Toy Shop Bar - Byron - Lost & Co - Bricklayer's Arms - Dr.Ink of Fulham - White Horse

Wednesday 2nd October - Way back in June, Team List tried to go to the opening night of Toy Shop Bar in Putney.  It turned out to be a friends and family only night, so we wandered off and went to a couple of reliable boozers in the area instead.  We finally returned last week and made it inside this time!

They now have an incredibly generous Happy Hour from 5-8 Monday-Thursday which was the perfect excuse for us to work our way through their cocktail menu.  It was pretty empty when we arrived, but I'm sure it will get busier once Putney locals get wind of the discounts!  It apparently gets a bit crazy at the weekends so take your pick.

Most drinks have ridiculous names and an even sillier list of ingredients.  I started with "Newton's Cradle Old Fashioned Tipple" - Toy Shop Dried Fruit Infused Malt Blend, Absinthe Mist, Rosehip Tincture, Aged Cardamom Dark Cacao, Vanilla Extract, No 1. Bitter Blend Marinated 8x, Coated Fruits.  Lauren went for "Clubland a la Polly Pocket" which was served in a bizarre conical glass on ice, with sherbert, chocolate cigarettes, and lollies.

Clubland a la Polly Pocket, Professor's Negroni and Slinky Margarita

Natalie's "Professor's Negroni" (see above and below) was amusingly presented, with a nectarine blossom sphere inside slowly melting, letting the Negroni drip into the bottom of the glass gradually whilst infusing it with a different flavour.  It also had a pipette on top for a bit of extra D.I.Y bitterness.  I was also fond of my "Elmo's (tickle me) Grog" served in a bottle wrapped in scented newspaper.  The whole place has a Willy Wonka feel to it, so it is no surprise that the drinks are on the sweet side and fairly theatrical.  This suited Mary & Lauren down to the ground, but there were still a couple of bitter options to keep Natalie and I happy.

If cocktails aren't your thing, then you might want to go for the Prosecco on tap, or the Toy Shop Beer which is a lager created for them by Shepherd's Neame.  You might not be able to resist the bonkers sharing cocktails if you are in a large group.  "The King of the Castle" pictured  below (coming in at £100) is the most impressive, but I would opt for the cheaper option of "Ralph the Robot" (£35) which lights up and lets of a lot of smoke.  Some will complain that it's all show, but I appreciate that they are serving up bonkers concoctions that you couldn't ever recreate at home.  This isn't some Mahiki style attempt making a killing on sharing drinks, they are just going for fun all round.

The sharing food is also well worth a look.  We only had the Goat's Cheese Lollipops, but there are plenty of tempting offerings on the menu.  If you want to go for the whole Toy Shop experience, get yourself a ticket to one of their Sunday Roast parties which they describe as a kids party for adults - roast dinner, unlimited prosecco and beer, DJs, balloon modelling and more!

King of the Castle - Cocktails - Sunday Roast Party

"What about the toilets?", I hear you cry. Don't worry - Team List did a recce.  The ladies room has barbies stuck to the walls ("Now I know that barbies don't have nipples" - Lauren) whilst the gents has brightly coloured urinals to aim at.  Both rooms also have glittery walls which create a disco ball effect in the room. We eventually asked for the bill, which was accompanied by some tasty chocolate lego men.  Thumbs up all round - go along with a group of friends for fun evening of food and cocktails that won't break the bank (unless you order that castle!).

We decided to pop next door to Byron for a late night burger.  I wouldn't normally mention a chain, but Byron are right up there with the very best on the London burger scene.  They are constantly doing special one off burgers, and also have the Byron Van out on the streets - read about my Wholey Cow experience here.  I particularly like the fact that they adapt the décor to suit every location, rather than going for one colour scheme.  Other chains would do well to copy this model.  They also have one of the best bottled beer lists (short but superb) for a food joint - go for Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA.

They are currently serving "Le Smokey" burger (until 31st October) in tribute to the growing Parisian burger scene.  I did have one at National Burger Day, but I don't remember there being a smoked chilli BBQ sauce last time.  It's got a bit of a kick to it, but most people should be able to withstand the heat.  Well worth a look before it disappears at the end of the month.

The evening ended with Byron, but I'll mention some other watering holes in the area just in case you want to make a day of it!  I'll start with the couple of places that we went when we were first turned away from The Toy Shop Bar back in June.  

