Whatever happened to Shoreditch

Last Friday I went on a little pub crawl around Shoreditch so I decided to write up a quick review of the places I visited. I’ve lived in the London East End for almost 10 years and have seen the Shoreditch area somewhat grow and develop. Let me tell you, during my time here the area has seen a lot of change.

These days Shoreditch has spread so far it almost seems to be connected to Spitalfields and Brick Lane just south of it and spilling into Angel towards the north. An ever changing and growing ensemble of funky bars, modern pubs and small clubs each vying to attract punters with particular themes, extensive Y2K named cocktail lists, happy hours and supposedly unique, clever and ‘cool’ names. Some of these names are beyond ridiculous and at times it feels as though they are trying too hard.

Back in the day Shoreditch was cool. It’s hard to explain what exactly it was that made it cool. It used be a vibrant art and fashion student area, best described as underground – an uncommon alternative to the other trendy and established places in London such as Notting Hill and Camden Town. I specifically mention Notting Hill because I remember the days when several of my friends who used to live in Notting Hill first made the Circle Line trek across town every Friday and Saturday to then eventually move into the neighborhood to live here. I’ve always had a good time when out and about in Shoreditch but I guess something has worn off and got lost with time. Commercialism has taken its toll.

Anyways, it’s been a while since I’ve been to my favorite bars out here and I wanted to see if Shoreditch still had that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’! I mapped out my bars (in fact, I dug up an old mini pub crawl list I had from many years ago) and to my disappointment noticed one of them doesn’t even exist anymore. Before I remembered bars come and go here all the time I asked myself “Had it really been this long?” ‘Cocomo’ on Old Street, a tiny but great little, grungy cocktail bar. This was Shoreditch … raw, real and ready for a big night. It was the perfect place to kick things off. Oh well!

Instead, I decided to start off at another one of my favourites – ‘The Strongroom’. Discreetly tucked away down a cobbled courtyard off Curtain Road hides this cleverly designed split-level bar. Affiliated to the record studios, it typically caters for the local music and media industry and regularly features live music events. On the night, there was a DJ playing funky house music. Upstairs is the restaurant bar offering table service and a food menu along with an extensive range of beers, wines and cocktails. There’s always a good crowd here!

Next up was ‘Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen’. I am pleased to say this is still Hoxton Square’s finest and most interesting destination. Split into 2 areas, the bar/club side starts to fill quickly around 9pm (be prepared to queue if you show up later). I was hungry and decided to check out the restaurant side which was just busy enough to get that last table. To me, this is the single most telling sign of a restaurants’ food … if the restaurant is full, the food must be good! The menu here provides a solid range of cocktails and drinks and very delicious Mexican food!! Great bargains to be had here too. Decided to skip the starters and thankfully I did. The huge and tasty main course meant I couldn’t manage a desert, even if I wanted to. Good value and still going strong!

After dinner, I ended up at ‘Zigfrid von Underbelly’. This is exactly the kind of name for a bar that begs the question, why are you trying so hard? So what's that strange sounding Dutch/German name all about? You can have a read on their website ( http://zigfrid.com/about/ ) – it’s quite a story! Zigfrid is a cool bar and restaurant with either DJ or Live music depending on the night. There’s also a funky outdoor drinking area where you can sit on tree trunks and a club area downstairs.

Before I finish, I quickly want to mention another one of those crazy named bars. Ever heard of the Breakfast Club? There’s several in London but the one in Spitalfields on Artillery Lane, just off Bishopsgate has a little secret. Accessible only via a SMEG fridge inside the cafe is ‘The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town’, a cute, little basement cocktail bar. Their website ( http://themayorofscaredycattown.com/ ) doesn’t give away much and access to the bar is only guaranteed by making a reservation. The whole experience is incredibly surreal and fun and the cocktails are great.

The Last Word … Despite my expectation that the Shoreditch scene would eventually collapse or might have already done so, the area is flourishing stronger than ever. It continues to astound me and remains one of London’s trendiest areas. It may have been around for a long time but shows no signs of aging – the bars still pack in the cool kids keen to enjoy a good and fun night out.

London Zoo Late Admission

Last week I bought 2 tickets to visit London Zoo. I like animals and always enjoyed visiting the zoo. My only concern is that the animals are kept in good conditions, which here at London Zoo they really are being cared for.

This particular visit would turn out to be quite a unique experience. London Zoo currently offer a late admission (6pm-10pm) on Fridays during the months June and July. What does this mean? Well, the late night admission means you can explore over 750 different species the zoo has to offer, just as if you were a normal visitor. However, on top of that there is additional entertainment such as funfair-rides, face-painting, picnics, penguin beach, twisted cabaret, a silent disco and a range of bars located at Barcleys Square serving champagne, Pimms, mojitos, wine and beers.

On the night, I was joined by the beautiful Shannon and upon arrival we decided to get ourselves a drink. This in itself is very unique, cool and different ... It’s not often you get to walk through an Aquarium while enjoying a cold beer. And I saw some cool fishes too.
After the water tanks, I made my way over to the picnic collection, grabbed a seat in the Amphitheatre and got stuck into the Gordon Ramsey packed dinner picnic baskets. While having dinner, the twisted cabaret acts started their show. I had no idea what it was about (at the time I was very hungry and focusing on my dinner) but even ended up being an active participant in the show. Very embarrassing but thankfully all I had to do was draw a line on a piece of paper. The show also included a burlesque strip act, a male striptease, a fire show and a lesbian scientist. All in all, the name ‘twisted cabaret’ sums it up very well!

Well fed and entertained by the cabaret we decided to check out some animals. I saw the lions, met the monkeys, walked past the parrots and straight into Butterfly Paradise. Butterfly Paradise features butterfly and moth species from several major regions including Africa, South-east Asia and Central and South America. Very cool!
Afterwards, we headed straight to Penguin Beach. The penguins were a highlight and I was particularly impressed by one. As I approached the beach, there were 20 something penguins in the water and another 20 or so relaxing on the beach. Then, I noticed 2 penguins in the distance, isolated from all the others. One of them jumped into the water and decided to dive the entire length of the pool before attempting to climb out onto the beach. He must have been both disorientated from the extra dive laps he pulled around the swimming penguins as well as tired from his exertions as he barely made it up onto the rocks on the beach. He didn’t give up and at the third attempt simply collapsed onto the beach.

At this point, the weather turned and it started to rain but I was about to experience my first ever silent disco. I got my headphones (which provide a choice of 2 stations) and walked into the centre of the ‘club’. Silent discos are strange but fun – I now consider myself a fan.

Here I was raving away in the middle of London in a zoo, surrounded by 200 something people all wearing headphones with the rain pouring down us. Everybody was relaxed, dancing and enjoying themselves. As the rain came down heavy, there was a strange sense of togetherness even though everybody was in their own little world. And to think this was all happening so close to these rare species and creatures from around the world was very cool. Needless to say, there was no noise pollution and we did not disturb the animals.

To sum it up, late nights at the zoo are different compared to your usual night out in London and provide unique experience. Go check it out, it’s fun!