Last week we got an email from one of our lovely readers asking
for some help finding a laid back venue in London for her Birthday
celebrations...
Love your blog girls but need your help.
This year I'm stuck for a birthday venue for my 29th.
Wanted to try Bubbledogs in Holborn but apparently its opening
has been delayed. The concept of gourmet hotdogs and champagne sounds fun.
Can you girls suggest an equally cool and casual place for some
yummy cocktails on a school night?
Thanks
Rosh x
The Mice Advice
We agree that Charlotte Street newbie, Bubbledogs sounds super fun! For
anyone who hasn't heard about it yet, we're talking gourmet hotdogs (think the
BLT a hotdog wrapped in bacon and served with truffled mayo and caramelized
lettuce) and Grower Champagne served by the glass or bottle. With prices
starting at just £6, we're thinking this may become a fav post-work
pitstop. We're also pretty excited about the other side of Bubbledogs, a
private dining space for up to nineteen people called the Kitchen Table. Hidden
from view from of the hotdog chomping crew, head chef, James Knappett will whip
up contemporary European dishes right in front of his guests in an open
kitchen. Lunch will be a three/five course menu (starting from £25) and
dinner will be a twelve course affair (starting from £50).
Mouth watering yet? The only issue that it hasn't opened just
yet... head over to the website and sign up to
the mailing list to make sure that you're kept posted on news of the dog
landing...
In the meantime Rosh, we bring you our top ten laid-back London
spots for some seriously strong cocktails and a lot of mid-week misbehaviour!
Duvet Days at the ready...
Shrimpy's
A disused petrol station in King's Cross may sound an unlikely
location for the Bistroteque boys' latest joint but, perched on the edge of
Regent's Canal, its neon sign reflecting in the murky waters, Shrimpy's is refuelling London's
hipsters themselves rather than their cars these days. With the forecourt
acting as the bar, the shop has been transformed into a diner complete with
colourful wall scribblings and quirky pineapple lamps. Fortunately the diner
doesn't serve up your usual service station fare - think less limp, insipid
sandwiches; more juicy soft-shell crab burgers, crispy fried chicken and
Peruvian seabass ceviche. The Filling Station is scheduled for demolition in
2014 so make sure you catch it before the wrecking ball does.
Shrimpys
The Kings Cross Filling Station
Good's Way
London
N1C 4UR
+44 (0)20 8880 6111
Image via: www.wwd.com
Burger & Lobster
Lobster in
Mayfair without making your wallet yelp? It could only be Burger & Lobster. With just three
choices on the menu: burger, lobster or lobster roll each priced at just £20 and a cocktail
list helpfully divided into 'B' and 'L' categories, this cosy, West-end spot is
the perfect place for a hassle-free evening. The no booking policy is slightly
tedious (but is apparently the basis for keeping prices so low) so get there
early, get your name on the list and head round the corner to Tempo for a
couple of aperitifs while you wait. Cocktails, lobster and plastic bibs - what
more could a girl want on her Birthday?!
Ps. A new Burger & Lobster has just opened on Dean Street
and a Farringdon branch is tabled for the not too distant future...
Burger & Lobster
29 Clarges street,
Mayfair,
London,
W1J 7EF
+44(0)20 7409 1699
Image via: www.barchick.com
Brooklyn Bite
For enormous
slabs of New York style pizza and a small but perfectly formed cocktail menu,
head to Brooklyn Bite. Skip past the
street level Pizzeria and head down to the basement bar for a chilled,
speakeasy vibe – exposed brick walls, neon wall art and red leather banquettes
- a slice of NYC in the heart of Chelsea. With sport on the big screens
and a soundtrack of laidback beats, the cocktails may be good enough to draw
Carrie Bradshaw and co but the crowd's definitely more louche than
Louboutin-ed.
Brooklyn Bite
342 King's Road,
London,
SW3 5UR
+44 (0)20 7352 5057
Image via: www.brooklynbite.com
La Bodega Negra
Like your
cocktails a little more x-rated? Head for the flashing Sex Shop sign on Compton
Street, slip down the stairs and you'll be greeted not with a grubby porn
store, but instead with Soho's current it spot, La Bodega Negra. For mind-blowing
margaritas, spicy chorizo tacos and a little light celeb/ general beautiful
people watching - La Bodegra Negra can't be beaten. The vibe is far more sexy
than a sex shop could ever be - crumbling plaster archways, flickering
candle-light, shadowy alcoves and ridiculously good-looking staff. The only
slight niggle is the two hour turn around time, we suggest heading there for as
late a sitting as possible which should hopefully mean that Kylie's already
pushed a lettuce leaf around her plate and you'll be able to stick around after
your ceviche for some after hours debauchery...
La Bodegra Negra
9 Old Compton Street
London
+44 (0)20 7758 4100
Image via: www.labodeganegra.com
Wahaca Southbank Experiment
Continuing in the
Mexican vein, how about a little pop-up in a sombrero? The Wahaca
Southbank Experiment brings
the Mexican favelas to the South Bank for the next eighteen months. Housed in
eight brightly coloured recycled shipping containers with floor to ceiling
sliding doors and a large terrace overlooking the river, the decor's minimal
but kept playful with strings of fairy lights, neon signs on the ceiling and
bright Mexican street art on the walls. Open since the start of July, the menu
will change monthly with the most popular dishes being added to the menu of the
chain's other six outposts. For those on a liquid diet, cocktails are served up
from the dedicated tequila bar. We say swap the Birthday bumps for tequila
shots - one tequila, two tequila, three tequila...floor.
