Tue 9 December, 2014 BAR SUPPLEMENT: 2014 Ah 2014, you’ve been good to us. Street food markets have (yet again!) gotten bigger, mezcal slushies saw us through the Indian summer while Hot Flat White Russians are fuelling our winter. Asian bars suddenly became du jour, and our neighbourhoods have exploded with watering holes. What’s next? A new party spot in King’s X awaits. Cheers! Table Bookings: Street Food Markets Night Tales We’ve been watching the street food market revolution for sometime now – and it’s been fun, with its ad hoc tables, chairs and Styrofoam cups, pop up restaurants, reservations, and cocktail bars. And now we’re seeing it go further with Night Tales on Old Street, with purpose-built private chalets, all ripe for booking. Alternatively, hire The Winter Cabin for £20 per head (for one hour) which includes two drinks and small bites (black pudding Scotch eggs, duck pâté and game sausage rolls) and DIY your own party. Coffee to Cocktail: The Grinds Shoreditch Grind Baristas by day and bartenders by night, we love the Grinds (Shoreditch, Soho and Holborn). Apart from their seductive neon signs and all round good-time vibes, these guys (David Abrahamovitch and Kaz James) have given the espresso martini some stiff competition. Think Espresso Old Fashioneds (bourbon, sugar, chocolate bitters), Tequila Mockingbirds (espresso, tequila, triple sec, sugar syrup) and, our new winter fave, the Hot Flat White Russian (espresso, vodka, Kahlua and milk). Coffee to cocktails are now a smooth transition. Oh, and word on the street is there may be a London Grind (at London Bridge) come January 2015. Neighbourhood Gems The Sun Tavern Sometimes, nothing beats a good ‘local’. Friendly staff, great tunes, and fast-flowing, affordable drinks. Ticking these boxes is The Sun Tavern at the ‘rough around the edges’ end of Bethnal Green Road. Expect to make friends with the bartenders (our tip: bring a good vinyl), drink some tankard cocktails and roll home after some Irish Poitín. For those in the Old Street area, Modern Love, a rock ‘n’ roll dive bar where quick drinks turn to loose nights (think red plastic cups, two cocktails for a tenner and picklebacks) gets our vote. Now over to Stoke Newington to Original Sin. The neighbourhood brother to Happiness Forgets has highballs (cheaper than cocktails but more exciting than a G&T), free-to-use pool tables, and a burger bar upstairs (Stokey Bears). Trailblazer: 184 Hackney Road We’ve always loved tequila. But circa 2013, we started to replace it with its smokier cousin, mezcal – thanks to Mezcal Melanie (Melanie Symonds) and her 2013 pop up, QuiQuiRiQui. Enter 2014 and the pop up has gone perma (at the same location under The Golden Grill) with a new name, 184 Hackney Road. The result? Mezcal has gone mainstream. If you’re not having a mezcal slushie under the kebab shop, you’re probably making your way through Casa Negra’s new mezcal-laden menu. Need more convincing? November saw the UK’s first tequila AND mezcal festival. And, we just drank mezcal margs with coffee for breakfast (thanks, Pernod). Oops. All Grown Up: MR Lyan Dandelyan From the party den of White Lyan in the grubbier end of Hoxton to the swank Dandelyan in the Mondrian hotel, plus some shelf time in Selfridges, Mr. Lyan (Ryan Chetiyawardana), has, in one year, grown up. We can’t wait to see what he throws at us next. Trend Alert: Asian Bars Dishoom King's Cross From sake highballs at Night Elm to kaffir lime G&Ts at Som Saa, right now, it’s all about Asian bars. Want to feed your Kung Fu addiction while downing some Wong Islands? Head to London’s first Chopsocky bar, PimpShuei. Want swanker? Try Peony inside Opium (that’s right, a bar within a bar). Think 25 covers, a carefully crafted cocktail list and handmade dumplings. Lastly, there’s Dishoom’s Permit Room. Aside from the impressive décor, we can’t get enough of the cocktails, especially the Sir Jeejeebhoy (a bottle-aged old-fashioned). And next? We hear Alan Yau’s Asian gastropub Duck & Rice is finally set to open. The Pub Revival Cat & Mutton Two stalwart boozers, two big refurbs, one year. The Cat & Mutton had its new lick of paint earlier this year via Tom Gibson of Ruby’s. Downstairs is much the same – pints and taxidermy – while upstairs now lives Ruby’s little cocktail sister, Pearl's. The second pub revival of 2014 comes via The Birdcage. Re-opened by the Draft House group, the vibe here is slightly different, with live buskers instead of karaoke nights and a cocktail USP thanks to mixologist Max Chater of Bump Caves. Hidden Gem: Discount Suit Company Find yourself at Liverpool Street or Spitalfields Market but want to avoid the likes of Be At Ones and Dirty Dicks? Head to hidden gem Discount Suit Company. What was once a storeroom for an old suit company is now a speakeasy with exposed brick, dim lighting and stiff cocktails. Plus, tables can be booked. All boxes ticked. Goodbye: Shrimpy’s Ah Shrimpy’s – habanero margaritas, outdoor grills and tropicarnivals – we’ve had some good times. But like all good things, the end is nigh. Come 23 December, the tropical lair is closing for good. The only question left? What’s next for the Filling Station? Oh, and who gets the pineapple lamps? On our RadaR: 2015 The hotel trend continues. 2015 will see the opening of Andre Balazs’ first Standard, London. Apart from its King's Cross location, details are still hush. But if it’s anything like the American counterparts, we’re thinking killer views, a rooftop, and possibly the first real party spot to hit King’s X. by CS InnIs & Gunn Gift Pack SPONSORED LISTING Now for a bit of Christmas cheer in a gift pack. A selection of four Innis & Gunn award-winning beers and an opener, for only a tenner. The perfect stocking filler or party pack. Points for the quirky David Galletly illustration! Innis & Gunn Gift Pack, £10, Available here Alice’s Adventures Underground SPONSORED LISTING “There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of Wonder, Mystery and Danger” Lewis Carroll, 1865 In 2015 Les Enfants Terribles invite you to that very place with Alice’s Adventures Underground. Only it’s not just Alice’s adventure, it’s yours… Experience immersion like never before in this interactive, puppetry-packed, fusion of story-telling, music, circus and spectacle. Coming to the Vaults, Waterloo in April 2015. Tickets on sale now! LIKE SHARE FORWARD PREVIOUS EDITION (c) 2014 Urban Junkies. All rights reserved. Reproductions of any portion of this website only with our express permission. Urban Junkies is a free daily mailer. All listings and features are editorial: We do not receive any payment from venues, artists or promoters. 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