Discount Suit Company - Bones - Peters & Co. Gin Palace

Friday 17th January - Dry January? Why would you stop drinking in the most depressing month of the year? I feel it is The List's duty to soldier on and support these poor businesses that are needlessly being shunned.  Feeling fat? Run to a pub that is further away than your local.  One smart friend suggested that publicans should hand out tokens to punters in January giving loyal customers priority seating in December when all the boring people come out to play too.  Anyone out there brave enough to give that a go?

Anyway, last Friday, I met Team List regular Sam and debutant Jen in Liverpool Street for some mid-January drinks.  We started at Discount Suit Company, a lively new cocktail bar in an old tailor's store room. Trust your instincts as you walk along the deserted Wentworth Street, and look for the big shop sign (see below). Head through the door and downstairs, past the superfluous member of staff that pulls a curtain back and forth, and get stuck into one of their £7.50 house cocktails.

It was already packed by the time we arrived, so get there early if you want a seat.  The atmosphere was great all round, but having one of the cosy tables would definitely improve the evening and is essential for anyone pushing 6ft!  We appreciated the plethora of coat hooks around the bar, particularly suitable (sorry) given the name.  If you find yourself near the toilets, don't play with the random lock on a seemingly unused door - I accidentally locked in a bartender, who marched off blaming her manager.

I could have drunk the mezcal-based Pina Fumada (Smoked Pineapple) all night, but there are several other tempting concoctions such as Goldfish Bathtub with Earl Grey infused gold rum, brandy and lemon.  Bottled beers are less exciting and slightly overpriced but most of the Liverpool Street crowd won't care.  It's a great little spot to take someone to off the beaten track, and an easy place to spend a whole evening.

Next up was dinner at Bones, a new restaurant & bar with sharing food and rotisserie chicken at the Hoxton end of Kingsland Road.  Here we were joined by 13th placed Cassie and two more first timers, Caroline & Andy.  Newbie Caroline nearly took herself off to Leicester Square due to a misleading Google maps entry so, whilst we were waiting, we worked our way through the superb Redwell bottled beers on offer which I can't recommend highly enough - the IPA is particularly fine.  Also, after growing very attached to unlimited bottles of Grenache red wine in St.Anton a couple of weeks ago, we were delighted to find several varieties of it on the list at Bones.

Once everyone had arrived we ordered a great range of plates to share which worked very well.  The Crispy Pigs Ears were a little too reminiscent of, well, pigs ears, and the Ceviche didn't stand out, but everything else was rather wonderful.  The simple Rotisserie Chicken was beautifully flavoured, Pigeon breast salad with toasted hazelnuts disappeared very quickly, and the Squid & Chorizo Sourdough Bruschetta was keenly fought over.  Sam was however pretty devastated when the variety of foods on his plate caused him to inadvertently eat a mouthful containing a key piece of halloumi that he had been saving for the end - first world problems.

Service was definitely on the slow side but I'm sure they will find their feet soon enough.  Considering we were next to the bar, getting a glass of Grenaaaaaaache seemed to be a very complicated process.  We nearly had a mousse-related death when Cassie wasn't warned that her dessert contained nuts - luckily she spotted it.  Several of us enjoyed a portion of their Deep Apple Pie which was cinnamon heavy in a good way.

It's a great looking place and the prices are very reasonable.  The sharing plates are interesting and will change regularly, and their rotisserie chicken stands up well to likes of Chicken Shop.  I would like to see the Redwell beers or something local on tap rather than in bottles, but that's not a deal-breaker - well worth a visit.

We lost Sam and Jen at this point as our last stop was a bus ride away at F.Cooke's Pie and Mash shop on Broadway Market.  By day, this classic London establishment that is over 100 years old serves up pie, mash, liquor and eels to hungry punters, but at night they hand over to various popups.  According to scientist Cassie, all eels mysteriously originate from the same source which has never been found.  She also claimed that they occasionally crawl across land - she lost my trust at this point.

Back to last Friday - At the moment, Peters & Co. Gin Palace have the keys and are running a relaxed candlelit gin bar from 7pm-1am, every Thursday-Saturday for the foreseeable future.  There is food available, currently in the form of well-sourced platters, but pies may soon make it on to the evening menu. There are also Harviestoun beers and Chapel Down wines on the menu to keep the gin-haters happy.

Current F.Cooke owner Bob Cooke

We started with a round of ridiculously affordable £4.50 Sipsmith & Fevertree G&Ts - you won't find much better value in London.  There are several gin cocktails on offer including Negronis, Martinis and a Bob Cooke Bramble named after the current owner, but we decided to continue with some of their premium gins for a second round of G&Ts, this time priced at £7.  Death's Door and Monkey 47 were the runaway winners.  I need to return sometime to try the Aviation Rye and the Botanist Islay Gin which wasn't available as someone came in and bought the whole bottle!  They plan to expand the range over the next few weeks, and there are also going to be masterclasses and tastings - check their Facebook page for more info.  

My one bit of advice would be, bring a cushion! The bench seats in F.Cooke's must be amongst the least comfortable in London, probably there to keep anyone from lingering too long in the daytime!  Peters & Co. is another fun place to sample a wide range of gins, joining the likes of City of London Distillery, 214 Bermondsey and London Gin Club.

Team List update: 2 points for Sam take him back up to 3rd place, joint with Lee.  How long can he hang on to that spot?  Cassie moves up to joint 13th, her highest position on the leaderboard so far.

In other news, isn't this a horrible name for a restaurant?

