Star at Night (London Gin Club), 9th November

I don’t know why I was so taken aback by the amount of gin the London GIN Club had but it was a little overwhelming – how was I to choose? So many gins. ALL the gins. To be mixed with Fever Tree tonic (natch) and interesting little garnishes – like plum, or tomato and coriander and served in those gorgeous copa glasses that are like fish bowls. They were all priced at £8.95 unless otherwise stated, and actually there were probably more that were ‘otherwise stated’ than weren’t, and they were generally all about £9.50. So I chose the way any sensible lush would – by ABV.

The first one I tried I thought had a bit of a peppery taste to it but what do I know, and my friend was directed to the sloe gins they had on offer when she said she liked it sweet and fruity. The Bathtub sloe was perfect for this – tasted like fruit punch when mixed with tonic.

For her next she had one from the Citrus section but this was too much serious gin for her – not fruity enough. You get a bottle of fever tree to split between you and before I knew it she had emptied pretty much the whole thing into her copa. As much as I could, I did not fancy drinking just straight gin so we asked for another and our request was graciously granted.

I have to say, I thought the service was lovely - not overly present but they kept an eye on you and menus were swiftly handed over when our first drink was finished. And they seemed more than happy to chat through the different types of gin they had on offer. Although one of the servers didn’t know that Martin Miller was a partly Icelandic gin – tsk tsk. (This I only knew from the Gin Off at Graphic – excellent!)

Hill & Szrok and The Gibson, 28th September

There’s very little point in going to Hill & Szrok if you don’t eat meat. They started as a Butchery and cookshop in Broadway market and their pub is pretty much an excuse to show off the meat they butcher. Having said that, there are a few sides which are just as good to eat as the meat.

The sautéed potatoes were gorgeously golden discs of salty crunchiness and soft potato inside. Hispi cabbage which seems to be flaunting itself all over town on many a menu was as good here as I’ve had elsewhere – sprinkled with chilli to liven it up and apparently anchovy was also somehow involved although I couldn’t spot where. Blended into the sauce it was dressed with I imagine. It was a really delicious bit of veg. The salad we ordered was probably unnecessary and barely got a look in after the cabbage and potatoes were all done. It was crisp and fresh but rather too mustardy for me.

While not normally a fan of the pork chop I thought it stood a good chance of being done well here, and I was right. Nice and thick it had a good amount of fat on the edge (although some of that fat could have been a little more melty than chewy) and wasn’t in the least dry. A chunky applesauce accompanied.

I had a white wine and a red wine over dinner. The white was dry but had some personality to it and the red was a montepulciano which I know is always a safe bet and had a pretty heady aroma. Our waiter was so sweet he even offered to let me try the wines I was deciding between – how often do you get that offered to you?

I really liked the set up too. I was worried the place would be more restaurant than pub but they have delineated it so that seated service is at the back and does feel more prim whereas the front is definitely a proper pub where you can pop in for a drink without feeling any pressure to eat.

After this we took a short walk up to The Gibson, a cocktail bar I have been eying for some time now. It wasn’t quite what I expected – I thought it was going to be more serious, classic drinks, instead they like to surprise you with added extras and features. Some of them not altogether welcome. I had a shaky start when I ordered the Tiger balm and what was set down was a huge glass with (I thought in the half light) Bombay mix pinned to the side.  Before I reached in to get a few, the waiter explained they were worms! I literally yelped and shrank away, banishing them from my sight. My date was braver and tried one – said they tasted a bit like candied ginger. I would not be persuaded. The chunk of tamarind that it came with was also odd to eat and after one bite full of seeds I abandoned it.  

My companion had ordered the Dry Gibson which came with pickled black eyed peas and a spoon to scoop them out with. That was delicious. They managed to make what is basically a glass full of gin completely moreish. 

My second drink was more like a dessert than a drink (well it was called a Tiki toffee pudding), topped with a thick waffle, with the glass encased in chocolate. But I went back to savoury with my last drink. 

We both had Asian-inspired drinks to finish – my 'Big in Japan' was topped with warmed wasabi peas and my companion had his 'Way of the Dragon' served in a teapot (dragon-shaped of course) which blew smoke into his glass.

But anyone can come up with fun things to do with cocktails. The main thing about this place is that each one tasted as good as it looked and I would have been as happy with them even without the bells and whistles. They’re just my kind of drinks – strong enough you taste the alcohol, with the extra ingredients smoothing and rounding it out.

