Joe and Za, 29th January

You can’t get pizza wrong really and Joe and Za did not. I had the spicy pepperoni which had lovely chunks of nduja on it and warmed my tongue in a pleasing manner. It’s so nice when something billed as spicy actually lives up to its description!

Carolyn ordered the Caribbean one which had perfectly encapsulated jerk seasoning on a pizza. Which seems weird and I thought that wasn’t really the essence I wanted captured on a pizza, but in fact it worked very well. It’s nice to see a vegetarian pizza which isn’t just margarita or mushroom.

I think the pizzas suffered somewhat from being delivered rather than eaten on the premises. We had to warm them up and I think that they lost a bit of crunch to the base, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and would be happy to eat there again. 

Hot Since 91 90s Karaoke, 29th October

If you didn’t know, I’m a bit of a fan of karaoke, and I especially enjoy a themed karaoke night. But the universe seems to be somewhat stacked against me when it comes to enjoying such things – the last time I had planned on going to Gospeloke I was struck down with a throat infection and so it was when 90s karaoke was on the agenda. At least this time I managed to make it, even if singing was off the cards for me.

It was a cracking night – held at The Macbeth every third Thursday of the month, they take over the whole building and put on a total 90s party. Downstairs is where the karaoke action happens, kicking off at around 9:30 but there’s plenty to do beforehand with facepainting on offer, 90s games (like Connect Four and Operation) and videogames (I think maybe a SNES) on the second floor, and free cotton candy being given away. They also brought out free fried chicken at one point too but getting your mitts on that was near impossible.

The music policy is definitely more old school 90s RnB than just 90s but the song selection for singing runs the gamut of pop to indie to RnB. We had someone doing Gangsta's Paradise and a group drunkenly doing Aqua's Barbie Girl! Quality from those performing was variable but that's half the fun. Everyone sang along anyway, and there was a lot of grooving in between people doing their songs. I just loved the host and the DJ in charge seemed to be having a whale of a time too. They had 'bonus rounds' of Guessing the intro which invoked a bit of carnage as people leapt to grab the mic as soon as they recognised the song - then you won a shit prize and had the opportunity to sing the intro. Definitely on my list as one to return to.

White Lyan and LCC Shoreditch, 19th June

I went to book the London Cocktail Club for 9 pm on a Friday and was told it was all booked up, which I was hardly surprised to see. But we thought we’d pop by anyway just in case there was a cancellation. We were in luck – there were two stools at the bar just waiting for us to perch upon them.

The place was a lot livelier than I had thought it would be. I’ve been to two LCCs now but both times on a weekday when the vibe was very low key. Clearly, if you want cocktails and a party on the weekend, this is the place to come. And it also explains why you can just rock up and chance your arm – people may book tables but there are areas to dance and plenty of standing room as well so you can likely squeeze in.

We were more interested in the drinking than the dancing on this occasion so we just stayed for two drinks before moseying on to another place to cross off the list.  Which is kind of a shame as the party seemed like it was only getting started when we were there yet it was already buzzing. One to return to I think. 

We absolutely loved the idea of the sharing cocktails – there was one that came in a boat and another that was served in your very own dispenser sitting on a monkey’s head. These were a little out of our price range though so we just looked on in envy and awe at those who ordered them. Instead we tried some of the interesting drinks on the menu such as the butter beer - Camden IPA, vanilla Stolichnya vodka, caramel, apple and honey Jack Daniels. You’ll know I’m not much of a beer drinker but I could easily gulp this down.

We also made sure to try the fortune cookie cocktail which was served in a bowl with chopsticks and a fortune cookie. This looked cooler than it tasted and I much preferred my old classic of espresso martini. Especially with bourbon biscuit pasted to the side!

With that caffeine adding a spring to my step, we hopped off our stools and made our way to Hoxton to catch White Lyan before it shut.


 
White Lyan

White Lyan was the polar opposite of the atmosphere we had just exited. It was quiet to the extreme and we were served by the antithesis to the typical Shoreditch barman. No beard, no tats, just someone who was very obviously into the mixology behind the creations they served and very happy to spend a lot of time going through all the ingredients and processes while we quizzed him about every drink.

