Tipped

Sending out an SOS

May 09, 2008

We ended up at this kind of bizarre, but mostly serviceable bar/restaurant/etc. beside the train tracks for drinks, but hoping for food as well. As it happened, the large downstairs bar area had only just stopped serving food, and the dining room upstairs was a bit more of an ordeal than we were prepared for, so we decided to have a sit and drink instead.
You can tell that they feel pretty good about themselves at SoS, and why shouldn't they, I suppose? They have an impressively long bar packed with fancy booze bottles behind, although the bartender was stumped when one of my colleagues asked for an ever-so-obscure cocktail: a Manhattan. Although he was quite polite about her first effort, he later said out of earshot that it was terrible. Oh well, I go for pints of beer myself normally, and the house Czech lager, SOS, went down nicely. The downstairs bar has many smaller tables as well as two big communal tables and a large square of comfy-looking leather couches.
So what of this place overall? I guess it was nice enough - we had a good place to sit at the communal table and although it was a bit noisy, we carried on with good conversation for a while. Upstairs there is much more to explore, including two floors of dining and one that is apparently geared towards wine tasting. All that said, I got a sense of the after-work element of SoS kind of limiting its ambition, and I don't know how likely I am to run back there again.

'Hey look! An American diner!'

May 08, 2008

Much like American attempts at 'English Pubs', this 'American Diner' comes off as grasping a bit too much. I do very much appreciate the inclusion of Brooklyn Lager to the drinks list (as well as a full bar), and the menu keeps it simple which I like, but because of its attitude and clientele, its always clear that you're not really in an American diner.
Having knocked it a bit, however, there is plenty to enjoy about the Diner. They serve up fine comfort food in cozy booths with milkshakes and fries. If you've got a hankering for that kind of meal, they serve it up well.
I just wish it was open 24 hours for drunken pancakes or gravy-fries at 3am like a proper diner. Once I find that in a upscale casual restaurant in Shoreditch, I'll be happy.

Charming with Table Football!

May 08, 2008

After having had a couple pints at the Junction nearby, my mates and I ended up at the Bailey to tie it off. A more traditional layout than the Junction, the Bailey is a bit darker but also a bit more comfortable with itself. Clearly a good local pub, they have a huge projector screen that must be brilliant for Arsenal matches and other events, plus there's a great table football set that proved to be a fun diversion from our drinks. £1 got you about a dozen balls to play with.
The mixture of clientele was also a nice change from the Junction - with an older couple sharing a drink in the early evening as well as some young 30-somethings just off from work grabbing a pint on the way home. Our student group felt quite comfortable and at home, and the music on offer - mostly classic R&B and funk - was fantastic.
This is probably not a place to travel across town to visit, but if you are in the area it's definitely worth a stop.

Good front patio

May 08, 2008

Met a few friends for drinks last weekend at the Junction. As it was a nice day, we wanted a place we could share a pint outside in the sun. The Junction, right across from Highbury-Islington tube station, has a good sized pavement courtyard that fits in about 8 picnic tables perfectly suited for just this activity. The main problem to point out about this sizable outdoor area is that it is basically between the pub and the high street, which is pretty busy with cars and buses, so it could be more relaxing..
Inside, the Junction is a pretty spacious area, but one that is not often filled to capacity, according to my friend who lives in the neighborhood. Apparently it has relatively recently had a pretty serious makeover and is now all leather loungers, plasma screens and wood-fired oven pizza's. When the weather uncharitably turned on us during our outdoor drinking, we headed inside and managed to find a nice cozy corner tucked away from most of the rest of the pub to finish our pints.
As for those pints, there was a sort of mid-range choice of beer and cider to select from. I went with San Miguel, which is in my category of beer that is a fine selection, but also something of one to fall back upon when there's no better choices (ditto for Staropramen or *shudder* Stella - it must be something about the S's).
All in all, a decent pub and a good one to visit on a sunny afternoon or warm evening.

Prosecco from the tap!

May 01, 2008

Cecconi's is the only place that I know of where you can get Prosecco on tap. That tidbit alone is enough to make me consider this place a pretty awesome restaurant. There's something about drawing sparkling wine from a tap that ought to put me off, but instead it just really pleases me - and it helps that the prosecco is good quality as well.
Situated behind Piccadilly in Mayfair, there's no mistaking that Cecconi's is a fancy Italian restaurant, complete with white-coated waiters. The food is top notch - I had a lovely lobster spaghetti and spiced tuna tartare - and the service is quite attentive. Although when I visited they were fully booked, we were helpfully placed at the marble bar, which has an impressive view over the restaurant and the full menu available.
The clientele is a lot of Mayfair and St James types after work, segueing into a well-to-do crowd for dinner after that. Smart dressing and the odd under-dressed tourist are par for the course, and there appear to be a lot of regulars. Of special note in the cocktail crowd are the prevalence of really decadent looking drinks, from strawberry mojitos to raspberry belinis.
One of my choices for a high-end Italian restaurant, also an option for a posh, if busy, after work cocktail option.

Not Just Gross Entrails!

