The Looking Glass, Hackney Road, http://lookingglasslondon.co.uk/

Some people moan about the rapid gentrification of Hackney, however a small part of me sings with joy every time I see one of the many Hackney Road Handbag wholesalers give way to something I can enjoy. A road needs one shop selling handbags with discounts on orders over 100, maybe two at a push, Hackney Road inexplicably has about 30.

 

The Looking Glass cocktail bar has now appeared opposite the junction with Columbia Road and the shop which sells chairs for about a grand each – the other side of ridiculousness on Hackney Road. It hasn’t gone for anything too renegade and contains the stripped back and moodily lit atmosphere which has worked so well for bars like Rubys. But there are a number of huge renaissance sofas which give the bar a more of a upmarket feel than many similar bars in the area.

The cocktails are on the expensive side (~£10), however these are proper cocktails. What gastropubs did in raising pub food quality there needs to a similar conjoined verb and noun for these places; Gastails works with me. The cocktail I had came with a chocolate spray spritz so that the rum based drink had an inexplicable aroma of chocolate without overpowering the taste of rum. It also came with a block of chocolate to eat on the side which was confusing but who doesn’t like bonus chocolate. My girlfriend’s drink (served in tea cup obviously) had a lemony aroma and taste not dissimilar to something you would treat congestion with, in a good way. The service was great and they were willing to adjust flavours for personal tastes.

The Looking Glass also has a secret section at the back, (what self-respecting bar nowadays doesn’t?) in which you can pull a huge floor to ceiling mirror which swings back to reveal more seating at the back. This could be a cruel trick which leads to awful injuries as a 1 tonne mirror falls on you, so you will need a certain amount of trust with this. The Looking Glass is a nice place for a date, post meal drink or to just sit in the huge decadent chaise sofa which faces out onto Hackney Road and watch the world go by as you hope the gentrification is complete to the stage that no one stops and urinates / vomits on the window.