Queen of Hoxton Summer Rooftop - Dead Man's Hand

Sunday 26th May - Day 2 of entertaining Anglo-American Parisians in London started a little later than Day 1, with late nights at O'Neils and masked balls starting to take their toll.  The plan was to meet them at 2pm on the new summer rooftop at the Queen of Hoxton (where Wigwambam was during winter), along with a totally different bunch of American students who are over for a couple of months.  I was 10 minutes late and found my two groups (who had no knowledge of the other) already sitting at opposite ends of the rooftop like kids at some awkward school disco.  Eventually we managed to squeeze on to one table and enjoy the chillout atmosphere altogether on the rooftop.  The sun came out, BBQ food was devoured, and Pimms and pints were consumed.  I don't know if they are planning any frozen drinks that are mentioned on the website, but it had only been open for two days.  It got very busy as the afternoon wore on, so get there early if you don't want to sit on the "grass" floor.

Aside from just the regular bar and BBQ, the QoH rooftop has other tricks up its sleeve.  Rooftop Film Club is running fun evening film screenings (scrape up any remaining tickets here) with headphones and drinks on various nights throughout the summer.  If those are sold out, there are other showings in Peckham, Kensington and London Fields coming up too.  

The Queen of Hoxton also has one off events on the rooftop - I am very excited about their alternative Sports Day taking place on July 6th that I have bought a team ticket for.  The games will include Beer Pong, Rock Paper Scissors, Limbo and Frying Pan Ping-Pong, with retro sports clothing encouraged.  What's not to love?

I had to leave Tim and the gang for a few hours as I had booked something else that afternoon a couple of months ago.  Tim is a natural List adventurer anyway and took them up the Oxo Tower (it was Miranda's birthday after all) and then for a Brick Lane curry so they did well in my absence.  I sped off to Farringdon to meet Natalie, Mary and Joe for a mad, interactive murder mystery poker-themed adventure called Dead Man's Hand run by A Door in a Wall.

We were told to meet from 17.00 at Grand Union in Farringdon which had been transformed into the Underhand Poker Club.  We were greeted by the shady club owner who showed us to a table where chips and playing cards were laid out.  Here we had time to come up with a team name - we went for Bowling Mums in reference to a TV show called The Amazing Race which involves teams running around the world solving clues.  We also read about the murder and character back stories, checked out the final hand of the deadly poker game and researched the locations for clues given in a handout before the start time at 18.00.  Just before the kickoff, there was a staged scene as an inspector barged in to the club and threatened to close down the club if we didn't find the killer for him.  It was all pretty silly, but set the tone well.  We rushed out on to the empty streets of Farringdon and methodically worked our way through all the clues.

There were all sorts of comedy set pieces that we had to get involved in, including some makeshift surgery, some amateur surveillance work and a spot of minigolf (or Mini G as we were told to refer to it as).  Otherwise we were solving little puzzles, spotting hidden clues or waiting for phone boxes to ring.  We were constantly bumping in to other teams working their way around, but it was never too congested as there were so many routes to take.  Thankfully it was a nice evening - it would be a fairly unpleasant experience in the rain as we were outdoors for the majority of our 2.5 hours of sleuthing.  Here are some of their photos from the event as I was too wrapped up in it all to take any good ones!

We made our way back to Grand Union to piece it all together and write up our report on all of the suspects.  We had missed one clue but luckily had enough to come up with a reasonably good explanation for it all.  The majority of the clues were fairly straightforward which could perhaps be improved, and I would happily have spent more time wandering around working stuff out.  Previous games from A Door in a Wall have lasted the whole day, hopefully another will come along soon.  We assumed that everyone had come to the same conclusion as us, and probably in more detail.  We were therefore pleasantly surprised when we were announced as the winners!  We were given a trophy, some chocolates and a free tour of London voucher to redeem at some point.  A great victory for Team List / Bowling Mums.  Keep your eyes peeled for future games.

Pleasure Rooms?

Team List Leader with the Dead Man's Hand trophy

I made my way back over to Old Street to reunite with the Parisians (plus some London extras) who had been currying on Brick Lane.  My initial plan was to try out the new Nola Bar but it was sadly shut for a couple of days so we went back to Underdog - the hidden beer-cocktail bar underneath Brewdog.  This was the second place (after to Meat Liquor) to make The List in my first proper post a few months ago.  They have extended the excellent beer cocktail menu - I'm always a big fan of puns and "Agave Maria" (with hickory smoked pineapple) is a good'un.

I also couldn't resist popping in to Beigel Bake again on the way to the bus stop, only to discover that they were out of salt beef with no more arriving for at least 90 minutes.  Miranda's request for a birthday cake didn't go down too well with the slightly terrifying lady behind the counter, and she was given a pretty substandard brownie instead.  However my 30p apple strudel was worth every penny!  We made our way our way back to Liverpool Street and prepared for the London night bus experience.  Mine ended up nearly empty with one man DJing for the whole bus using his phone, whereas the others had the opposite, totally packed, standing in the aisle version.  I didn't see Tim again as he was off to a Stag do the next day but I agreed to meet the girls at midday under the clock at Waterloo for the Real Street Food Festival.

Monday 27th May - Day 3 - I didn't really think through that Shannon and Miranda wouldn't know which clock I meant, so we spent 15 minutes or so waiting in different places before finally heading over to Southbank together to fill up on tasters from Real Street Food Festival - the next one is 23-26 August.  I went to the same festival a couple of months ago (read more here) so I'll be brief.  We worked our way around a lot of the stalls, including some old favourites and some new faces - 

Anna Mae's Mac'n'Cheese - pesto, bacon and pasta is all I need to survive

Pizza Pilgrims - cutting pizza into 6 of 4 proved tricky!

