Fat Bear - DandeLyan

Wednesday 15th October - Anyone with a London Cocktail Week hangover should even things out with dinner at The Fat Bear, the latest popup to take over the upstairs space at The Rising Sun. Previous tenants include Disco Bistro and Bob's Lobster, so you know you are in good hands.

Popup is probably the wrong term as The Fat Bear have taken up residency for at least a year.  That's longer than many "permanent" eateries last these days.  The menu is broadly American influenced, though the Southern States are particularly well represented with the likes of gumbo, shrimp & grits, crawfish, and biscuits and gravy making it onto the menu.

As it was chucking it down outside, comfort food was the order of the day.  Loaded Sweet Potato Skins (£6) and Gnocchi with Broad Beans & Blue Cheese (£5) answered the call for starters.  The moreish cheese sauce stuck around on the table until the end of the meal.  Cajun-fried chicken livers, clam chowder and deep-fried pickles must wait for another day.

Loaded Potato Skins

Gnocchi with Broad Beans & Blue Cheese

Roasted Quail with Cornbread Stuffing (£16) and Spicy Crawfish Mac'n'Cheese (£9) were chosen over tempters like Braised Beef Short Rib, Cajun Meatloaf and the Papa Bear Burger.  The quail was very neatly presented and was dispatched by my fellow diners.  My second cheesy pasta dish of the evening was not short on flavoursome crawfish, but it was lacking a spicy kick, not that it bothered me.

Roasted Quail with Cornbread Stuffing

"Spicy" Crawfish Mac'n'Cheese

Full up, we didn't stick around for desserts, but Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce sounds wonderful and Pecan Pie can do no wrong in my eyes.  They are also bringing in a soft serve ice cream machine very soon.

As for drinks, they have set up a nice little bar area where they have most things covered.  A cocktail menu is in production - we did sample some pleasant mocktails that were kindly created in support of Lauren's Sober October (never heard of it).  A few American craft beers wouldn't go amiss to keep all the great food company.

The Fat Bear is in a funny part of town, but it's worth going out of your way, especially with C.O.L.D. Bar, Hack & Hop, Harrild & Sons and 5CC round the corner too.  The staff are a really friendly bunch (thanks for saving Mary's iPhone) and the food hit the spot.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

A quick journey over the river brought us to the brand new Mondrian Hotel, home to Seamus Mullen's Sea Containers restaurant, and Ryan Cheti / Mr.Lyan's latest bar project, DandeLyan.

The real star of the show though is designer Tom Dixon who has created a stunning series of spaces, fitting the Mondrian out like a transatlantic liner.  Take your time finding the bar and make as many loo trips as you can get away with to do some exploring! 

That said, you could do worse than heading straight to DandeLyan, the stylish destination bar overlooking the Thames, Blackfriars and St.Paul's - James Bond would feel at home here.  We settled down in front of the bartenders, including Lee who looked after us well for the duration of our stay.  I was torn between studying the mixology and watching all manner of Londoners make their way along a rainy South Bank.

"So - great setting and wonderful atmosphere, but who is this Mr. Lyan guy you keep namedropping?"

Some vital stats for you:

- Ryan Chetiyawardana a.k.a. Mr Lyan has twice been named UK best bartender of the year

- White Lyan, his groundbreaking bar in Hoxton, won Best New International Cocktail Bar award at the annual Spirited Awards at Tales of the Cocktail this year, AND came 20th on the recently published World's 50 Best Bars List

- He's a nice bloke, so I've heard

The drinks list is split into Cereal, Vegetal, Mineral and Floral sections, which they have taken rather seriously.  I'll leave you to work out where malted grains, green wheat, douglas fir, lime-flower blossom, dandelion capillaire and clay appear on the menu.  A fun flavour chart is also rather useful and my eyes immediately move towards the rich, boozy & aromatic drinks best consumed at night.

The Evil Manhattan fits that description, and I was tempted by the use of botanical beer "vermouth", but I settled instead for a Concrete Sazerac - Martell VSOP cognac, fermented Peychaud, absinthe and concrete.  I can't remember the exact details, but I believe some part of the drink is percolated slowly through broken up concrete - why not? It was sublime, and the edible chocolate stones were a nice touch.

