Cutty Cargo: A crate night out (Ouch)

Anna and I have rather sore heads this morning after Cutty Cargo last night. We rocked up to the impressive sight of this cargo crate sitting in the middle of the street, the smell of Meat Liquor burgers filling the air and the sight of a lot of bearded men drinking whiskey. We knew we were in for a treat.

We wandered around the crate for a bit musing the art work. The moving stills were cool if a little creepy (prof green staring out a camera anyone?). We were soon distracted by Jessie Ware who started playing as our hunger kicked in. We stayed for her first two tunes and did a little hand waving before realising that she was the perfect decoy to get us fed fast. 

We made our way outside and loitered with pretty plain intent right by the Meat Liquor service point so we could nab a couple of burgers and fries as they came out. They were everything we had been hoping for and we could still hear Ms. Ware from outside - think of it as our version of Flo's Glyndebourne picnic but in a disused car park with brown paper bags of greasy chips. This is how we do... 

Piping hot meaty, cheesy goodness in a bun.

After eating, we headed back inside to mingle where we met the lovely boys from Informed London and played around with their iphone fisheye lens on our camera. At the time we thought these photos were 'uh sooome'. In the cold light of day, they're just pretty funny and capture the evening well. 

Whisky fuelled nights are the best for meeting a random mix of people and running around causing chaos. I am thankful that I stuck to Cutty and Soda all night long (it's delicious) rather than going in for the Cutty and real ale combination that the many bearded boys were drinking. Yeesh!!

The only time I deviated from my sensible *ahem* drink of choice was when we had whiskey sours in in the Burlesque room, which were made by 69 Colebrooke Row, which you have to go to if you haven't been. I can't show you how beautifully golden and foamy they were because I felt that too naughty getting my camera out in there so I just took a sneaky little one of the mixologist enjoying the show... Suffice to say nearly everything came off apart from a sequinned fig leaf and nipple tassles. What a treat.

Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row Cutty Cargo Cutty Sark Brick Lane Flo and Elle London Blog Meat Liquor 69 Colebrook row

Porky's v Meat Liquor: Step away from the BBQueue

We don't usually give bad reviews, but in this instance, we're just trying to helpfully suggest that you weigh up the other options before weighing in at Meat Liquor. It's just not worth the wait when there are so many other, better quality BBQ options out there. 

My favourite (Elle speaking) has to be Pitt Cue Co. in Soho, whereas Flo is less of a meathead (ahem) than me so I recently suggested that she head down to Camden's newest venture: Porky's. Here's what she thought.

Flo: I know that Meat Liquor has been massively over reviewed, and that an apologetic 'I know you've heard it all before' has resounded through blog after blog but.... as I was passing by before any queue had formed, I thought 'why not'. It is a real love or hate place and I was curious which boat I'd be in.

I have to say that even without the much grumbled about queue, I hated it. But rather than rant for half a page, I have paired this review with the lovely, similarly cheap, simple menued alternative of Porky's in Chalk Farm.

So why did I hate it? Well, to begin with, I like to be able to see what I am eating and felt like every sense was stifled in the dim red lit room blasting out terrible 90s pop and rock. This made it impossible to talk and with the pretty obnoxious and slow 'fast food' service, there wasn't much else to fill the gap.

And the food? I ordered the regular cheeseburger which was marginally better than McDonalds and I suppose only twice as expensive, and the cheesy chips which were covered with indigestible quantities of raw diced onion. The Mr had the dead hippy (a sloppy double cheese burger) which was considerably better.

Massive queue had formed by the time we left

All in all, I would leave it for a bad date who you don't want to really see or hear, and if I wanted to be properly looked after (which I always do) but still go somewhere casual, I would head straight to Porky's. The place itself is stripped down and fit for purpose, great for spending time with people you actually want to spend time with. It is trendy without being try hard and without needing to hire hipster, disinterested staff. 

 

Their real driver however is their hero product of pulled pork, which comes in at just £8.75. It is succulent, tender and really hits the spot with a good measure of sauce from the squirty bottles on the table. The porky burger is pretty good too though I only had a bite to try. In the end the product speaks for itself and I will definitely be a repeat customer.

