Sean's Thai Bar - Kaosarn - Zocalo

Wednesday 14th May - Thai - Thai - Tequila! Not an obscure drinking game, but my route on Wednesday night.  The evening started in Balham at the opening night of Sean's Thai Bar in Balham.  I only learned of it the day before, and it handily slotted into an hour and a half gap before dinner.

Sean Blake already runs a funky little joint called Sean's Bar in Brixton Village making use of Rosie's Deli in the evenings.  Whilst there he befriended Jay who recently opened Krua Thai restaurant in Balham, which led to the offer of an unused basement space.  Sean wasted no time in converting the space into Sean's Thai Bar.

As with Sean's Bar, the drinks list is relatively simple (and refreshingly cheap), with a small but high quality range of spirits behind the bar. There are more cocktails here than in Brixton, with several classics and house specials - I can recommend the Jungle Bird with Mekhong (a Thai spirit), Campari, Lime & Pineapple.  You also can't really go wrong with £4.50 Gin & Tonics, or a splash of Abuelo 7 yr Rum.

After a night in Brixton, we went home humming Barry White, and the soul music is back again here, supposedly with a 70s Thai twist - I'll have to do some homework on that.  If you are peckish, there are exciting bar snacks on offer (separate from upstairs) - we stuck to the yummy prawn crackers as dinner plans had already been made.

It's a great little space, full of quirky details such as a Doors lyric written in Thai above the bar, a specials board behind windows, and a £1 peep show sign (bargain!) which Sean may or may not have stolen from somewhere.  We sat in a corner of the bar which Sean is particularly proud of - when they first arrived they found a fake wall which was concealing a hidden bedroom! Who knows what the previous owner was up to...

Just what Balham needs, go and check it out!

From Thai to Thai - I hopped on a train to Clapham Junction to meet flatmate Ali for some food at Kaosarn, another place with roots in Brixton Village.  All this week, several restaurants on St.John's Hill are offering special £15 menus as part of the Fabulous Feast which culminates in a big food festival today (Saturday 17th May) - read more here.

I ran out to Sainsburys to grab a beer (BYOB) straight after ordering, and the starters had already arrived when I returned 2 minutes later.  We went for Satay & Moo-Ping skewers - generous portions and tasty sticky sauces are a winning combination.  I do wonder if Ali munched through some more and hid the evidence whilst I was off site...

We moved quickly on to classic Thai Green Chicken Curry & Beef Massaman Curry with sticky rice. I could eat Kaosarn's creamy green curry all day - it's a reminder that good food doesn't need to show off to be enjoyable.  Simple and delicious.

Dessert was Gluay Tod - Banana fritters served with vanilla ice-cream topped with ground roasted peanuts and honey.  Hit the spot again, gone in seconds.

We were in and out within an hour which is impressive, but we would have loved to stay longer as the atmosphere is wonderful, helped by a bright dining room with high ceilings, cool lighting, and windows opening out on to St.John's Hill.  Fantastic food from start to finish - all for £15!

With Powder Keg Diplomacy buzzing opposite, Ben's Canteen round the corner, and Birdhouse café down the road, local residents are spoilt for choice.  Check them all out on Saturday at the festival, or make some time to visit St. John's Hill soon.

Last but not least, Ali and I walked back to Battersea Square to say hello to a new tapas & tequila bar called Zocalo that has just opened near our flat.  We were warmly greeted by Jose who instantly started pouring us some Del Maguey Vida Mezcal including one for himself.

They have a great range of Tequilas & Mezcals, great for sipping, but also in cocktails such as Negroni Mezcal and Pare de Sufrir (Mezcal, Coffee Liqueur, Amaro, Mole Bitters, Pedro Ximenez & Cinnamon).  I moved on to Del Maguey Minero whilst Ali switched to Tequila with a Don Julio Reposado.

In-house chilli tequila concoction

Estrella is on tap alongside some nice bottled beers including Negra Modelo and the lesser known Mexican Red Pig Ale which a friend is importing for them.  I'm hoping this becomes a fun little spot for Mexico matches during the World Cup in a few weeks!  The atmosphere could be incredible making use of the wonderful outdoor space in the hidden gem that is Battersea Square.

Love these adjustable chairs!

The tapas selection looks superb, but I will have to come back to sample it soon (though I will probably just end up sipping more mezcal). This might be a regular haunt for me - very dangerous!

The Joint - Seven - Sean's Bar

Thursday January 30th - I'm currently excitedly planning a Summer trip to New York, Toronto, Chicago and Minneapolis (all recommendations welcome!), but after yet another wonderful evening out in Brixton last night, I was left wondering whether anything across the pond could compare.

Yesterday began as it so often does in Brixton, at Craft Beer Co for a couple of beers.  I enjoyed a Thornbridge Sequoia & Evil Twin Nomad Wit, and Max started with a Thornbridge Chiron.  If you haven't made it to one of the Craft bars around London, put it on your to do list.  There are quality drinks besides beer, but try a few samples of their 20+ taps and you might just be converted.

