Sebright Arms - Canalival - PortSide Parlour

Saturday 1st June - The weather forecast said sun so I put together a plan around London Fields involving Coppa (the new rooftop bar and BBQ), the local brewery and Portside Parlour.  The sun was slow to rear its head, London Fields brewery had a sold out ticketed event (British Craft Beer Challenge) and my Team List members were delayed for various reasons so we had to come up with some new ideas.  I made my way to Hoxton with Team List leader Natalie (closing in on a half century) and we wandered up Hackney Road towards Broadway Market, where East Londoners James and Olly have just moved to.

Our first stop was going to be Quiquiriqui (a mezcaleria tucked away underneath a kebab shop) but this was sadly temporarily closed for renovations.  Thankfully, The List is very long so we went instead to the nearby Sebright Arms for a quick pint.  Foodie favourite Lucky Chip can be found here serving up burgers such as "Kevin Bacon" and "Royale wit Cheese" alongside other meaty delights.  Check out their new Licky Chop residency near London Fields too.  We begrudgingly saved space for dinner that was being cooked for us.  Sebright Arms has plenty else going for it anyway with a gig venue downstairs and a fantastic range of beer.  I had a delicious pint of Redwell Steam Lager which I hadn't come across before.  They have also started micro-brewing their own beer - Pure Evil Black IPA (in collaboration with Redchurch Brewery) is their first offering, with a brilliant label (see below) to match the name.

Pure Evil Black IPA

We moved off after one drink to find Olly and James who were caught up in the madness that was Canalival.  This crazy event that you probably read about this week was officially cancelled due to safety concerns over having too many people in inflatables on the water, but tonnes of revellers still turned up, floating their way down the canal with live music pumping out all day.  We dragged Olly and James away to get dinner on the move, and were joined by List regular Luke.  The atmosphere was electric by the lock at Broadway Market, though I was glad to be soaking it up from a safe distance on a balcony overlooking the canal.  We watched as flares, DJs, comedy shaped boats and impromptu games of catch the pineapple made their way past us.  Apparently the mess left behind was terrible - perhaps they will have a plan for this next year after all the bad press it received.  Go and read more on the Canalival Facebook wall for some lively arguments.

Pretty mad eh?  All this inflatable nonsense distracted our hosts so dinner was heavily delayed, making us incredibly late for our 9pm PortSide Parlour booking.  We eventually made our way along buzzing Broadway Market that was still filled with Canalivalers (that's a word).  I must return on a Saturday afternoon for the proper market experience.  PortSide Parlour is a pop-up rum bar below Off Broadway on Broadway Market, with the entrance disguised as a toilet cubicle - pulling the chain opens the door.  We sadly didn't get a chance to enter in style as there was a constant flow of people in and out of the door.

Our table was predictably given away to another group, but they were very kind to squeeze us on to another table instantly without a fuss - thanks must go to the group who happily let us share their table.    They pack people in to their small, candle-lit bar which had the feeling of being below deck on a rowdy rum-filled boat.  It is loud and busy in a good way, and one of the most atmospheric places that I have visited so far.  I must admit that I stuck to drinking wonderful Kernel Simcoe IPA beers out of a tankard whilst the rest of Team List tried out some cocktails.  They weren't blown away by their drinks but it certainly wouldn't put me off coming back as there was such a great vibe.  They are opening a second site nearby called PortSide Cabana on 29th June which promises to serve up Tiki drinks in a lush Cuban garden - you heard it here first!

Enormous thanks to James (for cooking) and Olly (for hosting) and also to Luke and Natalie for their continuing commitment to the cause.  Natalie moves on to 44 points (with more on the way after two more trips to Soho and Shoreditch this week) whilst late bloomer Luke moves up to 9.  Olly is meanwhile on 7 points ahead of James on 4.  I will be back for more Broadway Market / London Fields  adventures as there is so much left still to do in the area, and James has also promised a whopping Wapping jaunt once the sunshine is more reliable as he knows the pubs well. 

Coming up:

Rekorderlig Cider's Midsummer House in Victoria Park - 21st June to 5th July

Pimm's Summer Garden popup in Covent Garden - 19th to 29th June

Feast in Brick Lane Yard - 4th to 7th July - I spy an After Hours dessert special event there

Meatopia at Tobacco Dock - 7th September - a long way off and expensive but how can you resist with a name like that?

