Storms have been a-brewing this month – as has a shedload of booze in the many new bars opening up around town (mainly in east London’s old laundrettes), beckoning us to take refuge within. As always, resident lounge lizard Keith Barker-Main has been dutifully propping up the bar to ensure you don’t waste your time in a dried-out watering hole. Because while we prefer the weather dry, the same doesn’t apply to our drinks. Except Martinis. Enjoy…
Silk Stockings, Dalston (above)
The set-up here is similar to Satan’s Whiskers – this newbie’s hit Bethnal Green sibling. Killer cocktails are dispensed in a vaguely retro, slightly Frenchified room decorated with tongue-in-cheek taxidermy. Bag a booth or a stool at the smart bar for a selection of spot-on classics, with charcuterie and cheese boards, should you require sustenance.
Wringer & Mangle, Hackney (above)
Gerry Calabrese, owner of The Hoxton Pony, is surely on to a winner with this charming, idiosyncratic conversion of a London Fields laundry. Half the considerable floor space – plus a kitsch, all-weather tented courtyard – is now a 1950s-cool lounge bar. On-trend booze bunnies will be keen to sample Calabrese’s 30 different £10 spins on the gin-based Tom Collins.
NT’s, London Fields (above)
Dependably on-point, peripatetic pop-up meisters Night Tales bring their laidback brand of fun times to Hackney at their new permanent base, NT’s. The bar occupies an entire floor of a shabby 1960s building with gritty, urban views: NT’s feels like a cool NYC open-plan loft circa Sly and the Family Stone. Top calls include a Lychee Gimlet and Aperol highball, while they flavour a classic Prohibition Southside cocktail with coriander.
Flight Club, Shoreditch
Set over two sprawling levels, each served by its own bar and upbeat staff, Russell Sage Studio’s slickly designed cod-Edwardian games hall is a well-appointed setting for London's new ‘home of social darts’. Accommodating two to 12 players, numerous boards are for hire and Darts for Dummies-style guides mean you’ll quickly get the gist of various fun games. And with a Feathers Fruit Cup or Shanghai Sling in hand, your aim will be on point in no time…
Machine No 3, Dalston (above)
Owned by the two brothers who reinvigorated The Three Compasses on Dalston Lane, this former laundrette has been reinvented as a contemporary neighbourhood bar. It scrubs up well, with honey-toned recycled woods, washed bricks and school furniture, and we don’t doubt that happy locals will soon make short work of fancy cocktails, such as a Gimlet Royale or Mexican Sweater (Gusano Rojo mezcal, coffee, Amaro liqueur and bitters).
This article was published 20 November 2015