The number of drinks on the menu is ridiculous so you could easily come back again and again to work through all their inventions. When we went, we even had a bit of jazz being played on the piano, which was a nice surprise. And, unlike Nightjar down the road, you would actually stand a chance of getting a seat on a weekday – when we went at 8:30 on a Wednesday there were but a few others there. 

The Gin-Off, Graphic Bar, 18th July

If you want to get absolutely trollied on whimsical, inventive and tasty (for the most part) cocktails on a Monday then the Gin-Off is your man! Happening throughout the year, 16 gins compete against each other to make it into the Gin-off final by coming up with clever and creative ways to imbibe this particular liquor, and I was invited to the final heat. 

When I went, the gins being showcased were Boodles, Sipsmith (they get everywhere), Tarquins and Martin Millers. I really wanted to like Martin Millers, as it is a blend of England and Iceland, two countries dear to my heart, but unfortunately I have to say their concoction was the worst cocktail I have ever had. Actively unpleasant to drink, I was a brave soul and finished it nonetheless. Milk and gin do not make good bedfellows. It did, at least, come in cute packaging but I am not a fan of a paper straw – so soggy so quickly. 

Far and away the best cocktail of the evening came from Boodles who had somehow turned a cocktail into a quintessentially English curry, complete with political commentary on the recent Brexit result/fiasco. I didn’t expect to like it to be honest, but the savoury, fragrant spiciness was incredibly moreish. And extra bonus points for the properly spicy lime pickle! Unsurprisingly, this cocktail won hands down. Well deserved. 

The other two also rans were nice enough. Tarquins served up little ‘ice creams’ which were as fun to watch created as they were to drink. And Sipsmith went down the most traditional route, serving up test tubes of their concoctions.

As soon as the cocktails started being lined up, everyone went for it, meaning we drank four deceptively strong cocktails within an hour. Little wonder then, that at 9 pm when all the drinks were sampled, the party was going OFF. The music was turned up and people were dancing. It felt a little surreal to be honest but really good fun!

Keep an eye out for the next one, or if you can’t wait, they do a Gin Social every Monday where you can have a welcome G&T, a tasting of that months Gin and a Gin cocktail of their own creation for £5. 

Heist Bank, 28th June

I’m not entirely sure who the audience for Heist Bank will be but whoever it is I think will very much enjoy the place. It’s in a bit of a no man’s land next to the Paddington basin, and is the newest bar from the people behind Coin Laundry, who, it turns out, have several other places in London including Ask for Janice and Graphic bar, both of which I like very much.

The place isn’t aiming for haute cuisine – the mainstay of its menu is pizza. There were four different kinds available to try at the launch I was invited to and I tucked into three out of four – I couldn’t bring myself to try the one loaded with mushroom (mushroom – bleugh). And loaded it really was. Same with the crushed pea, goat cheese and radish. These ones were more like having a load of topping with a little bit of pizza, rather than having a pizza with some toppings. For me, it was too much. Much too much. I had to break down the huge block of goat’s cheese and there was so much crushed pea it was falling off everywhere. Luckily, the meat lovers fare better and have a more balanced slice. The Italian sausage was a juicy number, and the lamb, feta and rocket was not a bad appropriation of a lahmacun.

There were plenty of tasters on the menu to try. Others being passed around included an olive and cheese curd pastry which was utter gooey, chewy deliciousness and some spicy nduja croquettes which were pleasant but I wished they’d had a bit of the actual meat inside rather than it being all creamy.

They had two special cocktails to try – a floral take on a French 75 using their own house-infused gin, and an ‘Off the Wagon’ which was a very summery way to enjoy whisky – blending it with orange.

I felt it was my duty to try out some of the other cocktails on the list too. I can confirm the peach bellini, scofflaw and bramble are all great. I also tried the Delicious Sour which was too sweetly peachy for me. It was even more peachy than the peach bellini!

Wines by the glass are all the same price – a policy I commend, and which means you can get a viognier or a malbec for the same price as the pinot or merlot you normally drink cos it’s cheap!

And they have plenty of different beers on offer.

It seems like a great after-work set up, with plenty of space so a whole team could go down for a few together. There’s even a karaoke space perfect for when you’ve all had one too many…

Little Bat, 6th May

Little Bat is Callooh Callay’s little sister and you would think that people would be all over it. But, sitting as it does, off the main strip of ‘Supper Street’ in Angel, it seems to have avoided the attention of the masses. Primetime on a Friday night (9:30 pm), the place had patrons, but you could easily walk in and be seated at a comfy booth rather than sitting up at the bar. I do like sitting up at the bar but sometimes a cosier seating arrangement is more appropriate. Say, if you were on a date, for example.