Porky's Kentish Town Camden Town North London Meat Liquor BBQ restaurants North London Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Porky's Kentish Town Camden Town North London Meat Liquor BBQ restaurants North London Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Porky's Kentish Town Camden Town North London Meat Liquor BBQ restaurants North London Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Porky's Kentish Town Camden Town North London Meat Liquor BBQ restaurants North London Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Porky's Kentish Town Camden Town North London Meat Liquor BBQ restaurants North London Flo and Elle Flo and Elle Flo and Elle

The Dalston Department Store

The Dalston Department Store was on last week Thursday through to Sunday as a bit of an experiment by the owners of an incredible building come office space; Star House on Richmond Road. It looks like they'll be back in various guises until the end of November, so I'm not playing my irritating trick of telling you about something you can't attend. This time around, the store stocked a mixture of jewellers, home furnishings and clothes, with about 15 different stores to choose from but without that market-like feel that so many of these things have. 

The house, once you've found it has an intriguing, sparse entrance with a warehouse lift to the basement which makes you feel a little like you're in The London Dungeons for a moment, until you step out into the light, beautifully lit space of the store. The owners have a background in store fittings and experiential but they only had a week to put this together, so you can see how clever they were at making do with what they had. I particularly like the lights. 

I was first told about it by Ginny of Fred and Ginny, the lovely vintage seller from the Primrose Hill Vintage Fair I posted about last week. She was there with an even more alluring array of pieces including a vintage YSL Khaki green coat with velvet lined sleeves and collar and a tartan interior lining. This was about 1 inch too big for me on the shoulders. Thankfully, as otherwise I would be £250 the worse for it. 

The main appeal of DDS for me was the jewellery. Katie Monroe was there with some of her signature rose gold knuckle rings, as worn by Ferne Cotton most recently. 

My favourite was Jessica de Lotz. I'm biased because she's a NW5 gal like myself and lovely to chat to but her jewellery is stunning and totally original too. She makes bespoke wax seals, stamps sealing wax with them and then casts them with the lost wax technique. The result as you can see is beautifully tactile and textured pieces with organic sculptural forms and an imprint in the middle. I'm very tempted to get my family seal done by her some time in this lifetime and will be attending her open studio to talk about it more... watch this space.

Claire English's animal skeleton inspired pieces caught my eye too. My Christmas list is getting worryingly long... 

Follow DDS on Facebook to see what's next. We chatted to the building owner as we walked out and he's got some great ideas. This will be the place to avoid the usual mundane roundabout of Christmas shopping this year. I'll see you there. 

Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  Flo and Elle Dalston Department Store Christmas shopping things to do Katie Rowland Jewellery de Lotz  

Old Hat

This post isn't all old hat I promise. Yes, the Primrose Hill Vintage Fair has been and gone however I discovered a fabulous new Vintage seller at the fair and will be following her to the Dalston Department Store pop up next week where you're welcome to join me. 

Last Sunday, I joined Sara and Holly for a spot of vintage shopping at Cecil House Primrose Hill. The venue is an old community hall giving the whole affair a real school fête feel. The fairs are arranged by Vintage Fashion London who can be found here - next one coming up in November. 

Because the vendors who come to the fair are independent there's a real mix of price ranges to reflect the mix of vintage labels on show. Retrouvé (the lovely seller who will be at Dalston) had a vast collection of Sambo dresses in silks of all colours. These are gorgeous 60s originals with flattering cinched in waists and elegant necklines. I only just stopped myself from buying a real K Middy number in Royal Blue. 

 So if this and my previous post on BLITZ has sufficiently whetted your appetite for a little bit of old world glamour, you'll be very excited to hear about the Dalston Department Store which opens next week. In the words of Ginny, the lady behind  Retrouvé's:

"Bringing together a carefully curated selection of up-and-coming UK brands & collaborating with East London Design Show, Dalston Department Store will house independent menswear, womens wear, jewellery, interior & product designer brands. So peeps, here's your chance to peruse Retrouvé's pop-up store amongst other fabulous brands, including Dlux luxury sheepskin, Katie Rowland jewellery, menswear outdoor brand D.S.DUNDEE."