Mary enjoyed a Yellow & Green Fizz - Merlet pear liqueur, grass, yuzu vinegar and Perrier-Jouet champagne served in an ornate limited-edition Perrier-Jouet flute.  It lives up to its green, fresh and aromatic tags, with the yuzu vinegar unsurprisingly playing a fairly key role.  Lauren meanwhile, regretting Sober October, was served a flashy mocktail which only set her back £4.50. Many hotel bars and restaurants charge a lot more for their troubles. 

The only DandeLyan downside is the price.  Being a flashy hotel bar, it's no surprise that cocktails set you back around £12.50-14.50, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.  Were they priced closer to £10, I could see myself caving in and ordering two or three, but a £45 bill for three drinks is a little hard to swallow, especially when the likes of Seven in Brixton offer challenging drinks for £5.  

But that's the price we pay for living in London.  The upside is that the world's best bartenders and chefs are on our doorstep, and they are worth splashing out on every now and then.

Nightjar - White Lyan - Liquor Cabinet - Mr.Buckley's

Friday 28th September - After seeing the state of the Team List Leaderboard, my siblings (and significant plus ones) decided it was time to get some more points.  Nightjar has been on The List for a long time, and Em has just moved up to Hoxton so I booked us in for some pre-dinner drinks at 18.30.  Early evening slots are quite easy to come by, but if you want to have a table later on (when the live jazz gets going) you need to book way in advance - I'm talking a month or two here.

Nightjar is tucked away inbetween various unsavoury looking kebab shops and cafés just off the Old Street roundabout.  You may have unknowingly walked past it during the day, but it is pretty obvious at night due to the queue and sore thumb doorman (Opium and Ballroom du Beef are also guilty of this hidden bar crime).  You instantly forget what neighbourhood you are in once you make it downstairs.  We were shown to a cosy table opposite the piano, which would have been ideal if it had been a little later on.  The background jazz was already much better than most bars manage.  We were brought the now customary jug of bizarre flavoured water (cucumber, apple, Miles Davis' sweat etc etc) with some free popcorn to keep us happy whilst we tried to make the tough first cocktail decision.

Waldorf Gloom Lifters and Cold Buttered Rum

The menu is split into Pre-Prohibition (1600-1918 - what happened in 1600?), Prohibition (1918-1932), Post War (1940-2000) and Nightjar Signatures.  There is also a Unique to Nightjar section which includes vintage liqueurs and spirits, an absinthe collection and all sorts of special gifts including the superb Nightjar pack of cards (see below) which I caved and bought.  Head bartender Marian Beke has travelled all over the world to source unheard of ingredients and garnishes, hence the need for a glossary at the back.  You can read an interesting interview with him here.

We were strongly advised to go for a crazy sharing cocktail with dry ice, but we steered clear since all the drinks are beautifully presented anyway.  We started with two Waldorf Gloom Lifters (served in Hip Flasks on ice), a Cold Buttered Rum (with a hot coconut butter float slowly infusing into the drink, and a dehydrated lime) and a Coffee & Cacao Soda (for a drugged up member of our party).  Al and I struggled to balance our hip flasks, which did actually fall and spill a couple of times before we just put them on the table.  It was a very boozy drink, which never seemed to run out.

Shrubbler, Nougat Cocktail and Rodriguez Sour

Our next round (pictured above) included a Shrubbler, a Nougat Cocktail and a Rodrgiuez Sour.  Al's Shrubbler came with an edible fruit basket (think creme brulee topping) containing his five a day.  Jo's Nougat Cocktail came with lightly singed white chocolate, and a liquid chocolate pot on top.  We had a taster of the very drinkable Ysabel Regina brandy that was used to make it.  My Rodriguez Sour had a paprika coated rim and a mysterious chocolate coated fruit dangling over the top of it.  As you can see from some of the cards below (which are slightly out of date), they really don't hold back on the presentation.  The drinks aren't just for show though, and they tasted as good as they looked.  Nightjar is quite comfortable one of London's best cocktail bars, and I think I would have to dedicate a whole evening (and a fair amount of cash) to it next time.  Book now!