White Lyan is cold and clinical  and feels a bit like an 80s boardroom. Not really my style. Especially on a Friday night. I preferred the jumpin’ ambience of the LCC. However, the drinks were incredibly interesting and perfectly executed. The MO for White Lyan is pre-batched cocktails, the idea being they spend enough time getting the measures and combinations exactly right behind the scenes and then they bottle it and preserve it, so you don’t waste time waiting to get served. Considering how quiet it is, that part of it is probably something they don’t have to worry about, but the attention they spend in perfecting the drink is evident.

Each cocktail has something interesting about it and they’re all their own creation which made choosing the ones to have even more difficult than I normally find it. Eventually we narrowed down which sections we wanted to try and made our decisions. First up was something from the Fizz section. I had the seaside, an intriguing blend of tequila, yuzu, sea grass and avocado leaf soda. The yuzu and lime gave it a pleasant and light, slightly sweet and citrussy taste, while the avocado and seagrass made it very refreshing. Carolyn ordered the High Street which had elderflower champagne, blueberry vinegar and vitamin C. It was a bit like an alcoholic berocca and the discernible vinegar taste was actually nice!

We decided to go cheap for our last ones – something from the £6 hi-ball section. Carolyn ordered the Cherry Cola and I had the Meadow Spritz. Her Cherry Cola was basically, a rum and coke but with a cherry twist and tobacco to give it some depth. My Meadow was also quite an easy drink – the white grape soda making it fruity and the bitters ensuring the meadow flower liqueur wasn’t too flowery and pungent. I was impressed by the range and creativity of the drinks here. Just a shame about the setting.

Olive, 12th October

This place is more local caff than Meditteranean café. Cheap and cheerful is the name of the game here – with basic tables and chairs and a few paintings on the wall to avoid it becoming too drab. They've managing to be bother a permanent place and a street food van. Their famous known value-for-money pizzas are cooked in a dedicated van parked up outside the café. 

This is what brought me to the place. I can’t claim that the pizzas here are exactly authentic, but they’re more than a cut above your average pizza takeway joint. They have a thin base, nicely crisped but where they differ from a more Italian pizza is that they’re not shy of loading the thing with toppings, rather than a few artfully arranged ingredients. I had the Mexicana – jalapenos, peppers and chilli flakes, which also, surprisingly, came with a great deal of rocket. It was a tasty pizza, cooked well, if not as spicy as I would have liked. The cheese was nicely stringy and there was plenty of it, a little more tomato on the base wouldn’t have gone amiss. My 12-incher (which at first I thought I wouldn’t finish – how naïve of me) was only £5!

The café seems to be a friendly place, with clearly quite a few local regulars. One young lad came in to say hello, explaining he hadn’t been in for a while because he’d had a falling out with his friend. His friend had nicked something from him - friendship over! The guy behind the counter counselled him to forgive and forget but the lad was having none of it. You don’t steal PS3 controllers from your mates!

It was pretty empty when I went in but a steady trickle of people ordering pizzas to take away arose, and a group of local hipsters came in for a catch up and a pizza each (making me feel a lot better about my greedy guts having a whole one to myself). They also have sandwiches and a surprisingly varied amount of coffees to order. 

Is this pizza that you would walk through fire in order to have just one bite? No. There’s nothing ‘artisan’ about it, no bleating on about locally sourced ingredients. But it’s tasty and no-nonsense and I’d happily pop in here again to satisfy my pizza cravings. 

Death by Burrito at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, 3rd July

Having been to Death by Burrito when they were a pop-up at Catch, I was excited that they had a permanent place at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen (one of my ‘go-to’ bars when I’m in the area). My thinking was that, as with Rita’s, it would give them space and time to get creative and put some new items on the menu that would really show the breadth of what they could do. I was pleased to be invited for a sneak peek the day before they opened up officially. I imagined a sit down event with a selection of everything on the menu for everyone to try and maybe with some explanation of it all as well.

It turns out the night wasn’t quite like that. It was more of a party than a food event. Ryan Chetiyawardana (otherwise known as Mr Lyan of White Lyan which I have yet to get to) was responsible for the cocktail menu and the three I tried were all delicious, and strong, so no complaints there. But you start serving cocktails, and free cocktails at that, and the bar becomes a blockade very, very quickly. They probably should have just whipped up batches of one cocktail and lined them up on the bar for you to take as you pleased – let’s be honest, when something is free, people aren’t that picky about what it is.