While I waited for mine to arrive I perused the menu. Compared to some menus these days, there was a huge amount of choice on offer making a decision rather difficult. My friend helped me out by picking for me (and luckily he has good taste) so I had the G & T martini – gin, rose-infused vermouth and crème de violet being the main ingredients. My companion had an old fashioned because he is a man and that is what men drink. There were so many drinks that sounded interesting, I wanted to try them all but picked the hedgerow smash for my second – rye, bourbon hedgerow cordial and black walnut bitters! I was really pleased with both of my drinks – strong but tasty – not too floral or fruity for my tastes. The old fashioned was met with approval buy my friend’s second drink – An Apple a Day – he felt was bordering on bitter and medicinal tasting, rather than the apple pie in a drink you might expect.

It may not feel quite as quirky as Callooh Callay, lacking the ‘secret entrance’ that the other has, but if you want somewhere that has the same inventinveness that Callooh Callay brings, without having to worry about whether you’ll get in, then this is the bar for you.  

Blondies, 30th April

I thought Clapton was meant to be cool but on a Saturday night you're apparently hard pressed to find anywhere with a proper party vibe. Blondies was the best place we found and it's a damn shame it shuts at midnight as it seems to be crying out to be the late night (good) party bar Clapton needs.

We got in there at about 10:30 and stayed for a drink, soaking up the loudish music that was pumping out some of my favourite RnB jams. They even played Twista Slow Jams. You hardly ever hear that one out.

I actually got there earlier than Carolyn (no change there then) and was persuaded by the lovely girl behind the bar to have a shot of their house shooter Blue Moon while I waited. At only £3 I couldn't say no. It was fruity and pleasant to sip on before we started on the real drinks. Carolyn of course had a Cindy - a grapefruit margarita (she loves fruity things) and I went for good old Brenda, otherwise known as an espresso martini.

We probably should have stayed there the rest of the night but we had other, misguided plans – we went over to the Clapton Hart which stays open until 1, thinking we'd find a young and lively crowd. It was kinda empty. So we went down to the Windsor Castle. I'd been before and it's a lovely pub. But quiet. The Bonneville was also a place I'd happily visit for a lowkey night. Not Saturday night material (though the toilets are worth a trip themselves - like a recreation of Victorian cobbled streets, they are quite eerie!)

So we ended up at Biddle Bros which I would describe as sketchy at best but at least had people dancing until the early(ish) hours. 

68 and Boston, 14th April

If you cast your mind way, way back you may remember my friend Alison and I used to frequent both the basement and the upstairs of Central & Co. One of the things I really liked about it was its wine pricing policy. Every bottle was £20 which meant I felt completely liberated to try something I might not otherwise because of the price tag. So it is in the downstairs (which is actually the ground floor, a little confusingly) of 68 and Boston.

I met up with a friend for a catch up and we decided to take a punt on a Uruguayan Sauvignon Blanc. Sauv isn’t particularly exotic but the region was a little different and maybe not something I would have gambled on if it were a different price.

The bar is fairly sleek, as you would imagine from Soho, but not too overly designed. The staff were also pretty friendly and very good at keeping both wine and water glasses topped up.

We had one more glass. I thought I had ordered the white zinfandel but what turned up was a very full-bodied red. No matter! It was quite a nice, cosy drink rather like having a port at the end of the evening and we didn’t mind at all.

Upstairs is the cocktail bar but we didn’t venture up there this time around. A good excuse for a return trip…

The Queen Adelaide, 9th April

The Queen Adelaide is sort of the reincarnation of the George and Dragon, a famous LGBT venue in Shoreditch that was one the many victims of London’s nightlife crisis (rent hikes in this case). I never got there before it shut, but the people behind it have moved along the same road (closer to me in fact) and re-opened the Adelaide to recapture what the G & D used to provide.

On a Saturday, at 1 am my friend and I decided we should probably go out for a drink after all, and as the Queen Adelaide is open until 3, decided we should probably go there. I’m glad we did. We headed straight downstairs to where the party was going in the main bar area. But there are plenty of other little rooms and nooks if you’re not in the dancing mood to just hang out, which is what we did. People were friendly and we soon got chatting to a couple of guys who were out on a bit of a bender.