May 01, 2008

I was a bit nervous when I went in to St John's for dinner last week. All that I knew about the place (beyond the fact that it had a sterling reputation) was that it did "snout to tail" eating which often included various bits and pieces of animals that were not a part of my usual repertoire. I wasn't necessarily terribly eager to devour the spleen or gizzard or whatever of just any animal (although I know that my squeamishness is a bit unsophisticated), but fortunately this didn't turn out to be a problem at all! While St. John's does indeed specialize in offal and other awful sounding bits of meat, it also does a lot of exceptional (and straightforward) cuts of meat as well.
As some have noted, the place has a very scrupulous, yet plain, decor. It does indeed resemble an old abattoir (without the blood-splattered walls) and has a large dining room situated slightly above an equally impressive bar area. Good drinks on offer (including some tasty beers on tap) and an impressive French-heavy wine list.
Service was quite good and attentive, happily explaining some of the less familiar items on the menu for us. We also were provided with several jugs of water without a fuss, which is nice in a world of increasingly expensive bottles of water at fine restaurants (if I ever get handed a 'water menu' again I might flip out). The food itself was delicious, with my pork loin full of juicy goodness and delicious sticky cracklings surrounding it. Three of my dining partners split a special of the day, kid (it took a bit of explanation for me to learn that this was not a cannibal dish, but instead an adolescent goat) which was quite tasty (I know, because I stole a few bites) as well. Desserts were fine, but not necessarily amazing, although one dish was an incredibly heavy and intense cream dish that was so fatty and amazing that none of us could handle more than one spoonful.
St John's certainly deserves its reputation as a top place to go for meat dishes, and it should be noted that there are indeed vegetarian and fish dishes as well for those who are a bit put off by hogs feet or brain dishes as well. I'd recommend St Johns for a special dinner (although depending on the stage of your relationship it might be an odd choice for a date), or even to pop in to the bar for a dish or two as well.

Heaven for Real Ale Lovers

April 29, 2008

The Wenlock Arms is not a particularly photogenic pub, and neither is its clientele, but it is something special to find in London without a doubt. Upon entrance, you are confronted with not the reasonably common four or five taps, but an entire row of at least a dozen different real ales on draught. With a rotating selection, and a lot of short-run choices, there is always something new to try.
The upside of this is that you get to sample a variety of high quality beers. The downside is that sometimes a beer will be tapped in the morning and gone before 5pm, so it is advisable to call ahead if you are looking for your favourite (the proprietor told me that he gave up on updating the website two years ago, so don't look for advice there).
This bar is all about beer, and although they have spirits behind the bar as well, I didn't see any cocktails in the hands of any of the punters. They were, with the exception of one group of two ladies, all men, by the way. It is definitely a workers pub. But as long as your expectations are set right, and your belly is ready to fill up with a delicious range of real ales, then the Wenlock Arms is a genuine treasure.

Interesting Place

April 20, 2008

I went for drinks at Sketch with some friends, and had quite a good time despite myself. The place is, to some degree, something of a contradiction.
On the one hand you're pleasantly surprised that there is no cover charge or smarmy doormen. On the other, the decor and design of the place makes it very obvious that Sketch has a high estimation of itself. Personally I was a little put off by some o the bizarre sculptures, although I am quite certain that they were very deliberately chosen - for whatever effect.
Again, while on the one hand prices are quite high and, at least in my experience, service a bit spotty (the feeling I got was that if the waiters are cool enough to be working at this hip club, they must be too cool to serve you), there is a surprisingly relaxed vibe about the place and I genuinely enjoyed sitting in the bar for an hour or so.
Clearly the place is much bigger than I first realized - there are two dining rooms and a very peculiar (but fun looking) round bar at the back, as well as the main bar in the front of the club. As Adrian wrote, the toilets are quite a different experience, and worth a look even if you don't need to use them.
So in the end, I was quite pleased with Sketch. It's atmospheric and proffers great people-watching. Still, it can break the bank, so I wouldn't necessarily spend the night there - maybe just grab a drink or two after dinner like we did.

Lovely Cafe, Posh Baps

April 18, 2008

The Stoney Street cafe is a great place to meet your mates over lunch or to sit quietly and work for a couple hours. The main attraction pulling you in off the street opposite Borough Market are the posh sausage baps, which are quite satisfying (and with a fresh bun), but if you push further inside you'll find that there are several rows of simple wooden tables. A projector displayed Sky News when I was there, and presumably when the patrons are up for some sport it will have the game on as well.

But a real gem is the somewhat hidden upstairs sitting room. After you ascend the narrow and rather perilous staircase, you enter a medium sized room with 5 or 6 tables and several big windows overlooking the market across the way. I found this a lovely place to sit with my friends and have a chat - the staff would bring coffee or food up for you and were quite lovely and low maintenance, never giving us grief about moving along or buying more food/drink.

All in all, you could do far worse than this cafe in the area. Whether you just need a coffee or a quick lunch to take away, or if yo want to sit and contemplate or discuss for a couple hours, the Stoney Street Cafe is a good place to try.

Watch out for Pirates!

April 11, 2008

Good for a birthday party indeed! The Smuggler's Tavern is a nice, albeit small, pub behind the Warren Street tube station. What it lacks for in massive size, it makes up for with great service and tasty beverages (including this pirate's favourite, San Miguel). The place was lovely for a group of about 20 people, with a big table and couches reserved for the group but also had room for other punters (landlubbers, those) to enjoy themselves as well.

Outside are a row of picnic tables and a neat feature - on demand heat lamps. When you are out there shivering and sucking down on your cancer sticks (or, like me, joining the smokers outside because they are often better for conversation even if I don't smoke), all you need to do is depress a button and the heat lamps fire up and do their best to warm you up outside.

The place also has a big screen that was playing a pretty hilarious darts championship when we were there, but would also presumably be great for football and rugby as well. A kind of dank, subterranean mens room is a bit of a put off, but the ladies don't have to worry about drunkenly stumbling downstairs, their facilities are behind the bar.

All in all, a great place to meet up with some fellow privateers and throw back some pints in celebration.