Oslo, Hackney, E8

Official site of Oslo - www.oslohackney.com

This is a new bar sited in the old Hackney Station. Inside it’s a cavernous room, with most of the walls consisting of exposed original station brickwork. The bar counter looks as if it’s constructed from recovered railway sleepers, and on one wall is some corrugated iron presumably as a most unusual decorative feature as I can’t believe it’s serving any practical purpose. The black painted ceiling has masses of black painted trunking on it – maybe it’s serving a practical purpose but personally I don’t particularly want to see the plumbing and reckon it would be better covered up. Despite the age of the building, the interior is uber modern in its design, but it looks as if the original stone floor of the station has been retained. At the back in front of the hatchway to kitchen there are tables laid for diners, but in the front part of the room there are all manner of mismatched tables and chairs for use by drinkers. There’s a club upstairs, and at least on Friday it’s free entry before 11.00 PM But there were a couple of ales on – Sambrook Wandle and Redemption Trinity, the latter at £2 for a half which is not cheap for a 3% ABV beer. A fairly simple lunch menu is available during the week – sarnies are £5 a pop and include such pub grub favourites as “house smoked brisket, horseradish cheddar, pickles and homemade mustard”. It sounds rather good and I might well have partaken had I not already succumbed to the temptation of a ‘spoons traditional breakfast. When I was in they were playing a Smith’s (or maybe a Morrissey) album, which for some reason failed to bring the place to life. I reckon this is the sort of place where you visit for the novelty value. It doesn’t have any traditional pub atmosphere (it’s a modern bar after all), and although it does real ale the choice isn’t exceptional, and as it’s not really my kind of place I don’t expect to visit again.