Scoff & Banter

One friend suggested that we set up a rival establishment next door called Boff & Scanter.  "It would be full of highly intelligent people but with woefully inadequate supplies of food and drink".  Who's up for crowd-funding this?

Hagen & Hyde - Poulet Rouge - Balham Bowls Club

Friday October 4th - South London is very quietly being taken over by Antic, the group responsible for Effra Social, Brixton Dogstar, Battersea Mess and Music Hall, and Tooting Tram & Social.  They are trying to bring the social club back to London, and it seems to be working.  Balham has two quirky Antic boozers so I decided to check them out, along with the charming Poulet Rouge in between for some food.  I was accompanied by Coral, Lucy and Amy, who make limited Team List appearances due to a strict "no school nights" policy.  

Our first stop was Hagen & Hyde, one of Antic's newest pubs.  It is right next Balham Station on the High Street, so many punters might dismiss it as a rubbish station pub - more fool them.  It also looks vaguely like a shop, with coats and other garments on show in the windows. Every table inside is a different shape and size, and the walls are covered in all sorts of vintage paraphernalia.  

I arrived first, so I got myself a very tasty pint of By The Horns Hopslinger, and found a quirky table in a corner which had a bookshelf in the middle of it, just in case you don't like the people opposite you. I'm sure this will also be used regularly for some classic library style flirting through the shelves.  I resisted the urge to sit at one of the two upright piano tables - I'm not sure I would feel comforatble putting a pint on top of a piano anyway!  

There were plenty of beers to choose from and a couple of interesting ciders as well.  They have built a separate dining room upstairs that specialises in fish, seasonal game and colonial British fare, and they are still decorating a large space at the back.  In any normal pub, it would feel odd having part of the place unfinished, but it doesn't seem to matter here at all.  After a couple of drinks we moved on to get some food elsewhere, but I will definitely return as it is charming little pub and it was not too busy considering its location.

We only had to walk for about a minute to get to Poulet Rouge, a cosy new restaurant that focuses on rotisserie chicken, galettes and crêpes.  They don't take reservations but we were seated straight away. The turnaround is pretty quick, so there should hopefully never be too long a wait.  The design is simple and lovely, with colourful patterned floors and an open kitchen visible at the back where the chickens can be seen rotating away.

To drink there are several affordable wines and some fizz, plus a short but sweet bottled beer list that includes Poulet Rouge Golden Ale (brewed for them by the Two Cocks Brewery), Redhook Longhammer IPA (from Washington), and Kona Big Wave (all the way from Hawaii).

The girls all went for bargain £5 1/4 chicken with various sides that turned up in attractive baby Le Creuset pots, whilst I went for the Chicken, Chorizo and Rocket Galette (only £7.00) that was fantastic.  I can't see myself ordering anything else next time or even bothering to look at the menu, it was that good.  The sides were a hit too - we sampled the Chorizo Cassoulet, Corn and Dauphinoise Potatoes.  You can turn your meal into a £10 roast of sorts by ordering the Sunday Sides at £5 with your 1/4 chicken.  There are also some enticing vegetarian galette options if chicken isn't your thing!

Most of us still had change from a tenner so we decided to treat ourselves to their dessert crêpes.  I was expecting your standard underwhelming undersized pancake that you finish in two bites, but instead a monster pudding was put in front of me, which I struggled to finish.  We tried three between us - Banana, Nutella & Honeycomb, Vanilla, Pecan & Maple Syrup, and Apple Crumble & Mascarpone, which was probably the pick of the bunch.  You can also get a simple Lemon, Sugar & Cinnamon crêpe for just £2.50!

We were all very impressed with Poulet Rouge and I can't wait to take some more people there.  They even open up at 8am to serve Breakfast Galettes including a Sausage & Mustard option at just £2.00. They could get away with charging a lot more, but I hope they keep the prices low.  They will have to, as competition is arriving in the form of a second Chicken Shop site in Tooting, after a successful year in Kentish Town.  Hopefully there is enough for both of them!

We hopped round the corner for a final drink of the evening at Balham Bowls Club, one of Antic London's older establishments. Unsurprisingly, it was originally a Bowls Club which has now been converted into a social pub and restaurant spread over several warm, inviting rooms.  It gets very busy but it is a relaxing, fun place to drink nevertheless.  I would imagine it is very popular for roasts on a Sunday, when people settle in for the whole day with some board games.  Check the pinboard on your way in for info on events such as pub quizzes (on Tuesday), live comedy and film showings (which take place in the beautiful upstairs event space).

Like most Antic venues, they have a nice range of ales including some local produce.  I had my first pint from Belleville Brewing Co who are just round the corner at Wandsworth Common.  I tried to visit them earlier when I had some time to kill but they weren't open, so I was delighted to see their Thames Surfer on tap at BBC.  I was envious of the buzzing atmosphere in the dining room and might have to try eating here next time, if I can resist the temptation to return to Poulet Rouge!  Antic can do no wrong at the moment, and I will hopefully report back soon on more of their excellent creations, including Sylvan Post in Forest Hill, and Graveney and Meadow in Tooting.  Thanks to Lucy, Coral and Amy for joining me on the Balham crawl - 3 points each.

More info on the SW London microbreweries mentioned in the post:

By The Horns brewery is located between Earlsfield and Tooting - they open their brewery tap bar Thu-Fri 5-10 and Sat 12-6.  Head over on Fridays to try out their hop rocket!

Belleville Brewing Co. is right next to Wandsworth Common station, which is a 10 minute walk from Balham.  They are mostly brewing American style beers.  They don't have a brewery bar yet, but if you get in contact they are often happy to let you taste on site and buy some bottles.