What was a palatial Victorian station booking hall has been transformed into a new destination that’s just the ticket for today’s Hackney hipsters. Those not using the restaurant can congregate at the long bar for casual snacking and concerted drinking from a roster of local brews: Hackney’s Crate and Five Points are among the craft ales available, alongside dependable beers from fellow new-wave Londoners Sambrook’s and Redemption. Cocktails are no-nonsense basics, although the approachable list of classy European wines features a decent quota of English labels. A short menu of appetising bar food includes sliders, whitebait, oxtail poutine and chicken poppers in BBQ sauce. Two further bars inhabit a late-night live music room/social hub upstairs: hear tomorrow’s big tracks on a state-of-the-art sound rig as garage, surf, nu-folk and grunge bands play the old waiting room.