You don't have to go very far out of Putney mainline station to make it in to Lost & Co, a neighbourhood bar and restaurant from Lost Group.  The other Lost Group property on The List is Ales & Tails out in Twickenham, where they have 20 beers on keg and cask.  Lost & Co was previously Citizen Smith (same owners) and it has kept the excellent range of beers (including their own Lost Brewing beer).  The food and cocktails are also worth turning up for, and there are often 2 for 1 offers and special events - head there for Day of the Dead on November 1st for £5 tequila cocktails all night long.  

It inevitably draws a big crowd as it is close to the station, but there is enough quality on show here to make it worth it.  Alternatively, head there early in the morning for some Death Wish coffee from 8-11am, Monday-Friday. 

Putney's real hidden gem is The Bricklayer's Arms, a fantastic little pub tucked away down a side street off Upper Richmond Road.  It regularly wins pub awards, which it deserves for its dedication to serving well kept real ales and hosting beer festivals in their cosy beer garden.  There is plenty to enjoy for non-beer fans as well here, with old fashioned bar games such as Shove Ha'penny and Bar Skittles set up to play.  This is place to spend a whole day in with board games.  Pay it a visit if you haven't already - it's in my Top 5 London pubs.

Just over the river on Fulham Palace Road (10 mins walk from Putney Bridge / Parsons Green) is one of my pre-List favourites, Dr.Ink of Fulham.  It is a bottled beer shop with a twist - you can open the beers on site and drink them outside in their front garden until they close at around 8pm (check site for times as it isn't always open).  The range is awesome and constantly changing, and you get to drink them at shop prices rather than pub prices.  There are often tastings and meet the brewer events going on in the shop, so check the website for details.

It's not just about the beer though.  They also specialise in fresh Indian curry pastes, made to order while you wait.  Indian snacks are available to enjoy with your beers in the shop, including samosas, ondhwo, dokhra, daal wada and pattis.  They also run a special supper club called Flavour Experience hosted by beer sommelier Alex Barlow - 4 courses of Gujarat cuisine are matched with 10 beers to taste.  This has been on my to do list for far too long!

When Dr.Ink of Fulham closes, the best place to go is The White Horse (affectionately known as the Sloaney Pony).  I often link the two together, lugging all of my newly bought bottled beers to Parson's Green. Sure, it is packed full of Made in Chelsea lookalikes but this is all part of the fun.  This is one of the best places to drink beer in London, and the local clientele always keep me entertained.  There are often beer festivals to take advantage of.  In summer months, the beer garden looking on to the green is packed, and the BBQ is fired up.  In winter everyone huddles inside - it is worth booking ahead if you know you are heading that way.  The pub food is better than your average fare - I have never looked past the excellent fish and chips. 

I also popped in to Amuse Bouche Champagne Bar (opposite Parsons Green tube) the other day for a friends birthday.  If bubbles are your thing then this is the place for you - I survived on a healthy diet of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  There was a lively pianist when we arrived singing some jazzy pop covers.  There is delicious food upstairs in Claude's Kitchen, some of which is also available downstairs. Head there early when it is pleasant before the unbearable crowds descend late doors and ruin the atmosphere!

Camden Town Brewery - Maltby Street Market - Old School Yard - Gin Joint

It was a busy few days (now two weeks ago) for Team List with various adventures on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the end of a week that started with the Coal Vaults launch, National Burger Day and Science Museum Lates.  First up - Friday night (30th August) at Camden Town Brewery.

I have been meaning to go to Camden Town Brewery for a long time, but I finally made the journey up north after finding a flyer for Wholey Cow at National Burger Day.  The Byron Van and Fred Smith had bought a cow, and were cooking the whole thing over the course of two days outside the brewery bar - how could I resist?  Team List wandered over from Chalk Farm to find Kentish Town West Station where the brewery is situated, and got stuck straight into the beer.  Camden Town beers have already spread all over London, so we tried a couple of rarer brews in the form of their Saison Galaxy and US Hells Lager, as well as a pint of Byron's Pale Ale that was on tap.  They also had some interesting guest beers on offer, including Lervig Pale all the way from Stavanger in Norway.  Several beers did run out over the course of the evening so make sure you get there early if you want to have the most choice.

