As we mentioned in last week’s SquareReel News (stay tuned for another glorious video later today!), a drinks hoedown has been had in Marylebone this week. Deep South soul-food joint The Lockhart has been wowing the hungry crowds on Seymour Place since chef Brad McDonald arrived in early 2014. On Wednesday, rebranded basement bar, Showdown, was unveiled. Never ones to skip a subterranean Sazerac, we descended for drinks – here’s our verdict.
The low-down on Showdown is that the consistently inventive Matt Whiley (aka The Talented Mr Fox, the man behind Bethnal Green’s Peg + Patriot bar) has created a selection of Dixie-inspired drinks here. Thanks to Whiley, the list contains bottle-aged Sazerac, Pickleback, and boozy Ice Tee on tap. Also worth sipping are Campside Colada (Bacardi, barbecued pineapple, toasted coconut and marshmallow soda), and a Finlandia vodka Fancy made with absinthe, Bénédictine and vanilla doughnut from Columbia Road bakers, 1235. Otherwise, this ‘all-American bar’ provides Stateside beers and wines accompanied by the likes of catfish goujons, shrimp and grits, excellent fried chicken, or creole ‘dirty’ rice (with chicken livers, peppers and onions).
There’s a back-roads Mississippi feel to the place, but – apart from curtains here and some Quaker-ish wooden tables there – Showdown’s Depression-era interior looks mighty similar to The Lockhart’s homespun bar of yore.
This article was published 7 August 2015