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!

Chop Shop - Milk & Honey

Wednesday 14th August - September is going to be a crazy month for restaurant openings, with at least 30 already scheduled.  The Chop Shop has just opened after a lengthy soft opening period which I took full advantage of with my university friend Louise who has finally opened her Team List account.  I managed to mess up the booking, but they very kindly squeezed us in anyway.

We enjoyed 25% off our bill and a cocktail on the house courtesy of a Nudge promotion, so we started off at the bar with a very entertaining barman.  He made Louise a beautifully layered Royal Blush for which he received a high five as it was the first successful attempt after a few tweaks.  My Passione Arribiata with chilli infused tequila was equally impressive. We also all had a taste of their celery infused gin (for a Celery Gimlet) as it was finally ready to try. We eventually tore ourselves away and headed downstairs for food.  

We covered their Chops & Steaks section by getting a chop and a steak, with 2 of their fantastic free house sauces (Creamy Horseradish and Vodka Bacon Peppercorn) with some chips to share.  Other food coming out looked fantastic too, especially the White Label Burger pictured below. Their menu seems to have changed a fair amount since we visited though so don't go expecting everything that you can see here.

We didn't waste much time getting through our delicious mains, with some bubbly and a bottle of the excellent Honkers Ale on the side.  The decor downstairs isn't quite as exciting as upstairs but there is still a good atmosphere and you aren't too packed in.  I would happily go back as I wanted nearly everything on the menu, though it is fairly pricey when compared to say Flat Iron in Soho.  We moved on without dessert as we had a reservation at Milk and Honey that was approaching fast.

Milk & Honey made the transfer from New York and opened in Soho in 2002, long before the current wave of speakeasy style / hidden cocktail bars set up shop.  It is a members club most of the week, but non members can book for the first half of the week, before 11pm.  It stays open til 3am every night, but only for members and their guests.  The membership also gives you access all areas to the other Rushmore Group bars and restaurants (Player Bar, Danger of Death, Rotary, Redhook, Giant Robot) that are dotted around London.  You have probably walked past Milk & Honey on Poland Street several times as the door is completely unmarked - look for the door next to the Star & Garter pub, with M & H written on the buzzer.  

The staff were all very welcoming and sat us down in the beautifully lit ground floor bar (almost as dark as Happiness Forgets!).  It is hard to take a picture which conveys the atmosphere, which is a good thing. Go and find out for yourself.  There was a hint of incense which also gave it a sense of familiarity and cosiness. There are other bars and even a games room on other floors, but most of that is members only.  We spent a long time making our choices from an excellent cocktail menu, mainly getting distracted by their silly house rules ("No talking about fighting", "Gentlemen will remove their hats, hooks are provided" etc), before eventually deciding upon a Dempsey and a Pisco Punch.

A huge amount of effort goes into the drinks here and it really shows.  All juices and extracts and made on site by hand, glasses and mixing equipment is frozen at -30C, and ice is cut from a twice frozen block of mineral water.  The bar staff and waiters are all very relaxed and calm, and it rubs off on the guests.  We chatted for a while to one waiter.  They have to stay up until 2pm even if it is empty on the off chance that a group of members turn up for one final drink which must be frustrating!  As it was a school night for Louise, we paid up (drinks very reasonably priced at £9/10) and headed back out on to Poland Street, each with a menu souvenir which you are encouraged to take home with you. 

It wouldn't be a night in Piccadilly without Cinnabon, and Louise had never been so it was the perfect excuse to indulge with yet another ridiculous Cinnamon bun before hopping on the tube home.  Chop Shop and Milk & Honey were a perfect pair, and hopefully soon I will be putting up a List Map so that you can plan your own routes around London.  If you have any other suggestions for making this an easier resource to use (a proper Navbar is on its way), then please get in touch.

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.

Gilbert Scott Brunch - QEH Roof Garden Cafe/Bar - Genesis Cinema - St. George's Wharf

Yet another totally random roundup of things from July, starting with a wonderful complimentary brunch for two at Marcus Wareing's Gilbert Scott in King's Cross that I won in a Barchick competition.  It was the second part of my prize after also being given two free tickets to Ginstock (read more here).  I was originally meant to go for brunch on the morning of Ginstock, and be taken in a taxi to Haggerston, but I had to squeeze in a concert in the morning.  Luckily they allowed me to rearrange, and so I turned up with North Londoner Cassie on Saturday 20th July, over a month after that gin fuelled day.

I was perhaps a tad underdressed in shorts and a t-shirt, but in my defence I did have to also fit in with beer aficionados later on in Bermondsey (read about the rest of my day here).  The staff (and background pianist) didn't seem to mind, and we were informed that we could order as much as we wanted on the house - a very dangerous thing to say.  To be honest, we were quite restrained in the end, only having two breakfast cocktails and a coffee each with our superb brunch.  We possibly should have got some bubbles in there too.  The food was wonderful, as were the drinks (these were not my first Gilbert Scott cocktails) - Breakfast Margarita was the winner for me.  My main issue was how do you leave a restaurant when you don't have to pay?  Luckily they solved that by turning up and giving me yet more free stuff as a parting gift. I had forgotten that the prize also included a bottle of Boodles Gin, so this was a pleasant surprise!  They also chucked in a tiny bottle of Hendricks and a packet of thyme seeds.  Anyway, the brunch is reasonably priced, and I would definitely recommend it to people even if you do have to part with your cash.  The surroundings are lovely, and the quality of service was extremely high.

Rhubarb and Ginger Sour

Bloody Maria

Even toast needs to sleep.

Wednesday 17th July - A few days earlier, Team List decided to bite the bullet and try out Shake Shack and Five Guys (in the same lunchtime), but I'll save that for another time as I want to compare them with some more of the British burger boys in detail.  Anyway, we needed to walk off the calories before having a nap in the sun, so we crossed the river and sought out the Roof Garden Cafe/Bar on top of Queen Elizabeth Hall on Southbank.

It's very peaceful up there, with bees buzzing and the Thames in the background.  We slowly drank our bottles of Curious Brew lager in the sun, surveying the quirky Southbank surroundings.  The garden will be open til the 1st of November, and you can even get involved by going along to "Drop In Gardening" from 11-1 on Tuesdays throughout October.  Make sure you also check out the other nearby popups Propstore, Aperol Spritz bar, and Look Mum No Hands before they disappear.

Rosie had to dash off leaving Taro and I out in the sun.  We had a craving to watch a stupid film (Pacific Rim) so Taro suggested Genesis Cinema in Stepney Green, as it has recently added Studio 5, complete with sofas, footrests and a bar, to its collection of screens.  Other places in London offer the same comforts (Electric Cinema, The Lounge, Everyman) but few are as affordable as Genesis.  It is a short walk from Stepney Green and Whitechapel, and well worth a look.  There is also Bar Paragon upstairs which has beers, cocktails, happy hours, short film nights, quizzes etc.

One last thing to mention - we still have a few days of sun left (fingers crossed) and it doesn't get much better than sitting outside drinking a beer with the Thames and some London skyline in sight.  However, whenever the sun does decide to show its beautiful face, the riverside joints fill up faster than Nicolas Cage's impressive CV, so you have to be a bit crafty and go further afield.  One good option that I was introduced to by Vauxhall local Mary with Cassie (from Gilbert Scott) is the Aqua bar/restaurant at the back of St. George's Wharf near Vauxhall Bridge.  Whilst the food and drink are nothing special, they are reasonably priced considering their location, and the views from Battersea Power Station to Westminster are delightful.  Try it out sometime for a peaceful drink outside on a summery evening.