BYOC Camden - A 1920s speakeasy without the hangovers...

Back in October my trusty drinking sidekick and I ventured out one wet Thursday evening to try a new cocktail bar. I have been meaning to write this up for some time, but as she has a better knowledge of dive bars and drinking establishments on the sound side (that will be you America) of the Atlantic she beat me to the punch and has written up her thoughts already.

For this guest post, I say thank you Bailey, I'm just staggered she could remember enough of the night! What is weird is that she has also written with the voices in her head in brackets - I worry for her sanity at times....

Bailey's thoughts on BYOC Camden

Calling itself 'an escape from the modern world' BYOC (Bring Your Own Cocktail) Camden is a basement cocktail bar in Camden High Street with a 1920s theme. What makes it different from other cocktail bars is its concept that you book a two hour slot, pay £25 and bring along a bottle of your favourite spirit and the expert bartenders create unlimited cocktails with said bottle of spirits.

So should you bother booking ahead and going to the trouble of taking a bottle of spirits out with you? On the evidence of our visit in October, not long after their opening, the answer is a definite yes. Clearly styled on a Prohibition era USA illegal drinking den, it pretty much nails that seedy but sexy vibe without venturing into theme park territory.

Following a trend originating in New York for speakeasy style bars that are deliberately hard to find, we failed at first, ringing the doorbell of a clearly annoyed flat resident nearby but eventually locating the unmarked entrance door.  So not exactly on the scale of a phone box in a fast food joint (hello PDT, New York, still attracting Japanese tourists 10 years after it was fashionable), but still adding to the exclusive feel.

Money and training has obviously gone on getting together a crew of bartenders who are knowledgeable but without the pretension that can sometimes come with the job at certain fashionable bars where the wealthy hang out.  The staff are friendly and take the time to ask about your preferences so that they can craft the drinks to suit individual tastes.  The only problem comes that after a couple of the delicious but strong drinks it can be a challenge to stay on your stool, let alone remember the name of your cocktail and its ingredients.

A vast array of fresh herbs, syrups, mixers and unusual ingredients are visible and on offer, we were most impressed by a home made pepper marmalade stuff that came in a jar which the barman was happy to give us a taste of. These are drinks that don't compare with ones that you could ever make at home, although you can pick up tips and advice. What they did promise at the start of the night was no hangovers and hey presto, the morning after, and even after a considerable amount we both felt fit as fiddle - Stephen did however look better!

Dive bars are great but usually the darkness is to hide the dirty toilets and sell by date on the crisps; at BYOC the low-level lighting makes the customers look more attractive and the cocktails less lethal.  And that can only be a great thing. The bars themselves are poker and blackjack tables, adding to the feeling that you're in Vegas not Camden.

So not the place to drop in for a quick drink on a whim, but if you want great cocktails and a great time this place can't be beaten.  If you can find it that is!   

9-11, Basement Camden High Street North London

Website: www.byoc.co.uk/camden

Beautykinguk's recommended spirits to take to BYoC Camden are:

• Hendricks Gin
• Grey Goose Vodka
• Johnny Walker Black Label

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#Bgomeet up - Beating the boss

As a fairly new blogger I always get a little rush of excitement when a PR or organisation contacts me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sit there all day (OK boss?) clicking refresh in the hope of an invite but it’s nice to know that one of the visitors to my site likes how I write and my style.

I was invited to the #bgomeetup on 26 June and due to a hectic backlog have only just got around to writing about a fantastic night in the heart of King’s Cross - special thanks go out to James from the Joe Blogs Network.

I was lured in by two things that are special to me, no not the fact that it was a charity event (yes, I can be that cold) but the offer of risk free gambling and lots of Prosecco. How could I resist? If you throw into the mix the offer of pizza (that I don’t have to cook myself - the only thing I can cook) and the aforementioned charity element it had everything.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no wallflower, but entering a room of beauty bloggers straight after work (I work around the corner) looking like death warmed up, hair growing quite long and if my memory serves me correctly about a weeks worth of facial hair growth I was actually nervous! I looked anything but a beauty. I looked rough (the voice in my head says something far more crude that can’t be written here).

The night started brilliantly with fake money being handed out to play on Blackjack or the Roulette tables in an attempt to ‘Beat the Boss’ - a life-sized cut out of Austin Powers star Verne Troyer.

Just before being let loose (I was sweating and shaking just wanting to get at the Blackjack table) we were told there would be prizes for the person with the most chips at the end of the night and another for the person who could take the best ‘selfie’ with the cut out of Verne and post to Twitter (more of this later).

Needless to say I posted enough Prosecco to kill a large donkey as my chips melted away. Sensing the fact that I was only one of two males in the room I was quickly drawn away from the wine that I was drinking like water to bottles of lager - thanks guys.

I’m not sure whether to be pleased or not but I did win a prize - no, not for the most chips, they were in the bankers pocket faster than a speeding bullet. I even used all of Rachel’s! I was probably first out (fixed deck in my honest opinion- who uses 7 decks for Blackjack apart from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas?) and took the time to build up the courage for this selfie.

Here it is - sorry if you have just eaten!

Oh dear lord, when I look back now I know that the people at work will probably die laughing when they see it - bonus (just kidding people).

On the upside of the Lizard King selfie I did win something I have always wanted - a magic 8 ball that spews forth wisdom (it’s now making all life changing decisions for me).

Thank you Joe Blogs Network - I had a great night, met some wonderful people and most of all (I was kidding earlier) we raised money for the WWF.

Apart from being called Andy a lot* the night flew by and reminded me that I should quite clearly never, ever use real money to play Blackjack in a casino!!

GREAT NIGHT

You can read more about it here.

*I haven't named the guilty party but needless to say they also 'cleaned' the keyboard on the slot machine and played like a millionaire! 

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