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

I ended up talking to one of the bloggers from InformedLondon and his friend, and one of the BarChick girls, who, like me, were there to see what the menu was all about. We came hungry and we wanted burritos! And we stayed that way for quite a while as food didn’t start coming out until past 9pm. Finally, it arrived to a chorus of grumbling stomachs – a basket of chicken wings to share and a slider each. Not quite as Mexican as I was expecting. We waited for more, or, specifically – some burritos. But – can you believe this? – no burritos were to be found! What was even more bizarre was that the food we did get wasn’t even very good. If you’d never had DBB before, I don't think this offering would persuade you to come back to try the main event, unless of course once you had a hankering for burritos you couldn’t rest until you’d been back to get some. 

The chicken wings were alright – the agave gave them a sweet taste that I liked but they weren't as good as wings I’ve had elsewhere. Then we tried the sliders. Now, I know I’m not a burger fan but even I could tell these were not the way to do burgers. They were cold by the time we ate them, and had dried out (though there were signs they were cooked well originally, being slightly pink in the middle), and there was far, far too much bread. Assuming these were the candied bacon and jalapeno burgers on the menu, I didn’t realize any bacon was involved until looking at the menu afterwards, and the jalapeno might as well not have been there for all the kick it gave it. The mini-tacos were okay – the meat in particular was lovely; a slightly sweet, smoky flavour and a barbecued texture to it, and I liked the crunch of the radish on top, but they too were a little dry. I applied hot sauce liberally.

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

But don’t be too disheartened. I spied on the menu the items I’d had before, so if you wanted to know what their burritos are all about, which is where their strengths lie, read my previous post on them.

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

Because this was also to launch of their cook book there were a few copies on sale and I had a browse through it. Some pretty tasty-looking food in there, but I don’t cook so it was pointless me getting a copy. Several people did though, and there was a flurry of transactions which seemed to double as a signal for half the party to clear off! Which was a shame because the DJ they had was banging and if it had been a Friday I’d have merrily sipped a few more cocktails soaking in the tunes. The place has been done up all Mexi-macabre and looks the business so it’s a pretty cool place to hang out. And those cocktails are certainly worth a visit.

They didn’t have the slushie machine for slushie negronis, and they couldn’t make the most interesting-sounding drink on the list – the Sweet Papel with sweetcorn and coriander atomisation. But I tried the Pineapple and Cacao Smash, the Bandito Hi-Ball and the Ring-a-Ting-Ting. All were very easy to drink, easy on the mixer and strong on the liquor. I worried that the Bandito, being in a high-ball glass would be mostly ginger ale, but I needn’t have: slug after slug of tequila went into the cocktail shaker, and the ginger ale was only a quick gesture to sweeten things up at the end. My favourite though was definitely the Ring-a-ting-ting – not too sugary with a cucumber background aroma making it super-refreshing. I would have stuck to these but for the blogger in me wanting variety.

So, not sure what to make of this place. If you’ve been, let me know what you thought!

100 Hoxton, 29th June

So, I’ve kinda gotten into brunch in a big way lately, mostly because for the first time in a long time, I’ve not been going out until all hours on a Saturday night, meaning I’m up early enough to take advantage of brunch hours. Also, I had always assumed because I know the Breakfast Club always has queues for brunch, that everywhere else does too, and I would have to be up with the birds in order to get in anywhere. The last few weeks have proved otherwise. And it’s been great. It cannot last however, and I will soon be returning to my partying ways, but before I do I can probably squeeze in another couple of brunch destinations.

Last week’s was 100 Hoxton, the sister restaurant to a place Alison and I discovered and delighted in on Upper Street called Zilouf’s. In the evenings they serve small plates with a Turkish twist but on the weekends they do their own take on some fabulous brunches. We met at about quarter to one, and the sun was shining. It was threatening to disappear though so we didn’t eat outside, instead choosing one of the many scandalously empty tables inside.

Sunday has a more limited brunch offering than Saturday, as they then start doing roasts from 1 pm. But it had enough to satisfy us. I had the 100 Hoxton Big breakfast and Alison had mushrooms on toast.

Both plates were very generously sized, and a decent price – mine was £9.50 and Alison’s was only £6.00!