The crowd is quite obviously, but not exclusively, LGBT and the music policy was pretty decent in terms of playing ‘floor fillers’. Sometimes a little too poppy for me, but they played quite a good selection of RnB type stuff, and also a bit of retro 90s stuff too. Ace of Bass I particularly remember featuring.

3 am came around very quickly and we, and those remaining, rather reluctantly made our way out of the venue. So good to have a fun (late) local.

Black Rock, 22nd March

Black Rock is cool. It just is. Which is not surprising given its big sister is the Worship Street Whistling Shop around the corner.

While the Whistling Shop specializes in gin, Black Rock specializes in whiskey. In a big way. If you don’t like whiskey, you really shouldn’t bother coming to this bar – every cocktail has whiskey in it, be it highball or short and strong, and the only other option is four beers. Because that’s not the point.

Running along the middle of this sleek but bijou bar is a table made out of a 166 year old oak tree, in which whiskey sits aging. There are two kinds – Table and Cherry and a dram of either will cost you £6. Then there are six cabinets stuffed with whiskeys from all over and separated according to flavour profile – sweet, fragranced, spiced etc. We only had two drinks and stuck to the cocktails so I didn’t get a chance to dip into these cabinets of wonder. Next time.

The cocktails were pretty perfect – my preference were for the first two we had as I’m just not a Highball kinda gal – too much liquid, not enough boozy flavour, but we tried them anyway for variety. I had the 40 Shades (no idea why it had that naughty reference) with apple and fennel pollen. It was slightly carbonated and I have to say the apple was very light and not too fruit-juicy. The fennel got a bit intense towards the end but was otherwise a refreshing drink.

The Campfire was a take on an old-fashioned but with extra oomf from the two whiskies and a deeply satisfying sweetness from the marshmallow gomme. The White Dog Martinez was a much lighter drink paring whiskey with cocchi instead of another whiskey but still pokey enough and with vanilla rounding off the flavour this time. Quaffable.

Service was excellent – everything was well explained to us and water kept topped up without being intrusive. A lovely joint.

Behind This Wall, 18th March

There are very few bars in the East London area that I haven’t now been to. So when a new bar opens it pretty much goes on the list immediately.

Behind This Wall is a new one on Mare Street – but not the end of Mare Street you probably think. It’s up past Hackney Central, not near the bars and restaurants that have sprouted by London Fields. Which might explain why, on a Saturday night when I walked past the first time, there were people outside trying to beckon you in. We had other places to go that night, but I returned about a week later, on a Friday. It wasn’t hugely busy, but it’s also tiny so that’s probably a good thing. It’s got a very clean, DIY feel to it. The tables and chairs feel like they’re all made of MDF, reminding you of being in Homebase or MFI (if anyone remembers that). It seemed that most of the clientele were the owners’ friends – which is exactly what I would do if I owned a bar. For such a small place, and one that doesn’t stay open that late, we did wonder why the music was quite so loud, but I liked the place.

The drinks are classics with a twist, in the main. For example, the mojito my friend had was made with sake, yuzu, mint molasses and despina. I had the Corpse reviver – which was pisco, herbal liqueur, coffee liqueur and had an umeboshi plum sunk into it. Do not eat the plum. It is most definitely there to infuse the drink with its flavour and not for consumption. It is basically a pickled fruit and tastes of bitterness and vinegar. Apart from this, couldn’t fault my drink. The Sandy Collins I followed it with was also very good, and my friend got them to spike their Shirley Temple with vodka for her drink. I would happily venture behind the wall again.

Speaking of cocktail bars that are off the road well-travelled, I also popped to Machine No 3 the other week and completely forgot to write about it. Named for the launderette that it used to be, this is pretty much in Homerton, very near the Kenton. At 11 pm and so far from everything else, I was unsurprised that there were only about 6 other people in the place besides us. We had a Basil and Blueberry that was made with quinoa vodka and a Rum Manhattan with xocolatl mole and marasca syrup and they were more than lovely enough but it’s too far for me to come back to on a regular basis. We especially liked all the different cocktail ingredients laid out like an apothecary's shop, and the place is also good for craft beer, so if this was my neighbourhood then I imagine I would be very tempted to pop in more often than I should. 

Anyway, after BTW, we went over to Dalston for a variety of whisky sours at Whisky Sour taking place below Pelicans and Parrots before giving Ruby’s Lounge another shot (was not a fan of the music), heading to The Dalston Jazz club which had emptied because of a fire alarm and ending up at the stalwart that is The Haggerston. Another successful Friday night crawl.