Biddle Bros

It worked for DreambagsJaguarShoes in Hoxton and it works here too – leaving the original shop front as it was, that is. This former builders merchants has lovely shop windows with beautiful ironwork and ‘It saves us the bother of repainting and renaming it,’ laugh the new owners. This bar (Lower Clapton sure needed one) is cosy and friendly with (free) table football and sofas in the front bar, Staropramen, Guinness & Boddingtons on tap, and bench seating in the back room which has a wall of windows and stylish skylights that must be lovely in the evening sun… This is where the piano is for Wednesday’s live acoustic sessions and the pianist who plays on Thursdays. The decks are here too; Fridays and Saturdays feature a very varied selection from reggae and R&B to soul, jazz, indie and New Wave classics.