I can’t fault my brunch – a decent slab of pork belly croquette, two fried eggs done just right, a slice of sourdough with plenty of butter, a mound of avocado and tomato salsa and hidden underneath all that the finest, densest hash brown I’ve ever had. It also should have come with mushrooms but I don’t like them so requested mine without. Drizzled all over was a jalapeno sauce with a heavy dose of coriander. I enjoyed every mouthful and thought the portion was just right. Big enough to sate but not too big that I couldn’t finish it all (it helped that I hadn’t yet eaten anything).

Alison’s mushrooms came with two eggs and roasted tomatoes and, like mine, a heap of cress on the top as garnish. As just stated, I’m not a mushroom fan so I didn’t try any of this dish and can’t comment on what it tasted like, but it looked beautiful and Alison polished it off no trouble and proclaimed it lovely so who am I to argue?

I was off the booze as I attempt to get myself into some semblance of my former shape so we didn’t try any of the cocktails, which is a damn shame. But I would like to come back in the evening to try their interesting small plates and I’m sure when I do I’ll be allowing myself an alcoholic treat.

Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato

Ginger Pig Cafe, 15th June

There are many places in East London to get a decent brunch these days but the Ginger Pig caught my eye with their menu a while ago and so me and my friend Alison went for a brunch date there the other day.

The Ginger Pig Café, is, oddly enough, not affiliated with the famed Ginger Pig butcheries. I do find it weird that they have chosen to name themselves so closely to something that already exists but the butchers don’t seem to mind.

Judging by their breakfasts though, The Ginger Pig are some serious meat lovers, and pig is indeed the flavor of the day.

We had been salivating over the menu online and were a little disappointed to see that it wasn’t the same as what was on offer on the day. My friend in particular had liked the look of the Mexican huevos rancheros, and I thought the grilled halloumi and poached egg sounded nice but neither of them were on the printed menu. Neither were the many varieties of eggs we thought would be on offer (benedict, royale, omelette). But in my heart I think I would have ordered what I got anyway as it has been so long since I’ve had pancakes and I love the sweet/savoury combination of pancakes, maple syrup, eggs and bacon.

So I ordered the lumberjack – two pancakes, two pork and leek sausages, three bacon rashers, two fried eggs, and some ham!

Alison at the very last minute decided to get the full monty – eggs how you like them, sausage, bacon, black pudding, beans and mushrooms. And toast.

I got a bloody mary, she got an aperol spritz and we waited. We actually waited quite a while but I didn’t mind, taking it as a sign it wasn’t all pre-cooked and just sitting there waiting to be ordered. We both savoured our cocktails. My bloody mary was a generous serve and lasted me the whole meal – at £4.50 you can’t afford not to have one!

When it arrived we were confused. Where were Alison’s mushrooms? Where were the beans? The waitress had said something as she set them down but we couldn’t make out what so we enquired. Turns out, these come separately because, rather than give you a handful of each, you get a full dish of both to go on the side! The portions were actually verging on ludicrous. Yet, as you’ll see, a valiant effort was made to eat it all.

The brunch was a top notch breakfast – pancakes were great and there was the right amount of maple syrup to last. For the money you pay I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a heartier meal anywhere. I almost finished it but left some of my ham (it’s not my favourite cut of pork and three kinds of pig on one place is more than enough!). If I had to gripe I would say just what I’ve said – maybe there isn’t a need for so much meat. A hash brown instead would be nice. And I prefer scrambled eggs and streaky bacon with my pancakes (I think it’s the more American way) but I enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless. The sausages were fantastic – really full of flavor and I tried to make them last as long as I could.

I was stuffed by the end of it.

But not too full not to have a quick summery drink before heading out to conquer (yes, that’s right, no second place for me this time) A Door in a Wall.

We walked around the corner to Hoxton Square to the Fever Tree G & T pop-up and ordered a flight of four gins to share between us. This came with four varieties of fever tree tonic to go with them. I like gin (I like most alcohol) but have never really paid it much attention, I just drink what I’m given. It was great to explore the different flavours of gins and discover I actually had a preference. We also adored the Fever Tree tonics – elderflower was possibly just about my favourite but Mediterranean, bitter lemon and regular were all good. Sadly we were time pressed and couldn’t try any more but I would love to go back. You can sit outside if it’s sunny or enjoy the inside setting which is just as nice. And I love those big glasses!

