At one of the pubs I worked at years ago, line cleaning was a serious business. Midweek we would close hard at 11pm, turn off the lights and sit by the bar. The place would smell of damp wood and cigarettes and whatever food was leftover. Bowls of chips covered in more vinegar than is good for you, saggy “cod” goujons and chilli nachos. Then we’d pump through the remaining beer before switching to cleaning solution and changing kegs. Boring stuff but it meant we got about four free pints each, give or take. And it was as much about camaraderie as hygiene.
We’d fight over who got what. If the Irish rugby lad was on shift, he’d take Guinness; I’d almost always have Kronenbourg; one of the beautiful actresses would have Carlsberg; but it was mostly a free-for-all other than the Grolsch, generally the preserve of whatever duty manager was in.
After mostly disappearing for the best part of a decade, the Dutch pilsner — with a custom label — is on draught at Elephant, a former Victorian boozer reborn as a parlour for Hackney fashionistas. There are David Shrigley prints beneath one of the most spectacular skylights I’ve seen, salvaged from an old cinema. By day pools of light filter through it onto people eating Neapolitan pizzas — still as vital in London as the sudden burst of NYC slices — and sipping grand cocktails made with tequila and rum. Come evening, the bar will be abuzz, candles lit and punching warmth through clouded conversation; fish will arrive oily in tins and the wine might be Slovenian.
It is a tremendous iteration of modern drinking and dining, Elephant. But listen, my takeaway above all else is the Grolsch, which is on tap, and which once upon a time I would rarely have on account of it being too haughty a proposition. Now I can have it here, in east London. You see, bartenders never forget.
43 Lower Clapton Road, Lower Clapton, E5 0NS, elephanthackney.com
Bar snacks
The Clove Club
Shoreditch Town Hall, EC1, thecloveclub.com
My bar review of Whiskey & Seaweed on these pages in January 2024 invited coverage of high-end snacking in Michelin-starred restaurants. Going to the bar for cocktails and small plates: a way of trying out London’s poshest venues without spending more than a ton. The Clove Club has reopened its bar area for the remainder of the summer. Visit for Scottish tacos, fish pakoras and other fine bites alongside cocktails and interesting wines.
Hotel Café Royal
10 Air Street, W1, hotelcaferoyal.com
There’s a new cocktail menu at Hotel Café Royal’s Green Bar, among the first places in London to do a Hemingway daiquiri as standard. Still probably a wiser option here given their latest list — called Unique Experiences — ranges from £30-£55 per drink. Obviously rare or distinctly upmarket liquors are involved. For example, the mint julep features Fielden Rye; martinis come brimming with Berry Bros & Rudd No 3 gin. Still, I’d wager you’d have more fun with a sub-£20 Hemingway.
