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Please note, The Elephant’s Head is now closed. Time Out Editors, November 2019.
One thing you should know about this Lower Clapton bar is that it has ornate, medieval-looking loos. Imagine flat wooden seats and luxurious detailing. These extravagant bogs are symbolic of The Elephant’s Head itself. You have to push through a thick velvet curtain to enter the bar, which is atmospherically narrow, with trendy stripped walls, dark-red banquette seating, candelabras and a curved-glass ceiling. It’s like hipster east London meets a banqueting hall from the middle ages and ye goode people of Hackney are loving it – on my Friday night visit it was heaving.
Up at the backlit bar, they’re serving from a tempting menu of cocktails. If you’re into margaritas go for the El Chapo: it was a sharp, dangerous mix of tequila, mezcal, lime and spicy ginger syrup. The Smoky Negroni, a mezcal-infused version of the classic Campari cocktail, was also excellent and so smoky that every sip actually smouldered. Go off-menu if you’re after the more traditional: I ordered an amaretto sour that was perfectly zingy, sweet and foamy.
To get a seat at one of those squishy banquettes you have to order food. Everything’s quite pricy – mains range between £12 and £18 – but very good. A small plate of smoked salmon and dill-speckled cucumber (£7) was deliciously fresh and the scotch egg was top quality. Service was friendly, and those seats were a comfy place to bed in. The Elephant’s Head is an all-round treat for the bum cheeks and beyond.