Etoo London at new Loading Café/Bar in Soho - London response to E3 gaming event

Craft Beer Co - Kaff Bar - Wishbone - Effra Social

Wednesday 29th May - I need to go to Brixton more often.  I am constantly convincing myself that £12 Soho and Shoreditch cocktails are worth it, but when you get the same quality and style for £5 in Brixton, it's hard to justify the extra expenditure.  Last time out, Lauren and I went to the excellent Crown and Anchor before trying out Gremio de Brixton, Honest Burgers and Seven at Brixton.  This time around, I met Lauren in Craft Beer Co (with Brixton local Luke not far behind).  The name gives it away - not much point coming here unless you are a beer fan (though there are excellent whiskies and pork pies!).  The range of beers is always impressive - this time I had a half of 10% Viking Chilli Stout.  Go along on Mondays when they open up a bottle of expensive beer for free to share with everyone.  This was only a flying visit to kill time before Luke arrived, but it's a wonderful place - highly recommended.

We made our way over to Kaff Bar on Atlantic Road for a quick pre-Wishbone drink.  It is a very chilled out café bar with sofas and plenty of natural light.  They randomly have a crazy Breakfast themed list of cocktails, though our barman seemed in no mood to do anything other than pour a pint.  Here are few of my favourite options from the website:

Jam infused vodka shots

6 different milky vodka cocktails

They also have three £3 cocktails available all day - Mojito, Moscow Mule and Louisiana Jam (with Southern Comfort - "SoCo" to cool kids - with apricot jam and apple juice) served up in jam jars.  £3?  They must be awful, right? Nope, actually pretty tasty.  If it had cost me £13.50 and I was told it was made my a renowned mixologist, I would probably have been content.  They currently have a chef from New Orleans serving up all sorts of delicious food - if they called it a pop-up Louisiana residency, everyone would be all over it.  I'm also intrigued by their Cake Club Cabaret which is held on Sundays once a month - bringing your own cake gives you the freedom to try 5 other cakes for free with prizes given out to the best baker.

The hunger set in so we moved on to Wishbone in Brixton Village.  Wednesdays are a great evening to go to Brixton Village with minimal queues but still a buzzing atmosphere.  We walked in to Wishbone without any wait.  Wishbone is the fried chicken version of Meat Liquor with a Sours focused drinks menu.  My Pisco Sour was fantastic and a steal at £5.50 - definitely worth experimenting with the DIY Sours options at that price.  Sitting at the bar always pays dividends and this time it came in the form of a taster of the comically named Ron de Jeremy rum.  Anyway - on to the food.  Lauren's portion of wings was generous to say the least.  I went for a limited edition Korean chicken sandwich that was available in conjunction with a Specials gig at Brixton Academy - it reminded me of the original GBK Chicken Satay burger that I have a soft spot for, but with actual peanuts in sight and vastly superior bread.  Hopefully the Korean Special will become a permanent fixture.  The accompanying chips were the most salty I have ever tasted - not quite sure what they were going for there.  I will definitely go for one of the more exciting sides next time.  Another excellent Brixton Village hangout - go midweek or book at the weekend.

We couldn't resist stopping for a quick drink at Seven (pintxos, taps and cocktails - read about my first visit here) where they have a £5 cocktail menu with names but no descriptions.  We tested our barman on all the ingredients before ordering three Thai Juleps - a spicy and refreshing frozen julep with ginger and lemongrass served in a solo cocktail shaker.

Our last stop was a 10 minute walk up Effra Road.  Effra Social has taken over the old Conservative Club which shut in November 2012.  It is the latest place from Antic London who also run Dogstar and Balham Bowls Club.  It has retained the character and look of the club, with a small living room bar upstairs and events in the main room downstairs.  A stand-up show was in full flow when we arrived so we didn't get to investigate down there this time.  We instead grabbed some pints and sat outside in the colourful front garden. It's a nice, little place away from the Brixton crowds, with a very sociable atmosphere - definitely one to check out.

Thanks to Team Brixton of Luke and Lauren for putting in a good shift on a Wednesday night.  Next on the Brixton Village wishlist - Franco Manca

Two big foodie events coming up this weekend:

Soho Food Feast - Sat/Sun
Foodies Festival on Clapham Common - Fri/Sat/Sun

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.