Em only arrived as we were finishing our last drink, allowing Jo to gain a point on her in the sibling rivalry race.  We decided to pop in to the always wonderful Yum Bun (read more here) for some much needed sustenance before moving on to our second cocktail bar of the evening.  

It was the public opening night of White Lyan, a quirky new cocktail bar from master mixologist, Ryan Chetiyawardana, who has been involved with the much loved Whistling Shop in Shoreditch and Bramble in Edinburgh amongst other places.  The plan here is to speed up drinks preparation by pre-bottling many cocktails, giving the bartenders more free time to chat to customers.  No perishable ingredients are used behind the bar.  The most notable absence is fresh citrus - other souring agents are used instead.  There is also no ice involved to avoid unwanted dilution, with spirits and drinks instead being chilled to exact temperatures.  The bar therefore looks very different, with hardly anything on show except for a big fridge. Drinks are made with Mr.Lyan (Ryan's brand) spirits, and only house drinks are available.

They were lacking some electricity when we arrived, but candles were out on tables and the fridges seemed to still be working so we sat down in a quiet corner.  The menu is full of weird libations including Bone Dry Martini (flavoured with chicken bone tincture), Lyan Club Cocktail (gin, turmeric and red apple shrub, soda), and Lada Lada (tequila, smoke, elderflower and lager syrup).  Sadly though, the flavours didn't match the ideas at all.  We were really disappointed with 4 out of 5 of our drinks.  I don't think it helped that we had just been to Nightjar. The Beeswax Old Fashioned was the only cocktail that got the thumbs up.  Lada Lada and Yiddish Bubbles were far too sweet (bring a lemon) whilst the Lyan Club Cocktail tasted mostly of vinegar, with no obvious signs of turmeric and red apple shrub.  Al was unimpressed by his red wine, and it did not improve when they added a spice distillate the second time around to give it extra depth.  The only beer option is the canned (and highly overrated) Hobo Craft Lager, which you can alter with hop atomisation to turn it into a pale ale.  I know they are going for simplicity, but would it hurt to have a local beer or two in the fridge?

There is a club downstairs which wasn't up and running when we went.  The décor is minimal - I would imagine that the idea is to let the drinks do the talking, which worries me.  I find it hard to believe that they have tasted our drinks and feel that they are worth up to £9.  With any luck, all of the other drinks are great, and the others will be improved.  At any rate, I'm not rushing to go back to find out.

We lost Jo and Ant (still feeling under the weather, despite sensibly moving on to whisky drinks) allowing Em and Al to extend their Team List lead.  We crossed over to Hackney Road, aiming to go to Sager & Wilde to get Al a nice glass of wine after the last two.  Before we made it there, I diverted them in to The Liquor Cabinet, a tiny bar underneath the Golden Grill kebab shop run by the experienced duo of Mikey Seddon and Thom Docker, both formerly of The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town.

Before The Liquor Cabinet turned up, the space was used by Quiquiriqui Mezcaleria, which I annoyingly didn't make it to.  List regular Sam reported back that it was a lot of fun, and that it stayed open so late that they had to be let out through the kebab shop.  Quiquiriqui have now moved in to Catrina the Cocktail Ambulance, which also sounds pretty wonderful - read more here.

The Liquor Cabinet has only recently managed to sort out a license issue, so it had only been open for a couple of days when we went in.  The idea here is to have one excellent variety of their favourite spirits and a few mixers alongside a couple of solid wines and beers, whilst keeping prices low.  The atmosphere was buzzing, and the simplicity really works here (unlike in White Lyan!).  Al and Em were very happy with their red wine, and I had a very nice £4.50 G&T made with Three Corners Gin (which uses only two botanicals - Juniper and Lemon).  If I was a local, I think I would be here all the time.  It is open Tue-Sat and the bar is cash only.

As it was approaching 11pm, we decided to hop on over to Sager & Wilde for a final drink, only to find that they had just called last orders.  Sager & Wilde is an attractive new wine bar on Hackney Road, set up by Michael and Charlotte Sager-Wilde, following on from their successful pop-up in Shoreditch last year.  They are however on their best behaviour with their new neighbours so they currently aren't staying open very late. They hope to extend their opening hours next year.

