This
will be the first in a series of pieces highlighting the various areas of
London, both from a living perspective and also from that of a visitor. I’ll own up before we begin, this is
certainly not being delivered from an unbiased perspective, I certainly have my
favourites, but I’ll give as much information as I can on each.
The
first area I’ll look at is inner east London; specifically
Hoxton, Shoreditch and Old Street. As a
former resident I feel well qualified to sing its praises, but also to throw
some tips out for new punters to beware of.
It
was only a few years ago that the inner east-end of London was extremely
working class and considered a bit of a no-go area, particularly if you were a
tourist. But from the 90’s, this part of
London has emerged as the coolest part of town, well known for its freedom from
the scourge of high street chains, unique bars and food options. If like me, you’re from Melbourne, think
Fitzroy or Brunswick but with even more hipsters. The proliferation of interesting facial hair,
ridiculous tattoos, skinny jeans and roll your own cigarettes is ubiquitous,
but don’t be put off by that, it’s impossible to be bored in this part of the
world.
I’ll
start with the food. In the London, it’s
certainly more difficult to find great South East Asian food than it is in
Australia or New Zealand. Indian is
everywhere, but it can be a genuine struggle to find a great Vietnamese
pho. Fortunately, Shoreditch is an
exception! Vietnamese restaurants line
either side of Kingsland road. With so any to choose from, some guidance is clearly required. Best overall is Que Viet, service, food and décor are all
top notch.
Best pho goes to Song Que, the long queues are a dead give away of
its quality. They also sports some cracking mullets and rat’s tails amongst the
staff. Cay Tre provides great
value around the corner on Old Street along with superb salt and pepper squid.
I
can’t talk about Shoreditch without mentioning Hoxton Square, great food and
drink abound. The Breakfast Club
provides a great start to the day and typically has a slightly shorter line
than its other outlet up in Angel. Also providing superb breakfast options as well as cocktails is the super stylish 100 Hoxton, with an Aussie as an executive chef you can definitely see some of the influences from back home. In fact my wife and I sampled a cracking roast and salad from there. It was so good that Jo felt the need to be a photographing your food wanker, as evidenced below.
The
Hoxton Bar and Kitchen has
burger/Mexican style food, as well as a bar that does plenty and also does live
music. Here’s another fun fact, it was
used as part of the set for the Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz movie, ‘The
Counsellor’; unfortunately the less said about the movie the better, the word I'd use to describe it rhymes with Pitt.
The
Red Dog Saloon is famous
for its hot wings challenge and Devastator challenge. The hot wings have claimed the pride of many
person who thought they could handle something hot. I’ve laid eyes on people in tears, furiously
washing out their mouths (and other parts they’ve touched) after taking on
these searing beasts. The Devastator is
best described pictorially; words just don’t do justice to its pure meatiness.
I've only just scratched the surface, but these are some of the highlights and all
within a 5 minute walk of each other!
Next time we’ll look at the multitude of watering holes on offer and
maybe some to look out for so you don’t stumble in by accident!
By Global KNB Director - David Mainsbridge
