East Village Club, Bar & Kitchen London Review
East Village Bar & Kitchen is located on Great Eastern Street, a five minute walk from Old Street underground station in London’s trendy Shoreditch. The venue lies in the patch of the former Medicine Bar, and although it’s only just celebrated its 1st year anniversary, like its predecessor it’s already making a great name for itself with a calendar of events, top DJs and great food and drink drawing in the crowds.
Split over three floors, this club/lounge/bar is an all round people pleaser – it takes its inspiration from New York’s underground arty suburb of East Village, Manhattan with well considered touches including kitsch lampshades, art deco elements and a low lit opulence.
The Deco Lounge on the first floor encompasses a bar that stretches the length of the room stocking a great selection of wines, beers and must-try NYC-themed cocktails, clapped out leather sofas, bold wallpaper, a separate green lit DJ booth and leopard print ceiling. A staircase takes you down to the basement Club Room, a dark, low ceilinged dance floor area with an impressive soundsystem and a mirror ball ceiling – which when hit by the disco lights, creates a magical effect. A wooden staircase from the Deco Lounge takes you to the second floor mezzanine, or Flamingo Crossing, a great little area that you can also hire out for a party, complete with its own bar, giant black tasselled lampshades, draping curtains and pillars covered in iconic photographs and quirky images.
Entertainment-wise there’s something on most nights – expect top global DJs, including Norman Jay, Grooverider and Quentin Harris spinning a range of musical genres from house and disco to reggae and drum & bass; it’s worth signing up to the East Village MySpace or Facebook to keep track of it all.
My friend and I visited on a Thursday night and were surprised at how quiet it was - however, it soon filled up with a lively crowd and with a soundtrack of reggae, salsa and ambient beats, we could have been in a faraway beach bar. We settled in to a table at the far corner of the Deco Lounge and looked around at the little nooks and crannies filled with thought-provoking decorative touches, including art deco mirrors, a giant rhino head, pink flamingos, fans and tropical plants.
One of the bar staff came over to take our drinks order and recommended the Dinatia Vivanco Rioja Crianza – a very tasty, full bodied wine, which went very well with our bowl of mixed olives. The recently re-vamped menu is described as tapas-style; however, with a range of light bites and bigger main meals on the list, it’s that and more. The selection, which includes chicken skewers, grilled sardines, braised meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce, butternut squash, pesto and goat cheese Fettucine, pan fried calves liver with mash and gravy, means there’s something for everyone. The Sunday roast session menu is also very inviting, with highlights including honey pork belly and apple sauce and chickpea nut roast, special guest DJs and events; a great alternative to the Eastenders omnibus.
I ordered one of the ‘big dishes’; grilled swordfish with roast root vegetables, chickpeas and crème fraiche – I got a well presented, spicy Moroccan style dish, which ticked all the taste boxes and filled me up nicely, without being too heavy. My friend went for the burger of chargrilled chicken breast, bacon, avocado, pesto and melted cheese. A great, original combination with big complementing flavours; the accompanying chips also deserve a special mention. With no room for pudding, we decided to finish off with one of cocktails – each one is designed with an area of East Village in mind, with a snippet of history behind it. The Bowery, named after the area of Manhattan that leads from East Village to Chinatown, and created to ‘inspire any budding poets out there’, sounded right up my street. A delicate mix of Stolichnaya Vanilla, Absolut Vanilla, Canton ginger liqueur, fresh lime, apple juice and a pinch of cinnamon that my friend described as like birthday, Easter and Christmas rolled in to one – deliciously creamy from being expertly shaken and not one that will disappoint. We could have happily relaxed in to the sofa for another cocktail or three but with work beckoning the next day we decided to hit the road, although the beats from the club below were very tempting as we headed out on to high street.
Gabrielle Sander (01 03 2009)
East Village Club, Bar & Kitchen London Description
East Village Club opened its doors in Feb 2008 replacing Medicine Bar. Refurbished and relaunched as a Club rather than a Bar East Village Club boasts DJ Stuart Patterson as their music programmer. With East Village Bar & Kitchen, dine or drink in the chic Art Deco Lounge, or take time out in the oh-so kitch Flamingo Crossing bar, situated above on the mezzanine floor.
The Deco Lounge:
The stylish art-deco inspired ground floor area is the hub of the venue; much larger than the mezzanine, this area holds up to 250 guests and has a much more urban chic feel to it. A huge bar that stretches the length of this room will ensure your guests are never short of refreshments, making it an ideal spot for networking gatherings. This area comes complete with a fully equipped DJ booth and sound system. In addition to meeting any AV must haves, this area can double us as a projection room with full PA system, making an ideal location for presentations and workshops. The swanky Deco Lounge dance floor is wrapped with plenty of seating, making this sumptuous space highly desirable for private parties and that special celebration.
Flamingo Crossing:
The quirky mezzanine level is the smallest of the three floors and can cater for parties and between 20 and 70 guests. Complete with a one–man bar this is the perfect setting for an intimate event, be it a team meeting, workshop, product launch or Christmas party. The black fringe curtains and bunket seating are complemented by two oversized kitsch velour lampshades, creating a great atmosphere for any occasion. The ability to utilize the in-house chef will also keep your guests happy, with a choice of delicious canapés or a buffet spread.
Club Room:
Down in the basement is a spacious eye catching room and bar, comfortably holding 200 people (standing), with the benefit of adding additional seating if required. The large DJ booth comes fully–equipped with turntables, CD mixes and PA system, powered by a state–of-the-art Electro Voice sound system. This area is the blank canvas; the large dance floor space is perfect for small to medium-sized conferences, presentations, tram building exercises and client entertainment, and fully compatible with standard presentation software.
Customer Reviews for East Village Club, Bar & Kitchen
The following customer reviews are not endorsed by Fluid London and are simply those of users who wish to publish their independent experiences of East Village Club, Bar & Kitchen.
“Spot on venue, easily one of the best in london, the atmosphere is relaxed and unpretentious, the music programming is absolutely first rate and the food is pretty decent, but lets face it, you go to east village for the music, its a quality music venue with two floors of absolute spot on cutting edge talent. nuff said. You want a 5star meal go to a french restaurant, heres the place to GET DOWNNNNN!”
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[ Unknown ], London (4 months 25 days ago)
“This bar has pretty reasonable decor and music but the drinks are pretty poor. i had a mojito that was way too sweet and a daiquiri that had the paint stripper taste that comes with poor quality rum. The staff were also quite rude, i had to wait at the bar for staff to finish their lengthy conversation before they served me. But the biggest issue i have is with the management - we had our coats on the seat where we were sitting and standing and were asked to move them on health and safety grounds which then turned into because they couldn't take responsibility if they were stolen but was actually due to the hefty profit they wanted to make on the cloak room. Trust me there are much better places to spend an £8 cover charge.”
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Ed, london (5 months 16 days ago)
“Astonishing venue, very good music, staff very friendly.. Had a very good time with my friends there, definitely will comeback!”
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Dany boy, london (1 years 5 months 23 days ago)
“Went to East Village on a Friday night for food and a boogie. Ate some lovely tapas (great for lining the stomach!) and then went downstairs for some excellent house music. The staff were really friendly and although the drinks weren't cheap they did the trick! After looking at the great lineup for March we definitely plan to go again!”
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clairebare, london (1 years 5 months 29 days ago)
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