Sager and Wilde

They kindly pointed us in the direction of Mr.Buckley's which is a bit further down the road, and helpfully stays open til 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.  I have passed it a few times on the way to Broadway Market and it always looked fun.  Upstairs, you can have food and drink - they open up at 10am Mon-Fri and 9am Sat-Sun for brunch.  We headed down to the late night bar underneath, which was surprisingly empty for such a nice place.  It's the perfect chilled out place to grab a late night drink, and the barmen know their stuff. One of them was keeping himself entertained by practicing his flair skills.

I was impressed by their bottled beers, and got myself a local Pressure Drop Pale Fire, whilst Al and Em went for wine (best of the night) and an alcohol-enhanced hot chocolate respectively.  London needs more relaxed late night bars like this which don't try and turn themselves in to clubs.  I'm very jealous of the Hackney Road locals who have so many friendly watering holes on their doorsteps.

Just as we were leaving, I asked the bartenders about a Pressure Drop beer that I hadn't seen before, bizarrely named "Wu Gang Chops the Tree" after a character from Chinese folklore who is known for endlessly cutting down a Bay Laurel on the Moon.  Neither of them had tried it before either, and so they just opened it up on the house, and poured it into three glasses.  Don't ask, don't get!  It calls itself a Forged Herb Hefeweisse - a pale and hazy wheat beer, with pronounced herbal notes, and hints of clove, citrus and banana.  It was a bit late for me to notice all of that, but it went down very easily.  Read more about Pressure Drop brews here.

I ended up crashing in Hoxton with Al and Em since I couldn't face a two night bus journey home, and I was conveniently heading out to Dalston the next day for Street Food Europe and more.  I will leave that all for another post however.  Em has now shot on to the Top 20 Leaderboard - she is currently tied for 16th on 11 points.  Al is not far away in 21st place on 9 points, whilst Jo and Ant have moved to 30th on 6 points. All to play for.

Edinburgh 2013

This was my 12th year in a row at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but my first since starting The List. I wasn't planning on doing a Paris style food and drink crawl as seeing shows was the priority, but I did manage to fit in a few interesting places with a lot of inspiration coming again from Barchick's city guide.

The week started with my annual trip to Brewdog Edinburgh.  This is where I first discovered Brewdog, long before it reached London.  Great craft beer as usual from Brewdog and their favourite breweries from around the world, tucked away on Cowgate.  Look out for the new bar opening soon in Shepherd's Bush with 40 beers on tap!

How to make an alley look good - outside Pleasance Grand going to see Bo Burnham

Tuesday 20th was Team List's most successful day, with List regulars Natalie, Lauren, Max and Will picking up points.  We started bright and early at City Cafe which is a diner in the daytime and a bar at night with a wide selection of beers on offer amongst other things - open from 9am-1pm.  We went along bright and early for a much needed fried (Full Scottish?) breakfast complete with haggis, a potato scone and black pudding.  If you are feeling extra hungry, you can take on the Ultimate Burger Challenge - 45 minutes to eat a monster burger that includes 3 beef patties, 2 chicken breasts, 2 bean burgers and much more!

We squeezed in a couple of shows before our next stop.  Make sure you check out Austentatious - a one hour improvised play set in a Jane Austen world based on one audience suggestion pulled out of a hat at random at the beginning.  They have several shows in London in the next couple of months.  We decided to get away from the crowds and have a pint with some cake at Under the Stairs, a cosy pub sneakily tucked away right in the centre of town on Merchant Street.  It was wonderfully quiet and relaxing, and we enjoyed drinking Williams Bros Joker IPA and Caesar Augutus Lager IPA Hybrid that they had on tap.  It has more of a gastro pub feel to it, but there are plenty of tables around if you just want to go in for a drink.