So as you can see there's vintage and more to be had in abundance. I'll be going down on Thursday night to *shock horror* shop and drink. Don't tell anyone but do come along too. All the details here. 

Retrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Retrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Retrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Retrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Retrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle Detrouvé Dalston department store primrose hill vintage fair style flo and elle 

Elle's double review: Dog eat Dog

Hotdogs, it seems, are the latest micro trend within the already trendy street food movement in London.  They speak of Americana kitsch diners and milkshakes, or closer-to-home nostalgia for grabbing one from a van on Bonfire night. Hotdogs are simple by nature, not the same without day-glow mustard or squeezy ketchup. Oh and they have to be cuddled in a fluffy, white, processed bun. 

In short, gourmet they are not...

Let's see them as tasty irony then. The 2 openings that recently caught my eye pair our canine friends with booze. Bubbledog wears its oxymoron on its sleeve – matching hotdogs with grower champagnes and good service in Charlotte Street, whereas Dach & Sons of Heath Street in Hampstead stays a little rougher round the edges, pairing theirs with whiskey (but also serving wine and a good selection of beers).

So who will will our dog fight?

First in the ring: Bubbledog

The menu at Bubbledog keeps the food simple, dealing in 2 things: Bubbles: grower champagnes by the glass or the bottle, and dogs: gourmet hotdogs in beef or pork served in paper with sides of caremelised sweet potato fries, tatties, coleslaw and love. Their hotdogs are home-made but retain all that’s good about sausages’ plasticy cousin; the frankfurter, without tasting of Eastern European petrol stations. 

Indulgence is the order of the day with the BLT dog and the Truffle dog (mine and Anna’s choices). Suffice to say that I have always been more about sauce than substance (shhh). 

We had ours with sweet potato fries and 2 glasses of champagne –it was shortly after midday and we had an afternoon of shopping to get to so a bottle would have been a bit much.

The ambience was great, with exclamations of joy coming from surrounding tables as they recieved their food. I even papped some kids enthusiastically chowing down. It's nice to see kids allowed into a trendy new-breed establishment, but then you could describe Bubbledog as 'family run'. James and Sandia are the husband and wife team behind the joint. A reliable source tells me they did all the decor themselves, with bare brick work walls, wooden booths and warm lighting. 

This little den of indulgence is open 11.30-4 and 5.30-9, but bear in mind that you'll have to queue so I'd recommend coming down for a late brunch on the weekend, as your wait will be far shorter. Website here.

Next up: Dach & Sons

We went to Dach & Sons for a friend's birthday with a big group. We were expecting to have a drink upstairs whilst queuing for a table, but managed to sneak in before the major queuing began. This ended up being to our detriment, as we never got to see the heady lights of London’s second Purl bar upstairs afterwards, it having filled up by the time we had finished. A little scuffle between us and the waitress ended up ruling that one out entirely.

Ah well… from an intimate knowledge of the Marylebone Purl (I lived a stone’s throw away), I’d wager that this one must be bigger but that would only make it bigger than a shoe box. Go to Purl when you need to impress a date but make sure you book in advance or you’ll be sorely disappointed. The disparity between this YOU MUST BOOK policy and the Dach & Son’s only text on theirwebsite STRICTLY NO RESERVATIONS represents a somewhat comical clashing of 2 trendy venue habits, but let’s move on to the food.

Dach and Sons deals in burgers and sliders as well as their signature hotdogs.  I opted for beef sliders, which comprised chilli and sour cream, bacon and peanut jam and a classic cheeseburger and were absolutely wonderful. Next stop the slider café (also a relatively new opening and just off Wardour Street). Friends had hotdogs with saurkraut, maple sweet-potato wedges (an excellent idea) and deep fried pickles (also excellent). 

So who came out on top in this dog-eat-dog world? I have to say that Bubbledog won, but then I’d always choose champagne over whisky and I’d eat at both again if I were in either areas. Go see both for yourselves.

Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders champagne Bubbledog Dach & Sons hotdogs London Heath Street Hampstead Flo and Elle Flo & Elle Whisky maple fries sliders