ReviewThis has quite a European feel to it, and the food was better than expected. I had avoided this place for several years as they did not sell any cider, but fortunately they have now seen the error of their ways and are stocking one, even if it is rather sweet and not at all local.
It's a large single room bar with a counter running the whole length of one wall. There are some high tables with bar stools and bench seating around the opposite wall, and a selection of tables scattered around all with candles on them to add to the ambience. It's a shame that the overhead ducting for the ventilation and other service pipes seem to have rather obscured the ornate ceiling. It would have been nice if they had made more of a feature of it like the Commercial Rooms and many other establishments in Corn Street, rather than just hiding it away. It's fine in a warehouse style establishment like the Tobacco Factory, but it doesn't really fit in here. The corporate branding was a little OTT, with the bar name emblazoned across everything from the window blinds to the clock, and even the hand dryers in the loo and the rather superfluous bit of paper than came pinned to the top of my burger. Just in case you've forgotten by the time your food arrives where you are.
The Eastern European waitress was friendly and efficient and there was a good choice on the menu, with a whole range of food from snacks and sharing platters to steaks and more adventurous dishes, with a particularly good selection of burgers. Most of the mains are around the £8 - £12 mark, and my burger with caramelised red onions and a very decent wedge of Camembert certainly hit the spot, although it could have been a few degrees warmer. It’s nice to get a proper bottle of Heinz ketchup as well, rather than a small pot of some indeterminate red sauce or a sachet that you can’t open and only contains about half a teaspoonful anyway.
The only beer was keg London Pride, although there was a good selection of continental stuff (all fitted with fake beer engine hand pumps!). The solitary cider was Aspall’s Suffolk. There were a few barrels racked up behind the bar, but unfortunately these were not for beer, merely a means of dispensing wine.