Troy Bar, 18th April

It wasn't my intention to go to Troy Bar, but as we stumbled round the corner from the Dead Dolls House, in our cocktail fug, realising it was 11 pm and places were shutting, there it was shining like a beacon, beckoning to us. A light of recognition went off in my mind - I had this place on my List!

And so we entered and had a wicked end to our evening. So good, that we implored our friend who had a transatlantic flight at 10 am the next morning to stay out just for one more, and one more after that - and he did!

I think they have different gigs going on every night of the week, but Fridays is jazz jam sessions and we were probably a little too boisterous for the serious stuff going on in the main room. We were aware of this though and kept our hijinks to the bar area where we wouldn't disturb anyone but the fabulous bar staff whom I'd like to think we befriended.

The place is low key and, as I said, has a live-music focus though there's plenty of room by the bar for socialising away from the performers. They call themselves 'London's Best Secret' and it's not too preposterous a claim. I've been out in Shoreditch countless times and had only heard about the place through a friend. It's not hard to find at all - it's in the middle of Old Street, just sitting there, waiting to be discovered, on Hoxton Street. But it's not the kind of place to attract the Essex hoards, it makes no claims to be a hipster haven and won't be serving Korean anju any time soon. That's probably what keeps it under the radar. It's a perfect late night venue in Shoreditch for a more discerning clientele. 

So, if you read this, keep it under your hat - we want to keep it that way.

P.S. I was having too much fun to take any pictures!

On the Bab, 28th March

On the Bab is a cute little Korean place on Old Street serving up 'anju' (food meant to be eaten with beer) plus a whole host of other Korean staples and otherwise.

Unfortunately, the food flip-flopped between tasty and tasteless or 'takeway Chinese'.

We ordered a range of dishes to try out all the different things they did. First to arrive were the kimchi jeon – a kimchi pancake, and the bibimbap with bulgogi beef. The pancakes - delicious and cripsy, working well with either the surprisingly light chilli oil, or the more pungent chilli sauce.

The bibimbap was pretty hopeless. We were advised to put some of the chilli oil on it, which we did but even this didn't really give it much of a taste. It all comes in a bowl and you're supposed to stir it all together, normally making sure it all gets coated in the flavouring. This had none, not even any lovely meat juices gathered at the bottom. Also, I'm sure when I've had it before it has come in a really hot dish, with a raw egg on top which cooks when you stir it in. This had a partially fried egg which was too cooked to really get distributed throughout and the whole dish was verging on cold. There was also rather a lot of it, which, when it's not that great, is not a good thing.

Next came the yangyum chicken which was a tale of two halves. The soy garlic nuggets really allowed the crushed peanut to come through and were nice and crispy, with a strong garlic and possibly lime flavour. The sweet and sour were also crispy but were too reminiscent of takeaway sweet and sour chicken for me, getting quite cloying and sickly after a while and overpowering any peanut. The garnish of julienned cabbage with a sauce was really nice though. I had ordered the 'small' serving (as opposed to extra small) and we must have had at least eight pieces - it was another substantial dish.

We ended on a high with the kimchi rice balls, bab twigim, which were packed with gooey cheese and came with a knock-your-head off chilli sauce.

I wanted to like this place, and hoped it would be a better alternative to Jubo, where we liked the chicken but didn't like anything else. But it was too much pot luck as to whether you would like what you got. And if it was really good fried chicken I was after, I would forgo both the Korean places and head to Clutch!





Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato

NOLA bar, Made in the Shade, 6th March

NOLA bar

One of my best friends and his boyfriend are in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and not wanting to miss out I thought we might as well finally check out NOLA bar before our dinner. After rather embarrassingly taking the wrong set of stairs (note - if you are walking up a rickety set of stairs thinking they seem too dangerous for people who may be drinking, you're probably in the wrong place), we found the bar. A few tables were reserved but there were plenty of places available. The bar says it is table service only, but one of the groups in there had congregated around the bar. We only had time for one drink and it was hard to pick one out of the many on offer. I noticed a lot of gin, a LOT of rum, and quite a bit of absinthe.