The Byron Van queue started to grow so I got involved and ordered us some burgers, fries and mac'n'cheese hash browns (awesome).  They handed out tasters of their Bloody Bull cocktail to keep the queue happy - made with beef stock, it tasted like alcoholic tomato soup, in a good way.  The queue suddenly grew to a crazy length, and I don't think I would have bothered queuing up if I had turned up later. You also need to turn up early if you want to grab a seat anywhere - we managed to squeeze ourselves on to a cosy table in one corner, even with one of our number bringing most of a drumkit.  The Bloomin' Neck burger stood out for me - 8oz hamburger, slow-cooked shortrib, shredded iceberg, pickles, smokey onion & mustard sauce - and the mac'n'cheese hash browns were as good as they sound, though 2 for £4 wasn't great value.

As more beers ran out, we decided to move on to Brewdog Camden for one final pint - look out for their new site in Shepherds Bush with 40 beers on tap that will be opening soon.  As for Camden Town Brewery, they have different street food on every week (only open Thursday, Fri, Sat 12pm-11pm) though I would imagine that it isn't always quite as busy as it was at Wholey Cow.  They often run fun events so keep checking the website or sign up for email updates.  Brewery tours run every Thursday from 6-8 for £12 and sound wonderfully boozy.

Brewdog art

Saturday 31st August - I work at a music school on many Saturdays throughout the year, so when I have a free one I like to take full advantage of it (see Hackney big day out, Good Egg and Midnight Apothecary, and Vestal Voyages posts for some ideas).  The evening was destined to end at the Old School Yard in Borough anyway, so I decided to go for another Bermondsey day taking in Maltby Street Market and some of the nearby breweries.  I have already done a big brewery post before (read more here) so I'll skip over most of that.  The day started, as it usually does over there, at Kernel Brewery (open 9am-3/4pm), with List regulars Luke, Lauren, Lee and Jane.  After one delicious drink, we moved off to Maltby Street Market in search of food.

Kernel Beer board

Just before we made it to the market, Lee diverted us into a little archway inhabited by Jensen Gin fronted by Christian Errboe Jensen himself.  He has been distributing the gin for several years, but he is setting up a stall in Bermondsey to sell G&Ts and cocktails (some bottle aged).  When we visited we were given extremely generous tasters of the Old Tom Gin and the Bermondsey Dry Gin - the former would make a mean G&T and the latter should probably be drunk on its own.  The two gins were on sale for £25 each, and there were bottled aged Negronis (2 portions) on sale for £10.  Christian was an engaging host and I am look to checking back in when he is fully up and running.

After two unplanned shots of gin on top of a 7.1% Kernel IPA, it was definitely food time.  Luckily, Maltby Street Market on Ropewalk (not Maltby Street!) is the perfect place to be hungry.  We were a little late to the party at 2 o'clock.  This meant that it was not too crowded - Team Bermondsey constantly moan about how their lovely hidden market has been taken over by posh young couples, looking lost wandering around railway arches in their chinos and summer dresses.  The downside was that a couple of places were starting to run out.  Monty's Deli make a wonderful salt beef and pastrami sandwich but we were sadly too late for that.  Instead, we enjoyed some burgers from the Woolpack - a stall from the chef at the independent Woolpack (The Wooly) pub round the corner on Bermondsey Street.  I went for a delicious beef and pulled pork burger in a brioche bun with chipotle mayo - a steal at £5.  The biggest queue was for African Volcano, a street food stall showcasing Grant Hawthorne's fiery Mozambique-style Peri-peri sauces and marinades - I have it on good authority from Bermondsey locals Sam & Rich (who we found in Monty's Deli) that it is worth the wait.

African Volcano

You are spoilt for choice dessert wise as well, with Waffle On winning the best smelling stall award. Make sure you try some of the quirky ice cream flavours from the tiny La Gelateria artisan gelato cart - Honey & rosemary was the winner for me.  La Gelateria has a permanent home in Covent Garden.

This leaves us with drinks.  I have already mentioned Bar Tozino before (read more here) - a jamon bodega with interesting wines that opens til 10.  Another wine option is Life's a Bottle (or Top Hat Man) - a great little stall serving up excellent wine at affordable prices, open 9-3.  You can wander around with it, or take a seat inside one of the quirky archways filled with Lassco salvaged artefacts (head to Brunswick House Café in Vauxhall for a similar experience).  There is also beer man (does he have a name?) who always has interesting bottles on offer at around £4, though with Kernel, Partizan and Brew by Numbers round the corner, I'm not sure that I would ever find myself buying something here.  On the cocktail front, Little Bird Gin (from Peckham) have you covered.  They have a nice little area with covered seating in the back and bartenders at the front mixing up drinks next to some birdcages.  Sam went for their Maltby Street Bloody Mary which makes use of African Volcano peri-peri sauce, whilst I went for a Bird in a Field made with London Fields Hackney Hopster beer, ginger and honey.  They also had a couple of London Fields beers on offer when I went for £3.