After another show, we decided to squeeze in a couple of beer bars that had been recommended to us, starting with Brauhaus who claim to have the largest selection of beer in Scotland!  It's a great little bar with knowledgeable and friendly staff, and it's the perfect place to watch live sport.  Get there early and grab the sofa in front of the big screen!  The small room is covered head to toe in bottles, beer mats and flags.  We tried some tasty Rogue beers (all the way from Oregon) that were on tap when we visited, and a couple more from the impressive bottle list.  I can imagine this place gets incredibly busy at the weekend, but in a good way.

Just round the corner from Brauhaus is The Hanging Bat on Lothian Road, which is another beer haven with a quirky batcave theme!  They have a big board of beer on show (similar to London's Euston Tap) and they serve mostly (or entirely?) British beers, normally including one that they have concocted themselves.  It is great to see small London breweries (Kernel, Beavertown, Camden etc) making it all the way up here. Have a wander around as you can see into fermentation rooms, and make sure you visit the toilets with their beer taps.

The next morning we opted for a healthier breakfast at the lovely Swedish coffee house and bakery, Peters Yard, near the Meadows.  It was refreshing to see some new faces in the pastry department with cinnamon and cardamom buns amongst the interesting spread.  The "Kladdkaka" is so popular that it has its own Facebook fan page - it translates as "gooey cake".  "Sju sorters kakor" or "7 kinds of cookies" are on offer to respect the 19th Century Swedish tradition of never offering your guests less than 7 types of biscuits - that's my kind of country!  Make sure you also buy something involving their sourdough bread that they bake on site.

One of my favourite shops in Edinburgh is The Bon Vivant's Companion on Thistle Street, which has an excellent beer selection (and wines and spirits) including these cans all the way from the Maui Brewing Company in Hawaii.

The Bon Vivant itself is a restaurant/bar nextdoor with an impressive range of wines and some cocktails, which Barchick also recommend.  They have recently opened up a new site in Stockbridge that should also be worth checking out.

Impressive new look for Pleasance Dome venue

Day trip to Loch Lomond

The last place worth mentioning that I visited was the Barney's Beer brewery, which is now occupying the site of the original 1800s Summerhall brewery.  I was only passing through on the way to see another show (superb animation called Feral by Tortoise in a Nutshell company) but I did manage to try a couple of their beers, which went down a treat.  I was hoping to try some of their famed Beet Red Beer, but it was a special and isn't on at the moment.

The majority of my time was however spent seeing shows (17 in total), many of which will make their way down to London.  I would highly recommend making time to see Blam, Three Lions and Bo Burnham if they turn up.  Blam is a ridiculous wordless show with 4 actors/stuntmen posing as bored office workers acting out increasingly ambitious scenes from various famous action movies.  Knowing the references helps but the whole thing is so impressive that anyone would enjoy it - book here now.  Three Lions is a very witty and silly play covering the meetings between David Cameron, David Beckham and Prince William to discuss the 2018 World Cup bid - not sure if there has been any news of a transfer to London yet.  Bo Burnham is already a huge hit at the age of 22, and his second show at Edinburgh was a hilarious hour of creative comedy with similarities to Tim Minchin and Tim Key - keep an eye on his website for tour dates and book as soon as tickets go on sale, trust me.  I also have it on good authority that Beats is well worth seeing at the Soho theatre after a limited run in Edinburgh.  It is a coming of age story with lots of techno - written and acted by Kieran Hurley with a live DJ and live visuals!  Buy tickets here.

Blam is on in London from 22nd-31st October 2013

There were several places left on my Edinburgh List which I hope to tick off next year.  Top of the pile from Barchick's recommendations is Bramble, a hard to find underground cocktail bar with high quality drinks. Londoners should watch out for White Lyan, a quirky new bar set up by Bramble team mates Ryan Chetiyawardana and Iain Griffiths, opening soon in Hoxton. They are doing away with ice (low quality frozen water ruining drinks) and lemons (British citrus is rubbish apparently) and pre-making many of their cocktails so that they can spend as much time as possible interacting with their guests.  They will also have the ability to alter beers (with citrus hops atomisation) and wines (with barrel oaked atomisation) to add their stamp to brands coming in.

Thanks to Barchick, friendly Edinburgh bartenders and Team List for coming up with some stuff for me to blog about, and for somehow improving one of my favourite places in the world. Bring on Edinburgh 2014.