Finally I went for a classic of sorts and one very fitting (sorry!) for New Orleans - the Hurricane. Alison had a French 75. Pitching our choices against each other I'd say she won. Mine was a little too fruity and tropical for my tastes, although it's nice to have an 'umbrella' cocktail now and again. Alison's was fruity but the champagne gave it an elegant dryness, and at the bottom was an alcohol-soaked cherry. Can't go wrong with that. 

Even in the short time we were there I was impressed with the friendliness of the staff, and even though it was table service, service wasn't automatically added to the bill. Which made me want to tip them but I didn't have any more change - so, NOLA, if you're reading, my apologies!

 

Made in the Shade

After NOLA bar, we headed over to Made in the Shade, the newest additon to Hoxton Street, which is quickly becoming another cool destination in its own right. 

We only had one cocktail each - Alison had the Shady Maid Lemonade and I had the Ultimate F*cking cocktail as recommended by our waitress. It was whiskey with rum, ginseng liqueur and Guinness foreign extra syrup. Sadly they had no Kamm & Sons ginseng liqueur but I didn't think that would be a problem.

So, was it the ultimate cocktail? For me, no. As far as short and strong whiskey drinks go, I would choose the Full Fat Old Fashioned from Hawksmoor or the Manhattans Project's Fake Orgasm over this. But it was a good drink with a smooth blend to its flavour, strong but not make-you-cough strong, and the Ultimate Fighting Champion it came with was very cute. I actually was more impressed with the drink Alison got – they blended cucumber juice with lemon juice and citrus peel syrup to create a really refreshing drink that had a Pimmsesque flavour without the sweetness. Quite sophisticated. And so pretty!

The food was nice too, but wouldn't leave me raving, although perhaps if we'd tried one of their main dishes, which were more obviously Caribbean-influenced, I would have a different opinion. First we shared a salad of pumpkin, poached egg and rocket. The egg was cooked perfectly and if you thought pumpkin and egg didn't go together, you're wrong. The pumpkin for me was undercooked though. I haven't really had pumpkin much before, perhaps it's supposed to be like that, but I thought it would be cooked to the texture butternut squash takes on when it's done well.

We then shared a caramelised onion and goat's cheese tart, and some oxtail spring rolls. When we requested some condiments, a really delicious sambal was brought out, with some sweet chilli sauce. The ox tail spring rolls were exactly that - completely packed with meat and nothing else. They were pretty good but I couldn't get the idea out of my mind that having one big fat one, maybe mixed with some veg would have been even better.

The caramelised onion tart arrived with the goats cheese sitting atop. I was really impressed with this. Inside the pastry a whole bulb of roasted onion sat, and it wasn't at all overly sweet like some caramelised onion tarts can be. I would say there was exactly the right amount of goats' cheese to accompany it – so often you can have too much and it overwhelms anything else.

We had a couple of glasses of wine after our cocktails. Warning - the prices are instantly appealing but you don't get very much for them. Buying bottles here is the smart move. I unwittingly ended up trying a red and a white. Unwittingly as I thought I had ordered the 'Friendly' white wine from Sonoma but a red one turned up. Nevermind, I made up for it by ordering the Granbazan Verde - how could you not with a description like that?! 

There's a healthy dose of fun and silliness at Made in the Shade as evidenced by the little wrestler adorning my cocktail (and we were given some more to play with), the wine descriptions (see above) and the way our bill was presented (see left). The bar is lovely – it does still feel like the pub it used to be, rather than a cocktail bar, but has been spruced up with some interesting (and slightly disturbing) artwork on the walls and pillars. Our waitress was almost alarmingly friendly, spending a lot of time with us, chatting about the various options, recommending things, and telling us about the artwork. I feel churlish saying so, but it was perhaps a little too much attention - at one point I almost felt like we were going to have to catch her up on what we'd chatted about so far so she could join in! So, while the drinks and the food didn't leave me gushing, I know I will be returning to this place, simply because it was so damn likeable, and as they've only just opened it can only get better. 

I have been loving the fact that all of the places I've been to lately have a reservations policy. Although we wouldn't have needed one when we went – the place only had a few other customers when we turned up, although there was a steady trickle of people arriving as we made our way through our food and drinks. It had a pretty casual, relaxed feel about it, much like a pub would on a Sunday afternoon. It will be interesting to see if and how that vibe changes on a Friday night or as more people discover the place.