Wahaca Southbank
Experiment
Terrace under Queen
Elizabeth Hall,
Southbank Centre,
Belvedere Road,
London,
SE1 8XX
Image via: www.blog.wahaca.co.uk
Ruby's
For somewhere a little more slinky yet rough around the edges,
Dalston basement bar Ruby's is
a real little gem. Head towards the seedy red glow of the doorway under a large
illuminated sign declaring 'Nothing to see here', trot down the stairs and
prepare to be impressed by some seriously great cocktails. This former Chinese
takeaway has been converted into a cosy little speakeasy which looks a little
like your granny's sitting room but with exposed concrete walls and a
well-stocked bar. The menu features locally brewed beers, all your usual wines
and spirits and a carefully curated selection of just six cocktails which
change every six weeks. Expect to we wowed not only by the delicious drinks but
also by the quirky way that each is served - think a blackberry mojito served
in a 1940s Manchester milk bottle and a passionfruit julep served in a retro
tin mug. One word of warning, Ruby's doesn't do food, so we'd suggest a hearty
meal en route to avoid any julep-induced memory loss and general bad
behaviour...
Ruby's
76 Stoke Newington Road,
Hackney,
London,
N16 7XB
Image via: www.timeout.com
MEATliquor
Killer cocktails served in jam jars and 'Dead Hippy Burgers'
which we've awarded the title of best burger in London,
you can't go wrong with a place that does exactly what it says on the tin and
does it extraordinarily well. As the name suggests, MEATliquor serves up hunks of cow
and delicious but deadly cocktails against a backdrop of punk scribbled walls,
red neon lighting and a large table that's designed to be danced on. Although
this is another no bookings joint, once you're in you can settle in for the
night, so go early and hungry with a glint in your eye and an appetite for
mischief.
MEATliquor
74 Welbeck Street
London
W1G 0BA
Image via: www.telegraph.co.uk
Flat Iron
Here for six
weeks only, Flat Iron launched just last
Wednesday and serves up steak and cocktails above one of our top Shoreditch
watering holes, The Owl & Pussycat. The name is taken from the single cut
of meat on the menu which is served rare with freshly grated horseradish and
triple-cooked beef dripping chips. YUM. Cocktails come courtesy of the boys
from the London Cocktail
Club, and include a build your own Bloody Mary. Another no-bookings policy
culprit (all the cool kids seem to be these days...) we're hoping that the
annoyance can be offset by being able to enjoy a couple of pre-dinner
sharpeners at the O&P bar while you wait.
Flat Iron
Upstairs at the Owl & Pussycat
34, Redchurch Street,
London
+44 (0)20 3487 0088
Image via: www.londonpopups.com
Evans
& Peel
Dust off your
trilby and trench coat, secret codewords at the ready, it's time to go
undercover for a visit to underground detective agency, Evans
& Peel. Call ahead and make an appointment with Detective Peel and then
at the prescribed hour ring the bell at the agency door and wait to be escorted
to his office. Beginning to worry that you've inadvertently stepped into a real
life game of Cluedo? Worry not, charm the detective sufficiently and you'll be
rewarded with passage through the bookcase to a secret drinking den. Lowlit and
shadowy, the music crackles from a gramophone and the decor is straight from
the 1920s. In keeping with the era, drinks are served Prohibition style - beer
and wine cloaked in brown paper bags and cocktails in teacups. When your tummy
begins to rumble there are hearty snacks to keep the wolf at bay, think sliders
and mac and cheese. Languid lounging and lethal liquor, Evans & Peel really
is the Cat's Pajamas but keep it under your hat...
Evans & Peel
310c Earls Court Road
London
+44 (0)20 7373 3573
Image via: www.evansandpeel.com
Dach
& Sons
Only dogs will
do? Don't worry, Bubbledogs aren't the only crew in town serving up gourmet
sausages in buns. North London's new kid on the block, Dach & Sons dishes up four
types of hot dogs as well as sliders and burgers in a very cool little space
which looks far more East Village than Hampstead Village. But the dogs aren't
the only draw, Dach & Sons also boasts a dinky roof terrace for sundowners
and alfresco bites as well as a mind-boggling library of whiskies. And that's
not all. Our favourite part of all is the under the radar bar upstairs. Once
you've eaten your fill of meat, discreetly mention to the bar staff that you'd
like to continue drinking and you'll be whisked up to Flat P. Did we mention
the brains behind Dach & Sons are the molecular magicians from 3BM
fav, Worship Street Whistling Shop?
Navy velvet booths bathed in flickering candle-light are the perfect pews for
gawping at the theatrics of the cocktail kings of London. The resulting
concoctions are deliciously potent - walk up the stairs and fall back
down them...
Image via: www.zagat.com
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