Botanical Gin Garden at Carom - Azulito - Gelupo

Saturday 25th May - Anyone who read my last post will know that the first half of Saturday was spent with faux-Parisians eating eggs in the sky, drinking cocktails on a barge, and playing Micro Machines in a Sega Megadrive disco bar in King's Cross.  So when I met Team List Leader Natalie in the evening for some unplanned Soho bar hopping adventures, I wasn't feeling very lively.  I soldiered on (life is tough) and we made our way to the new indoor Botanical Gin Garden in Carom at Meza on Wardour Street.

The reception bar area has been transformed into a garden-inspired lounge with a special Gin based cocktail menu on offer.  The most interesting thing on the menu is the DIY Collins which encourages you to go around picking botanicals to give to the barman so that he can concoct something on the spot.  Natalie and I both chickened out of this as we weren't in the mood for stealing botanicals of other peoples tables, and we also wanted something reliable from the menu.  It is a fun idea though.  Our Tanqueray No.10 based cocktails were incredibly refreshing and drinkable, and as a result didn't last very long.

The garden is attached to Carom (restaurant) at Meza (bar) which has also been in my sights since you can play Carrom there (like pool with draughts that I recently got addicted to) whilst you eat/drink.  Downstairs is Floridita - a Latin American restaurant/bar/music venue/club that has some good stuff on.  Go for the weekday 3 course Mojito and music set menu.  They currently have a Rum Shack lounge down there too with many rums and cocktails served in monkey adorned coconuts - looks fun but probably pretty pricey.

Carrom at Carom at Meza

Floridita Rum Shack

We only stayed for one as it had already been an expensive day, so we moved a few doors down the road to have a quick look in Azulito underneath Wahaca - a colourful Mexican tequila bar with free table football (which suddenly makes Café Kick's £1 per game tables seem very expensive).  We went to the bar to get a couple of Negra Modelos (my new favourite beer since the Mexican invasion of London) and returned to find the tables busy.  I asked three Italians if we could play after them.  The rest is history.

Two hours later and Marta, Valentino and Carlo were our new best friends.  Valentino gave out (much needed) foosball tips to Natalie, Carlo took my number in case he wanted violin lessons, whilst Marta added Natalie on Facebook so that we could meet up again for more table football.  Teams were rotated, one game was played without our glasses (aren't we crazy?) and so on.  Marta told us tales of how she used to be rubbish at table football before Carlo made her practice 3 hours a day - it worked.  The atmosphere in Azulito was fantastic and we weren't interrupted by anyone wanting to play all night.  Perhaps the tables are new and haven't been discovered yet, but it was very relaxed for a Friday night.  We didn't even get to the tequila.  More Negra Modelos were consumed by all before we eventually hung up our tiny boots and spilled back out on to Wardour Street.  

After an emotional goodbye to Marta and the boys, Natalie and I decided to get some gelato (continuing the Italian theme) rather than try to top Azulito with another bar.  We went round the corner to join the queue for Gelupo (popular late night gelateria owned by excellent Bocca di Lupo restaurant opposite).  This turned out to be the queue just to get in the door, the ice cream queue went right from the other end of the bar.  One passer by who looked in to see what everyone was queuing for said "Oh, it's just ice cream".  I, still fired up from numerous dramatic games of babyfoot, replied "JUST Ice Cream?  It's only the best ice cream in London".  I have no idea if that is true.  I have never eaten there before.  

There are many quirky flavours alongside some classics - I'm amazed Natalie resisted the Kiwi, Gin and Elderflower option.  My earlier claim may well have been correct - our selections were truly delicious.  I will obviously have to go to every other gelateria before I know for sure, but they are going to have a tough job topping Gelupo, especially considering it is open til 12.30!  I had Salted Caramel & Pecan and Hazelnut, whilst Natalie went Ricotta & Sour Cherry and Bonet (chocolate with coffee, egg yolks, rum, caramel, amaretti biscuits and vanilla).

More cheeeeese, Gromit?

We licked our way back to Piccadilly, spotting Jamie Oliver's new pop up Diner and Dog House en route.  It is apparently open for 3 years so no rush on that one.  Big thanks must go to our new Italian friends, I hope they are reading and we see them again!  Natalie extends her lead to 15 points (Natalie 43, Sam 28, Tim 27) and is looking far too comfortable for my liking.  Who is going to mount a serious challenge in the second half of the year?