As the market got quieter, we sloped off to Brew by Numbers, the brewery that stays open the latest in Bermondsey (11-6 on Saturdays).  They have added in a tap since the last time I was there, and had a few more varieties on offer in the fridge as well.  Here we ran into Anspach & Hobday, a young brewing team who we first met back in March at Craft Beer Rising on Southbank (read more here). They ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to gain some funds to get themselves started, but they are still searching for a permanent home so that they can move the brewery out of their kitchen! Bermondsey, Brixton and Peckham are all on the cards.  Keep your eyes out for them - they recently won a Silver Medal at the 2013 International Beer Challenge for their Porter.

After several Brew by Numbers bottles and a good catch up, Team List made their way to the Old School Yard (via a flat for a cheeky Sipsmith G&T) for one of our number's engagement party.  The Old School Yard is a retro party bar in Borough that deals mostly in cocktails.  Compared to the stuff I have been having around London, the drinks are pretty substandard, but most bars don't have 4 player Mario Kart to keep me happy!  Add in some arcade games, a blackboard, and wonderfully terrible music, and you can have a great night here - just don't expect miracles from the drinks!  You would be wise to get there during happy hour from 5.30-8.

I didn't write world's worst bar.

Sunday 1st September - After another big day out in Bermondsey, I was glad that I had booked our table at the soft opening of Gin Joint for the evening.  Searcy's have refurbished their 2nd floor Bar & Brasserie in the Barbican complex, with an emphasis on gin.  They have over 40 gins behind the bar, with Brokers gin chilled on tap. The soft opening offer included 50% off the food bill, and a complimentary cocktail or G&T each (£9/10).  Will, Luke and I were slightly underdressed, but I think we got away with it. Experienced Team List Leader Natalie came better prepared.  It is a classy (and expensive) place, intended mostly for pre/post concert meals/drinks - I will certainly be heading up here to try out different G&Ts whenever I am around for a concert with my gin-loving Aunt and sisters. We got stuck into the drinks straight away, with a Gin Martini, Gincognito, Last Word, and a Chase Apple Gin and Tonic.  Whilst Natalie wasn't terribly impressed with her Last Word, the rest of us were extremely happy.

With the 50% off, we decided to go for all three courses, which proved to be a wise choice.  Starters - Gressingham Duck Sausage with pickled shallot, scallop and juniper; Foie Gras with grapes, harissa and toast; King Prawn Cocktail with black pepper croutons and avocado sorbet; Marinated Vegetable Salad with Somerset goats' cheese and hazelnuts.  Everything was beautifully presented and received two thumbs up.

Gressingham Duck Sausage

Next I tried to tempt Luke into having the 750g beef fore rib to share but he was having none of it.  We instead each went for the 21 Day Aged Galloway Beef Rib Eye with triple cooked chips from the Bertha Grill.  Luke played it safe with a Bearnaise Sauce, whereas I went for the Juniper & Pepper Corn Sauce which was nice, but wasn't in my opinion related in any way to peppercorns.  Natalie splashed out on a Rack of Herdwick Lamb again with triple cooked chips which she was impressed with.  She wasn't so happy to find out that they had run out of side vegetables, and her response to being offered spinach instead was amusingly, "Er no - I've already had spinach today" - you should have known that Gin Joint.  Will went for the Homemade Bacon with BBQ Beans, Bantam egg and chips. The chips were all wrapped in the fake Searcy's Times, which you could unravel and read (or even do the crossword).

Last but not least, dessert and another round of drinks.  Will stuck to his Gin Martinis while the rest of us went for more G&Ts - Citadelle, Geranium and Jensen's from earlier.  The Geranium is really interesting and well worth a try if you spot it anywhere.  You can see the full list of gin on offer here. For pudding we went for a British Isle Cheeses, Sticky Toffee Pudding with liquorice ice cream, and a Plum and Almond Crumble with star anise and orange custard.  The others weren't convinced by the sticky toffee and liquorice match, but I was too busy scoffing my superb crumble to care.  All in all, we were very impressed with the drinks and food, though it would all have been too expensive for us without the 50% off and free drink.  I would recommend going in the evening, as the views out to the Barbican are vastly improved at night time!  Get there between 7-9 to have any of the G&Ts on offer for £8.50. It is a great shame that they still have the same old horrendous toilets round the corner, which do not do Gin Joint justice.  If you are just after gin without the food, then I would suggest also going to the London Gin Club at the Star at Night (Oxford Circus), 214 Bermondsey (underneath Antico), or Drink, Shop & Dance (underneath Drink, Shop & Do in King's Cross).  City of London Distillery also have a wide range of gins, but I haven't been there yet, and I also hope to go to the Sipsmith Distillery tour soon which runs on Wednesdays from 6.30-8.  Happy Gin hunting!

