Netil House threw open its summer series of rooftop parties, hailing the beginning of what will hopefully be a sunshine filled season. The premiere was last Saturday and fiery yellow ball came out to play hand in hand with chilled prosecco, condensation laden bottles of Mexican beer and some tasty chicken and taco bites. All washed down with incredible views over east London.

We got there early for a friends birthday and nabbed a spot in the centre, Stepping out onto the roof feels like you’re entering a secret land with decking underfoot and a unique view of the city. The breezy open air and funky background music was an ideal accompaniment to the celebration and the day. Until they ran out of prosecco, which was quickly replenished, narrowly avoiding a middle class riot- phew!

The Korean chicken burger was immense, and he was a lovely dude too. There were also tacos to soak up some of the alcohol.

What a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, with friends, on a nice day… roll on summer, and roll on more summer parties! Find out info and buy tickets for the next series here.

Nesting on the corner of Clapton Square, Dreyfus’ café opened at the tail end of 2012 serving as a paper-reading, bun-eating, brunchy-breakfasty café in the heart of Hackney.

Up front, the best thing about Dreyfus’ is that you can order eggs Florentine or Benedict or Royal (flozzy / benny / rozza as the aussies would say) by the portion – just £3.25 for one stacked muffin, and so £6.50 for 2, etc etc.

One hunk o’ brunch should be enough though, especially when the traditional Finnish cinnamon buns that adorn the counter are whispering “eat me, eat me”. I am a good listener to these flumped up pastry delights. They also serve sandwiches that lean towards the goats-cheese brigade and a daily selection of ‘Hot Lunch Specials’.  

It’s nice and bright inside with a scattering of established local types – girl working on Macbook, hip dad taking the kids for a babiccino, couples reading the paper, be-spectacled boy with his head in a book.

The coffee is pretty good – I find the flat white a little cold, but tasty and smooth – sure to froth up any hipster moustache.

They’re shut on Mondays, but are open 8-8 on weekdays and til 5 at weekends.  

Filed under: Food Tagged: cafe in Hackney, Clapton, Dreyfus cafe, Dreyfus cafe Clapton Square, Dreyfus E5, E5, Hackney, Hackney Blog, Hackney Bubble, Hackney Bubble Blog, hackney cafe, hackney life, hackneybubble, London ]]> http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/dreyfus-finish-cafe/feed/ 0 olenkae8 Dreyfus cafe on Hackney Bubble Dreyfus Cafe http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/netil-house-opens-summer/ http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/netil-house-opens-summer/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:21 +0000 olenkae8 http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/?p=993 Continue reading →]]>

Rooftops and BBQs and music are usually found holding hands and smooching. When the smoke gets-a-going with salacious burger flavours, add in a sausage or two and the party really gets started!

Welcome to summer… not that we’ve seen much of it so far this year, but help is at hand to bring those summer good-time vibes to Hackney! Netil house springs into action with the ultimate 360 rooftop party to kick start the season with their Summer Series on the Roof on  Saturday 4^th May.

As well as offering panoramic views of our beloved neighbourhood  some sensational foody friends are popping by, serving up authentic southern friend chicken, tasty tacos and impressive Italian. They’ve got music from Urban Nerds’ DJ Rattus Rattus and an essential array of quirky cocktails to whet your whistle.

Unfortunately, public tickets to this event have now sold out, but you can get a bargain membership for £35 for a year, which gets you free entry and a lot more besides.

Bring on the Hawaiian shirts and pina coladas! Ayayayayyyyy! 

Saturday 4th May

2pm-10pm

Netil House, 1 Westgate Street, E8 3RL

http://www.netilhouse.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/311188989006815/

Filed under: Booze, Events, Food, Party Tagged: Events in Hackney, Hackney, Hackney Blog, Hackney Bubble, Netil House, Netil House Summer Series, rooftop bar in london, rooftop party ]]> http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/netil-house-opens-summer/feed/ 0 olenkae8 Netil House Summer Series Roof Party Netil House, Westgate Street http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/claptons-heart/ http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/claptons-heart/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:55:44 +0000 olenkae8 http://hackneybubble.wordpress.com/?p=1004 Continue reading →]]>

I’ve moved to a new area… Clapton…

Two digits down from my usual E8 postcode, it feels like a different place, slightly left of Hackney. On the ‘up-and-coming’ radar it has a unique and local personality. If it could speak, it would tell you about the great little market, some super comfy pubs, unique cafes and quirky characters and how it’s the essence of east London.

But Clapton is modest about such things. It would rather keep itself to itself. Which is not a bad thing in this age of super hyped shared experiences via social media channels and immediate saturation of hidden gems (of which I am probably guilty of sharing…. Sorry!).

I’ll be bringing reviews and stories to life of the area and the usual fodder of food, booze and events in Hackney in the coming weeks, so watch this space! 

When thinking of areas where it is a struggle to find a decent, non-violent, non-Weatherspoons pub with good beers that is not a café… or the cinema, Hackney Central tops the list. It was a walk up to The Prince George or The Spurstow… or The Pembury (all good choices!) but, no more, Hackney-ites! No more!

