The Shop

Perhaps inspired by the ultra-cool King’s Cross hangout Drink Shop & Do, Kensal Rise now has its own café/cocktail bar/social club where the furniture & artworks are all for sale. Ad hoc events such as vintage clothes fairs & 80s nights, when any girl wearing shoulder pads gets a free cocktail from the multicoloured bar, are part of the fun. Aperol & passion fruit daiquiri (£6) & ‘shop credit’ (a rum, vodka Prosecco & pomegranate-based smoothie) are among the drinks served in retro milk bottles or jam jars; otherwise pick from 15 wines or a line-up of lads’ lagers including Sol, Amstel & Heineken. Read the Sunday papers & load up on pork pies, Scotch eggs or sharing platters until the kitchen becomes fully operational later this year.