Lucky Voice, Bishopsgate, EC2

Modern bar / restaurant in one of the 18th-century former warehouses forming part of the Devonshire Square redevelopment, with its front door located up a short bi-directional staircase. Housed in one large room with quite a high ceiling, with the inevitable industrial ventilation and modern filament lighting. Most tables are laid up for dining, but there is some general seating around the counter in the front left corner. There is an open kitchen at the far end, but the main feature of interest - being the Alphabeta micro-brewery - lies behind this, with various brewing vessels visible. Two of their real ales - IPA and Whistle Pig Rye (£4.85) - were available from the four handpumps, and there were also two craft beers being dispensed from the four keg taps.

Tucked away in Devonshire Square, just a short walk from Liverpool Street station, this is a decent sized restaurant and bar with its own in house microbrewery. You enter up a flight of stairs into a large open plan room with the bar tucked away in the front left corner and rows of high tables and uncomfortable stools opposite. Further back is the main dining area, partly screened from the rest of the bar, with an open kitchen to the rear. The brewing equipment is visible in the area behind the bar and boards above the servery list the various options available. The decor is pretty uninspiring, with elements of gastro pub, industrial decor and swanky modern restaurant competing with one another. There is also a small patio area at the bottom of the stairs outside the front of the bar, under some giant umbrellas, and that is where all of the other customers were sat on my mid-week visit. Upon entering, I was greeted by a waiter before I could get to the bar, who assured me it was fine to just visit for a drink before steering me to a table, providing me with a drinks list and pointing out the ale options listed above the bar. I plumped for an IPA, which the waiter went and got for me and I sipped this undistinguished example of the style on my own whilst reading my paper. Having finished up, I had to then call someone over to pay and they produced a bill which, to my amazement, included a not insignificant contribution for table service, pushing the price of my pint well over the £5.00 mark. Whilst this is probably quite a hip spot to come and enjoy some decent food with a passable pint of homebrew, it really didn’t work for me as somewhere to stop off for a drink and the cheek of adding 60p to my bill for table service was enough to ensure I won’t be back again.