Our very own cosy ale-house has arrived, rendering the short walk up to other pubs obsolete. Hello Cock Tavern!

There are usually cute / sad, but brutish dogs in there, so it gets my vote immediately, but it also has some great, local beers and a cosy, local atmosphere.

The bar stretches along with oodles of real ale and cider taps to choose from. A good way to go about this would be to sample half pints, or the friendly, beardy bar staff are happy to offer tasters or advice if you’re not sure what to have.

The Smoked Porter springs to mind as a dark and sultry brown ale with shallow chocolate tones and beery depth of flavour. It’s the kind of thing that puts people off sugary lagers, never to look back. Speaking of chocolate, they house an excellent chocolate stout. Hackney Brewery is well represented as re many others!

They serve “meat” according to the sign. This includes a cabinet of “meat”, pork pies, scotch eggs and, ahem, veggie scotch eggs. Which are actually rather tasty and served with tangy, bright piccalilli.

The ale revolution seems to be in full swing, but I hope it is more than that. If you think about it, local breweries who give a shit about how their beer is enjoyed, benefiting local independent businesses – there’s real substance in that. Oh, and i’ve just noticed on Twitter that they have their own microbrewery… @howlinghops. 

http://www.thecocktavern.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/TheCockTavernE8

A new café in Old Street opened a couple of months ago to keep it’s sister café, Lantana (of Fitzrovia fame) company in the east. And it retains the essence of what Lantana is all about – colourful, tasty food, great coffee and Aussie service with a smile – with a more airy, modern feel.

Where you see flat white’s adorning every coffee menu in town, this is the real antipodean deal. They have an Australian owner and a manager who spent two years in Melbourne learning barista craftsmanship, so they wont settle for less than Melbourne standard coffee.

Food wise, they serve an array of salads, hot and cold sandwiches and usual lunchtime meals with pies and quiches a regular staple.  

The flavor combinations in the salads I chose were unique and fresh – the apple and chicory with walnut salad was delicious! And the accompanying quiche had excellent crumbly pastry – pops of veggie flavours burst with each mouthful.

The service was swift and extremely friendly and they had good menu knowledge which is a plus when you can’t quite decide!

Salvation Jane’s walls have fantastic illustrative murals with lots of visual treats where a subtle east London vibe meets city slicker demeanor; it is right on the edge of city vs Shoreditch borders!  

It’s quite expensive for the usual lunchtime fayre (around £9 a meal), but with a bright, cool feel to it and free wifi, it would be a good place to work from and they weren’t packed out when I visited, so didn’t mind me sitting a while.

All in all, a great new addition to the café culture of Shoreditch. I can’t wait to try more of the food, but they are only open until 4pm so may have to visit on a weekend! 

Hackney played host to the wonderful Little Noise Sessions, aimed to raise money and awareness for Mencap. Joe Whiley hosted the events which went on for 6 days last week – her sister was born mentally handicapped so it was a charity close to her heart. The bands weren’t paid and all the ticket and drinks profits went to charity. Nice. Also nice bars courtesy of Milk & Honey, Chapel Down and Giant Robot.

I went along for two of the nights for headliners Richard Hawley and Noah and the Whale. The venue itself was beautiful and the misty atmosphere immediately struck at the senses. Looming in the background was the intimidatingly big organ pipes. The lights were incredible and added to the ambience of the amazing music.

First Aid Kit openend for Hawley – two scandinavian sisters who can bang out a delicious harmony from folk sounds with some serious headbanging attitude. These girls are humble and sweet and punk.

I’ve never managed to see Richard Hawley before, always somehow missing him at festivals, so was super excited as I waited tentatively in my pew, mulled wine in hand. His opener to the set was “I am Richard Hawley, let’s destroy you”. He aurally, he did! Soundscapes reeling around the church with a layered cake of guitar sounds, pedals and beautiful vocals.

On the Saturday was a triptych of bands I love. Lucy Rose began the night with dreamy-cute-girly vocals fractured with well thought out time changes and loves-lost lyrics. Her band were great, adding some good percussion and backing. This girl is going to go far, her album is lovely. I’m a little bit in love with her. And I now want a fringe.

We moved downstairs for Villagers where the sound was so much clearer (I am told this is best by the sound deck). Pints of the last of the mulled wine in hand, this boy has a touching stripped back voice which is emotionally accessible and heartfelt. I really like them! I liked them more than Noah and the Whale, and this was the general consensus of the evening. I hope they can share in some of the commercial success of the ‘Whale.

Noah and the Whale ended the night. In quite a spectacular way. The duo that runs the show look like brothers. I think they’d be a bit boring without the string quartet. AND they didn’t play ‘In 5 Years Time… which is about the only song I know apart from LIFEGOESON, which the crowd lapped up in a singalong.

Great venue, great music and a proud feeling that Hackney was the choice of venue for this event.

Villagers on stage at Little Noise Sessions.

Noah and the Whale in the pink.