The East Room

This cracking new bar shares the same conceit of faux-exclusivity as its established Soho sibling, Milk & Honey. That is, anyone can get in before 11pm, as long as they phone in advance. After 11pm (from March), it will be members-only (£350 a year). As if to emphasise this 'exclusivity', The East Room has an inconspicuous entrance; fire-exit doors (to the right of stablemate Sosho) are opened by a ringing a buzzer, and the nameplate is so tiny your thumb could cover it.

To reach the main lounge, you walk along a corridor lined with Enomatic wine preservation and dispensing machines, which offer 36 New World wines by the glass. It's the same approach already seen at Islington wine store The Sampler, and at Selfridges' Wonder Bar. You pay to charge up a smartcard (a bit like an Oyster), then help yourself to measures up to full glass sizes of 125 or 175ml.

The selection of southern-hemisphere wines is costly but excellent. It includes the likes of Penfolds 707 (£50 per 175ml glass), though prices start much lower, at around £4 per glass. The spirits and cocktails list is also exemplary.

Past some diner-style booth seating is the main lounge bar, with comfy sofas and chairs around tables. It's a very good-looking, well-designed space, reminiscent of good bars in New York or the Antipodes.

Even if your eyes can read the challenging menus in the low light (green type on beige), the menus don't make a lot of sense, so our waitress explains: there's a small à la carte, but the buffet is the best deal. The dozen or so dishes are vibrant with colour and flavour, from slivers of roast beef with a horseradish sauce, through Mediterranean-style vegetable salads to carved ham. The à la carte lamb cutlets were good too.

As the evening progressed and the volume pumped up, the bar filled with a youngish crowd of new-media types; we could only see two City suits. But having seen what's happened to Shoreditch House, we wonder how much longer this bar will remain the preserve of creatives rather than City slickers. A print on the wall paying homage to the famous Sex Pistols album cover reads 'Never Mind The Bombings Here's the Six Figures', a prophetic reference to the imminent influx of bonusheads who'll replace the graphic designers once the membership policy kicks in.
Guy Dimond

Time Out Issue 1957: February 20-26 2008

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Latest user reviews

What a great place, finally a nice bar in shoreditch where you can get great drinks, great food and be able to actually talk with your group. Have been a few times since opening and even joined as I love it so much. Well worth the membership fee. These guys know what they are doing. Cant...
STUART H  Mar 7 2008

Really good vibe in this bar. It is members only from March so you will have to pay a fee, but if you are already a member of Milk and Honey it's free. Staff friendly and relaxed, it's never too busy or full of drunk city boys wanting to pick up. A good place to catch up with friends and have...
Anonymous  Feb 20 2008