pounds we did pay to get in. It wasn't heaving as yet, but there were definitely quite a few people in there already, and more than a few of these were already on the dance floor. And they were really giving it some - authentic, willowy 60s dancing galore  in a way that seemed not quite on the beat that could only have been the result of a lot of practice. We almost felt guilty joining the dance floor and thus depriving them of the necessary room to throw down their shapes,. But this is probably why they got there so early - to have the luxury of having the whole dance floor to themselves while they could.

The bar was small and served usual pub drinks - as one of my friends was quick to point out, that meant no cocktails. Prices were normal for London bars - not cheap, but not inflated club prices.

It is touted as a Northern Soul night, and there were definitely a lot of people there who were very much into the scene, wearing clothes I can only assume were authentic vintage. But we didn't feel out of place as 'tourists' there, and all the staff were incredibly friendly. Take the cloakroom attendant below, for instance, who took his time to smooth out the creases and hang each and every coat with decorum.

You got the feeling that it's like a big family here, with a lot of regulars who know each other, and the staff. Well, it has been going 20-odd years in the same place! The night we went it was the DJ's birthday and there was free cake on the bar!

The music was fantastic. Mostly Northern Soul as expected but with some jazzier numbers thrown in. I hold my hands up - I didn't recognise a single song, but I didn't stop dancing. I've been places with better soundsystems (this is certainly no Funktion 1 a la Fabric), but if genuine soul and original R'n'B is what you're after then I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better night.

I really felt I'd been transported back in time to the heady days of the swinging 60s with all the hip cats and kittens. Groovy! (or another, probably more authentic slang of your choosing).

Morito, 1st December

Stephen has been to Morito so often that I almost felt like I'd been myself. He always speaks highly of it and I have been pestering him to go with me for a while. That day finally came when we decided to celebrate our anniversary with a lunch there.

Morito does little plates with a Moorish feel to them. Prices range from 2.50 for an assortment of breads up to about 8.50 for some lamb chops. The place is very fond of cumin.

Because Stephen has been there so often and done the hard work for me, by trying most of the dishes on the menu, I turned to him to lead on the choices and I was pretty much guaranteed that each one was going to be a winner. And they were all good.

I had a carafe of full bodied, syrupy syrah with my meal, although Stephen had a few glasses of this as well as his medium beer. We ordered the bread basket to start - a dense, chewy roll each, a large cumin dusted flatbread to share and some breadstick nibs. The breadstick nibs seemed a bit pointless, not really having anything to dip them in, although I did discover you could roll them in some oil and then roll them in the spices you get on the table, which made them quite nice. The other two breads were delicious and I should have saved more of mine to soak up the extraneous oils, juices and aioli from our little dishes.

You can order as many as you like at a time and they all sort of come out haphazardly. The first to come was the scallop dish with sherry vinegar and butter sauce. One plump scallop which had been sliced neatly in three. 

We then had the jamon croquetas - perfectly crispy on the outside while being soft and creamy inside. And no scrimping on the jamon either.

The lamb chops with cumin and paprika were tasty and once again had me bemoaning that you get so little meat on them. They weren't quite as good as the ones I had in The Painted Heron, and were maybe a tad underdone near the bone. Which was funny in a way, as Stephen had said that the last time he had them, they'd been a little overdone. So I guess consistency on the lamb chops isn't their strong point.

The butifarra sausae with white beans and alioli was a lovely salty, meaty, and slightly stodgy dish. Both the sausage and the lamb chops provided plenty of extra oil, and a bit of alioli to get that bread out and make sure none of it went to waste.

 I think I spot some cumin!

We knew we wanted to end with the grilled tetilla cheese with walnuts and membrillo but we also splurged and ordered one other dish as well with that - the chicharrones. I am so glad we got these - I think they were my favourite dish. Cubes of pork belly in cumin (again!) and lemon. The pork was crispy around the edges but soft and tender in the middle, and I loved the lemony tang.

As we were finishing off with the cheese - the sweet quince bringing out the slightly sweet flavour in the cheese, we had a couple of 'digestifs' to end the meal with. I ordered an amontillado sherry, my first ever sherry, and Stephen had a negroni. That slightly melted tetilla cheese was wonderful, another highlight. I loved the sort of crust on the edge where it had been grilled and then the oozy middle to scoop out and sprinkle with walnuts.

Squidgy, cheesy goodness

I enjoyed my sherry more than I had actually expected. It was much more like a strong wine, quite dry - I think I might now be a sherry drinker! But then I knew that Morito/Moro was a good place to start.

Cheers!

Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato

London Remixed Festival, 24th November

I was invited to review the London Remixed Festival and after taking a look at who would be playing and who was behind it, I thought I would be a fool to turn it down. So I didn't.

Wristbands were collected from Rich Mix, and while we were there we thought we'd see what kind of acts they had on. The downstairs was the African Rootmaster area, while upstairs was playing host to the Acoustic Boutique. The foursome on stage downstairs weren't doing much for us - a little too easy listening so we hopped into the "Disco Lift" to go upstairs.

Disco Lift Operator - (c) Gareth Reid

I wish all lifts could be like this - instead of an elevator operator you get some groovy dude playing music for your delightment while you travel between floors. We had something cheesy on the way up, and some D 'n' B on the way down!

Upstairs we came across one of the most truly unique acts I've seen in ... well... ever! His name was Ichi and he was a one-man-band. I don't know how many instruments he managed to go through in his set - there were really too many to count and too many to name, especially as some of them seemed to be handmade and wouldn't otherwise exist. He had bells on his feet, used a pedal to hit a drum, played a sort of banjo and 'sang'. He introduced each song but it was impossible to understand them. I'm really not sure if they were in English, Japanese, or other. It was very odd, but also transfixing. Almost impossible to describe, so just watch this video.

After he was through we had things we wanted to see in the Polka Tent at the Bedroom Bar so we went directly there. We were just in time to catch Cut A Shine leading the crowd in a barn dance. I get the impression they are used to bigger spaces to work in, and it was necessary to take out all the tables and chairs to allow just enough room for people to jig about.

Some of the dances were quite intricate and definitely not doable with a drink in your hand which means we didn't get involved in the first three or four. But we did dive in eventually. A dance which involved running in two massive circles, then doing some sort of dosey-do with several strangers until you got to 'lucky seven' with whom you just span around for a bit. It was exhilarating! I was beaming at the end of just one song. Actually, I didn't even make it to the end, it was so high energy, I was getting a right sweat on and decided to sit down to catch my breath. My other friends soon joined me, having the same idea. 

Cutting a rug with Cut A Shine - (c) Gareth Reid

We then went upstairs to catch the last bit of the Horndog Brass Band and we stayed up there to see some of the Monster Ceilidh Band as well. Both were good, but the MCB were a little on the quieter side compared to the Brass Band and Cut A Shine so we went downstairs to watch the last of Gypsy Hill, who I had seen at Rumpus recently and knew would be playing some upbeat foot-stomping sounds. We had a bit of a jig around to them before finishing off the night at the one destination we hadn't yet been to - the Latin Quarter at Village Underground.

Ska Cubano were playing when we got over there, the last act of the night at that venue. They were bloody brilliant, a great way to finish off the night. Everyone was in high spirits, the music was upbeat and fun. People were dancing around with smiles and abandon. 

Crowds at Ska Cubano - (c) Gareth Reid

I left this night on an absolute high, and really hope it becomes an annual event. The only negative thing really was that there were so many acts it was hard to see them all. I'd love to have been part of the 'walking taxi' with Perhaps Contraption for example (though I have seen them at White Mischief), or seen Molotov Jukebox.

Hopefully next time!