Max always brings back fun gifts from his travels abroad, and he impressed both me and the Craft Beer Co staff by presenting me with a box of 3 bottled beers from the Shiga Kogen microbrewery which is situated in a Japanese ski resort - pretty niche.  They are one of the few breweries in Japan to grow their own ingredients.

Shiga Kogen beers - a microbrewery in a Japanese ski resort

Choosing where to eat in Brixton Village / Market Row is always difficult (for all the right reasons), so we took the advice of Burgaffair and Gordon Ramsay (see below) and sat ourselves down at The Joint.

The menu is short and simple - a few sides (onion rings, riblets, sweetcorn, wings, hushpuppies etc), two types of slow-cooked pulled pork / shredded chicken in a bun/wrap and BBQ ribs.  It's BYOB so pop round to Market Row Wines and pick up some cheap bottles of Brixton beer or refillable wine.

The sides are cutely presented in little bags with tags, and the Drink Me... mint-infused water is a nice touch. The onion rings were delicious - covered in a delicate batter and an indulgent BBQ sauce.  To celebrate Chinese New Year, they are currently serving special pulled pork wontons with a BBQ sweet chilli jam dip - highly recommended.

For mains, we both went for the Asian BBQ 16-hour pulled pork in a bun which comes with coleslaw, pickled ginger, chilli, spring onion and salad.  Sounds pretty great, but lots of places are doing tasty pulled pork options, so The Joint have mixed things up by infusing a sourdough (not brioche!) bun with fig and giving it a vanilla glaze.  A bonkers idea but they have pulled it off.  It might be on the sweet side for some, but personally I was very taken with it.  The initial sweet flavour quickly gives way to the pulled pork and chilli.

The portions are enormous for £7 but I managed to polish it off pretty quickly.  Beware - it is a fairly messy meal, but they do helpfully provide a mountain of napkins.  Staff were very friendly, service was good, and the oddly appropriate chart music kept us from freezing on the outdoor tables.  

No trip to Brixton is complete without a £5 cocktail from Seven.  I have already mentioned them twice on The List, so I'll go one better this time and mention them twice in one post!  Not only are the drinks an absolute bargain, the bar itself is stunning.  Even the corridor has been transformed into a beautiful, candlelit hallway, with foldable chairs efficiently hanging off hooks on the walls.  We stopped here for a Honey Chilli Margarita and a Ginger Beer Basil Mojito before moving on elsewhere, but we did return later on!

Max and I were joined by local Luke and flatmate Maggie (3rd & 7th on Team List respectively) in Sean's Bar, a cosy watering hole which pops up at night in the popular Rosie's Deli Cafe, round the corner from Seven.  The drinks are simple but well executed by the eponymous Sean and his team, all to a banging soul soundtrack, every Thursday-Saturday 6-11pm.  

UPDATE: Sean's Bar has moved out of Rosie's Deli Cafe.  Rosie is running a similar bar in the evenings currently.  Sean runs Sean's Thai Bar in Balham and is looking for a new space in Brixton.

There are only a few tables so it can be very busy, but it can also empty very quickly.  It doesn't really matter as the atmosphere is great however full it is.  Sean & co are a friendly bunch and keep themselves amused choosing the next tune.  We had a serious Barry White session yesterday, which I continued with at home. A friend texted me this morning saying that Spotify had notified him that "Matt has been listening to a lot of Barry White". I recommend starting with Sha La La Means I Love You - off you go.

I stuck to £4 G&Ts whilst Maggie went for an Old Fashioned from the £6 cocktail list.  They are mostly classics (Negroni, Sours etc) but they do a couple of specials - Quince Tom Collins was on offer yesterday. Local Brixton beers are also available for £4.

There are also several tempting food offerings including "Rosie's" Reuben Sandwich and Truffled Macaroni Cheese.  Maggie's Roast Pumpkin, Prosciutto and Walnuts was beautifully presented and disappeared quickly.

We could have stayed all night, and perhaps another time we will (late night lock in with Sean & Barry?), but we decided to pop back to Seven for one more as Maggie had never been and we were so close!  Sean's Bar is a wonderful addition to Market Row - go and check it out!

Back at Seven, we returned to our corridor and I decided to splash out and go for the £7 Smoked Ale Old Fashioned - Walnut Bitters, Wild Turkey Honey, Buffalo Trace Bourbon and London Pride Ale - aged in Buffalo Trace Barrels and Smoked with Wood Chip Smoke.  We joked that for a hefty £2 more we expected the full barrel experience, but they went one better and brought it in a skull shaped bottle filled with wood chip smoke.  The drink was part shisha, part old fashioned and the smoke-filled bottle went round the table several times.  Go and order one whilst they still have it on the menu, they change it quite often!

It's worth noting that Seven have one of the few toilets in Market Row - Wishbone opposite also have one. Also, Sunday nights upstairs at Seven are currently the home to Sunday Skool, an evening of wine tasting and tapas run by A Grape Night In aka Laura & Kiki - two wine lovers who were responsible for several exciting popups last year.

Brixton went above and beyond as usual - I'm proud to be a Londoner when there is so much quality and innovation on show all over the city.  I'll leave you with some Barry (email readers click through to the blog if you want to join in):