National Burger Day 2013

On Tuesday August 27th, Mr.Hyde and Tweat Up teamed up with some of London's best burger traders (plus some innovative extras) to put on the first ever National Burger Day party at the Street Feast site in Dalston.  After showing fine form at the Monkey Shoulder Malt Jockey event back in March, I brought Sam along to help me out.  A few people have already put up some pretty comprehensive blogs about the event -  for full on burger porn, go and have a look at Motley Spicer's post.  I will keep mine to a few photos (mostly of the stunning Dalston Yard site) as I'm not going to compete with that burger analysis!

Photo from Smokestak twitter feed

Meantime Brewery Fresh Lager included with £10 ticket, plus a Chilliback and a Pickleback

Smokestak serving up £1 ribs - not burgers, but who cares?

Meat Liquor with Dead Hippie burgers and more

Bleecker St. Burger - Single, double, triple or quad cheeseburger?

Next level Roller Disco burgers from Disco Bistro team - currently found at Skate, King's Cross

Bonkers burger themed ice creams from Sorbitium Ices

Picklebacks - Whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice

Breddo's Chilliback Bar - Tequila followed by pickled habanero juice

Burger Macarons from The Crumbery

Street Vin - the transient wine bar

Honest Burgers - currently taking over London with 4th site on the way

Mad Mother Flipper menu - very long wait due to everyone ordering The Dirty Barbie!

You can usually find these guys at Brockley Market on Saturdays from 10-2

Not entirely sure why anyone would have stood over a fire when it was so hot that night.

Maybe his burger was cold?

Burger Pies! - a delicious experiment by Eat My Pies chef Andy Bates

The recipe can be found here.

A huge crowd gathered for burger pinata - they are just out of shot, I promise. This lady is at least facing the right way - one participant accidentally turned on the crowd and nearly landed a fatal blow!

This guy somehow knocked it off with the first swing, so the crowd amusingly decided to egg him on to swing at nothing for a couple more minutes.

IT'S BEHIND YOU!

If lots of similar photos turn up soon, we would like to claim that we started it.

Why so few pictures of burgers? We ate them too fast. Here was our order of play:

1. Byron's Le Smokey (head to Camden Town Brewery for their Wholey Cow event tomorrow and Saturday) - an excellent start and a bargain at £5

2. Two Nights Only's Rib Fat'n'Marrow Cheeseburger - tasty and messy, and another £5 bargain.

3. Mother Flipper's Double Candy Bacon Flipper - the wait was so long once we ordered that we managed to queue and eat another burger in the time it took to arrive.  They did very kindly provide free deep fried mozzarella balls to keep us happy.  Bacon should always be cooked in maple syrup.

4. Meat Liquor's Dead Hippie - not my first time eating this, and probably not my last!

5. Eat My Pie's Pie Burger - it had to be done, and we were not disappointed

We did queue up for a few others towards the end but everything was running out.  Dirty Burger have just opened a second site in Vauxhall which I hope to visit soon.  Breddos Tacos have moved into the Slider Bar at The Player in Soho and are doing soft opening offers this week.  Roti Chai were also there with a tasty looking Toddy Shop Burger Slider which I hope to try some time.  The atmosphere was fantastic as I have come to expect from events run by Tweat Up / Street Feast (bring on Ginstock 2014) - I hope that they continue to keep us entertained throughout the winter months as well!

Great aerial shot of Street Feast by foodie photographer Thomas Bowles

Street Feast is open in Dalston on Friday and Saturday for 3 more weeks (closing party on 14th September) - make sure you check it out before they move on.  This Saturday is Gizzi Erskine's Street Fiesta which promises to be a lot of fun.  Also, as Tweat Up say on their website, mark 28 & 29 September in your diaries for the British Street Food Awards.