An occasional series in which we look at other parts of London easily accessible from Stoke Newington. Georgina Roberts reviews a selection of bars in Shoreditch and Hoxton, while Peter Grogan examines the wine list in one of Shoreditch’s most popular restaurants, Cantaloupe.
STRONGROOM BAR
Tucked away down an alley off Curtain Road you will find the ivy-veiled entrance of the Strongroom Bar – a welcome retreat from the plethora of pool bars. Off the beaten track, this intimate venue is hidden away from the hustle and bustle and the hen night hoards. Serious about music and beer, this venue hosts regular live music and Djs, and stocks Belgian beers and bottled real ales – including Leffe Triple if you can handle it (I have been banned from drinking it by my boyfriend, as it makes me cry.) The lounge disco vibe downstairs is created by large comfy sofas that are often surrounded by spontaneous dancing brought on by the killer jukebox, while upstairs, the casual, friendly staff serve ‘modern British food’. The Strongroom Bar attracts a mixed crowd which is enjoyably unpretentious for a Hoxton bar.
120 Curtain Road, EC2 www.myspace.com/strongroombar
FAVELA CHIC
Shafts of sunlight beam through the foliage and boarded-up windows, creating a warm, shady sunset in Favela Chic. This relatively new bar/restaurant draws its influence from the distinctive appearance of Brazilian shanty towns (Favelas), creating an ambience worlds away from the dull Old Street roundabout it is situated next to. Stacked driftwood climbs the walls, while the bar itself is panelled with reused doors. This makeshift style is mixed with antiques reflective of Rio’s bohemian area and a looming Virgin Mary statue. All the food and drink is decidedly Brazilian and there is even a sign stating ‘No Tequila!’ to remind visitors just what part of Latin America they are experiencing. Prices aren’t exactly shantytown, with traditional Brazilian cocktails starting at £5. One Brazilian patron, Mariana, describes it as a taste of Brazil, but greener! She does say that this style would only really take off in Europe (Favela Chic also has a Paris venue): in Brazil it would be about as appropriate as a council-flat-chic bar in London.
91-93 Great Eastern Street, EC2 http://www.favelachic.com/HTML/london.htm
VIBE BAR
Minutes from Liverpool Street and Shoreditch, Brick Lane has always attracted a mixed bunch of creatives and city boys. Nowhere is this more apparent than the Vibe Bar. Outside, in the large leafy yard, people of many ages and backgrounds enjoy gourmet pie and mash, South African BBQ and even an acoustic quartet complete with accordion. However, inside, a suited young man is ‘feeling the funk’. Everyone around him wishes he hadn’t, but he has and is now committing what Sophie Ellis Bexter once called ‘murder on the dancefloor’. Proof that Friday’s Funk from People’s Radio can get anyone dancing. Despite the leather sofas, the bar has a student union feel to it, which lends itself well to the variety of nights hosted.
91 Brick Lane, E1 http://www.vibe-bar.co.uk
SPITZ
Operating as a live music venue, bistro, bar and even photojournalist gallery, Spitz is a cultural hub of activity. Despite being voted one of London’s top ten venues by Time Out, Spitz has retained its underground vibe, one that comes from its diverse selection of artists. From Beats to Blues, the upstairs Venue hosts an eclectic range of live music. This month is the Spitz Festival of Folk. Meanwhile, downstairs in the friendly bistro and terrace you can enjoy live music four nights a week for free. It is at the high end of pub prices for food and drinks, but their lunchtime deal of two courses for £8.95 is a bargain, and a pint of Friuli fruit beer is a worthwhile investment to take the edge off a Sunday lunchtime hangover. A venue that manages to be laid back and happening all at once. When you leave you will be reminding yourself to come more often.
109 Commercial Street, Old Spitalfields Market, E1 http://www.spitz.co.uk/
CANTALOUPE
‘Apparently, the locals used to call it Dead Dog Lane. People coming here in cabs were ringing up every five minutes and saying ‘we still can’t find you – it’s a desert round here’. Sixty-five thousand people living in squalor and the pubs were closed all weekend. So I suppose, yes, it was a bit of a gamble.’ No, we’re not talking about the present state of Blackstock Road but about the now unfeasibly hip ‘Hoxditch’ area around the end of 1995.
Reviews
Dead Dog Lane is better known these days to incomers and horny-handed indigenes alike as Charlotte Road, and the speaker so given to understatement is Richard Bigg, co-owner of Cantaloupe: both of them are still to be found at the road’s southern end. ‘Within two years, maybe 50 new places had opened’, continues Mr Bigg (sorry, I just couldn’t stop myself). ‘God knows how many there are now.’
Richard’s love of good food and wine seems to stem partly from nature – his father was a brewer – and partly from nurture. An early stint of five months in South America (on a budget of 800 quid) bought him up close and personal with the kind of Hispanic street food which has been such an influence both on the menu at the `Loupe and its sister-ship Cargo, around the corner in Rivington St. ‘It had to be fresh and it had to be fast. For a start, they had no refrigeration and I imagine you can only poison your neighbours in the barrio a certain number of times before they’ll take it personally.’ (By the bye, the terrific photographs of South and Central America in the dining room at the rear are by Richard’s brother Julian.)
The quality of its house wines often says a great deal about the standards of an establishment, and the clean, citrussy lines and refreshing fruit of Sabina Blanco from Navarra (£11.95) – made mainly from Maccabeo – say things like ‘well researched’, ‘crowd-pleasing’ and ‘excellent value’. Ermita Veracruz Verdejo Rueda 2004 (£16.50) is snappy and sappy, with grapefruit mingling with something more tropical and – as you’ll already know – both the grape and the region are about as à la mode in terms of winemaking as ‘So-Sho’ is itself in terms of groovy metropolitan destinations.
I assumed a typo on the wine list was responsible for listing the constituents of Absum 2004 (£19.50) from Bodegas Irius in
Spain’s Somontano region as Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir. Not a bit of it, and each grape brings something different to the party
– notably peaches, lychees and a dash of complexity. I’ll definitely Absum more of that...
Among the 20-odd reds, I was taken with Botalcura’s Carménère Grand Reserve La Porfia 2003 from Chile (£19.50) which my notes suggest is ‘deep‚ dark‚ down‚ dirty with great big berry fruit and the heat of the Chilean sun’ – but we had done quite a bit of ‘work’ by then. Ribera del Duero Joven 2004 from Martin Berdugo (£18.50) is also excellent value, with terrific purity of purple fruit – there’s no oak involved – and a dash of licorice. It’s up there with Pesquera for quality but, thankfully, not for price.
Unless I’m much mistaken, £69 is the smallest sum of money you can part with to get your hands on a bottle of Dom Perignon anywhere in the capital – and I’m including the shops! It’s been the same price since the opening night on 30 November 1995. ‘I’ve always figured that anybody buying a bottle of DP isn’t going to stop there, so we’ll make our money on whatever else they order’, says Richard’s partner Nigel Foster on whom, dead dogs or no dead dogs, there are few – if, indeed, any – flies.
Cantaloupe, 35 Charlotte Road, EC2, 020 7613 4411, www.cantaloupe.co.uk
|