Bell and Brisket - cheese blowtorched to perfection - they were worried that they wouldn't meet Shannon's high expectations after she did a victory dance upon receiving her salt beef sandwich, but unsurprisingly it was superb

Bleecker St. Burger - very moreish NY cheeseburgers,  next time I will have to order Angry Fries

The Ice Kitchen - delicious ice lollies in a variety of inventive flavours - Chocomel Almond was fantastic

We also squeezed in some octopus dumplings, fresh watermelon, some craft beer and a slice of banoffee pie - not a bad haul for three people.  We let it all settle on the swings in the cosy Udderbelly Magners forest, which is well worth checking out for a quiet drink, before heading our separate ways one last time.

Thanks to Tim, Shannon and Miranda for an entertaining weekend, even if they didn't pick up as many new List points as they would have hoped.  Tim keeps himself in touch of the lead for when he returns to London in October - List Leader Natalie, be warned.

Crown and Shuttle - 5cc - Beigel Bake

Saturday 13th - Shoreditch trip #4 got underway with a couple of drinks in Wigwambam with Natalie.  I'm quite proud of myself for revisiting somewhere from The List when I have so many places left to try out!  We tried their hot drinks - hot toddy, hot buttered rum and mulled cider - which all hit the spot, before moving off to the Crown and Shuttle round the corner. Wigwambam will be making way for Rooftop Film Club soon. Get booking for that if you are interested!

The Crown and Shuttle reopened its doors on 5th April so it had only been open a week when we visited.  It started off as a Victorian pub in 1865, but in the 1990s it became a shabby strip club which was eventually boarded up in 2001.  It looks fantastic now (retaining the original strippers pole for old times sake) and has a great selection of beers - in bottles, on tap and in barrels at the back.  There is also a lovely big garden with a food truck serving up a whole host of tasty treats.  It's a very handy place to start off a night in Shoreditch - you might find yourself still there several hours later.

The main event of the evening was a trip to another new pub, The Well and Bucket, which reopened a few weeks ago, 24 years after it shut it 1989.  Here too there is an exciting array of beers spread around an attractive central bar, but the crowds have already discovered it.  It was truly unpleasant just to be in there for a minute.  Luckily, a minute was all we needed because we weren't going to the pub itself.  We went straight downstairs to find the hidden cocktail bar, 5cc.

5cc felt like home after forcing through the pub crowds upstairs.  We had a table ready, jazz was playing in the background and waitresses were competing to serve us!  We were joined by Sam, Ali, Olly and James (on his List début).  There are some interesting bottled beers (we enjoyed local Crate Lager) but the cocktails are the reason to come.  The Last Word and Smokey Tommy particularly stood out of the ones we tried.  The 5cc barman passed Ali's mocktail test, making her a mojito-ish drink that was good enough to make her buy another.  There are also bottle-aged cocktails and vintage spirits available to try.  If you are peckish, you can order in some oysters.  Sam and I were tempted by one that was wrapped in bacon, creamed leeks and crushed hazelnuts, but we decided to hold off on food until a bit later.

We had a very relaxing stay, especially in comparison to our experience of the chaos upstairs.  It was amusing to see pub-goers discovering the bar by mistake on their way to the toilets, and trying to talk their way in for a quick drink.  I only managed to get a 2 hour slot having booked a few days in advance, so get organised if you want to stay there all evening.  There is another 5cc hidden beneath The Exmouth Arms if you don't have any luck booking in to the Shoreditch branch.

Ali, James and Olly headed off home leaving Sam, Natalie and I to search for food.  We started to wander towards Hawksmoor Spitalfields to sample the downstairs bar food, but we got distracted by Beigel Bake on the way.  Beigel Bake is a Brick Lane institution - this traditional Jewish bakery is open 24 hours a day, and is always busy with a mix of hipsters, taxi drivers and locals (who use it as a proper bakery rather than a late night food joint).  For ravenous hipsters, the best option is the enormous hot salt beef beigel with mustard.

Whilst queuing, you will inevitably order some of their pastries, especially when a doughnut is only 30p.  Natalie cleverly ordered a buttered beigel to pass the time until her other beigel was ready, whilst Sam devoured the Salmon and Cream Cheese variety in preparation for his.  I bought two puddings just because it seemed silly not to when everything is so cheap.  This should definitely be your first port of call when in need of late night food in Shoreditch.  You have to feel sorry for the empty Beigel shop next door though!

We walked down towards Liverpool Street to head home and briefly dropped in to The Breakfast Club on Artillery Lane.  We were too late to get in to The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town speakeasy downstairs through the giant fridge, but we stayed for some milkshakes and a sticky toffee pudding (my third dessert of the evening).  I will need to return for a proper brunch before I count this place as ticked off, and a trip through the fridge is also required.  The Breakfast Club can also be found in Hoxton, Angel and Soho.  I am very excited that they are opening a new branch in Battersea, complete with a hidden bar called The King of Ladies Man.  The name is apparently a famous line in 'Cheers' and the bar will have a 70s bachelors pad feel, serving up craft beers and disco drinks from midday until late.

Full of beigels and puddings, we parted company instead of continuing on to Sushisamba round the corner. Natalie picks up 4 more Team List points, Sam gets 3, and Olly, James and Ali pick up 1.  Every little helps! This puts Natalie in to a clear lead with 21 points so far, leaving behind Tim on 16 and Sam on 14. However,  I have been out since with Tim and Sam on separate occasions.  Can they overhaul Natalie's total?  Keep reading to find out!

Exciting popup alert: Midnight Apothecary - a rooftop cocktail bar on top of the Brunel museum in Rotherhithe open Saturdays and Sundays this Summer, starting on April 20th.