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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Christmas Gift Ideas for Him #5 - Ted Baker On Course Ted Messenger Bag

If I said you could splash out £35 and end up with not only a Ted Baker branded messenger bag that looks the part, but also have the bag empty to unveil a whole host of Ted Baker Tour de Ted products you would probably phone for the men in white coats.

Ted Baker is not a brand I associate normally with ridiculously affordable prices, I put them into the ‘treat’ or ‘luxury’ category but I have to admit I was personally blown away by my gift set. 

I’ve been using the same man bag purchased from Camden Lock Market in the week before I started to work in Camden and quite fitting that it got replaced five years later in the week that I left. To be honest, my bag needed changing, over the years it had warped and was more twisted than a corkscrew.

The messenger bag is really well made and racing green in colour I would say (but don’t trust me, I’m colour blind - check out the pictures). In terms of size, it is perfect and can fit a decent sized laptop, iPad and papers without it bulging or having so much weight in it the shoulder strap cuts through your shoulder. Internally there are a few pockets for chargers, pens etc and that’s about it. It’s a bag, for blokes, we don’t really need anything else.

The internal fabric design

Personally I would have expected to pay over £35 for a Ted Baker bag, so when I opened it to be greeted with the products below I grinned from ear to ear. While not a fan of body sprays I have to say that I like the ones in this bag, they are fresh and provide a level of assured confidence that you would need after a trip to the gym.

So what do you get?

• Ted Baker Orange Body Spray (150ml)
• Ted Baker Orange Hair and Body Wash (200ml)
• Ted Baker Green Body Spray (150ml)
• Ted Baker Green Hair and Body Wash (200ml)
• Wrapped Soap (140g)

The body washes lather up brilliantly and are good at getting off the grime and leaving skin smelling wonderful. The green version is much fresher, while the orange I find a little too synthetic. That aside, it does the job and washes and you can’t grumble at that. For me, my favourite is the wrapped soap - it has been so long since I've used soap it was like a little blast from the past and the fragrance had me reminiscing while staring off into the distance. 

What I found really surprising is that the hair and body wash didn't leave my hair feeling like straw. This is very common for me when using body washes that are allegedly also OK for washing your hair. With the Tour de Ted my hair was left feeling soft, smooth and shiny. 

This would make a great gift this Christmas - or you could break it down into several gifts for the men in your life. Available from Boots online here for £35 you can do a lot worse than this if struggling for gift ideas this Christmas.

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You can read my other Christmas Gift Ideas for Him by clicking on the links below:

Christmas Gift Ideas for Him #1 - Superdry Varsity Track T-Shirt

Christmas Gift Ideas for Him #2 - Starbucks Sprinkler & Mug Set

Christmas Gift Ideas for Him #3 - Aromatherapy Associates Refinery Shaving Essentials 

Christmas Gift Ideas for Him #4 - Intense He Wood by DSquared2

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Honest Burger - Camden Lock Market

Confession time - I’ve become slightly addicted to finding and trying out burger joints in London. 

After an enforced break from work due to illness and suffering from extreme cabin fever I spent day after day trawling the internet looking for the best, more succulent looking places to try.

I have 10 places in my sights and aim to have them all visited and reviewed by the end of September. 

Burger at the Oasis (sadly no longer with us), a burger joint in Las Vegas sits at the top of my all time favourites while Dirty Burger is the best I’ve tasted in my adopted home city. Can I find anywhere better? The challenge is on!

I had seen Honest Burger in Brixton Village when I attended an ilumi event a few months ago, and had that not been a food tasting evening I’ve have wandered straight in and bought one. The smell wafting from the kitchen was rich and meaty while the place was packed which tends to be a good sign. 

I vowed there and then that an Honest burger needed to be consumed.

The first branch opened in Brixton in 2011 and since then a further five have opened in Camden Town, Soho, King’s Cross, Portobello Road and Oxford Circus. 

After a visit to London Zoo and with a stomach that was growling louder than an Asian Tiger we descended on Camden Lock in search of food. The many amazing stalls aside (that’s for another time - in short, it’s a foodie dream on a Sunday afternoon) had me drooling but I was on a burger mission and after searching high and low (seriously, 15 minutes) we finally found the entrance to Honest Burger. 

To say that it’s a narrow entrance is something of an understatement. If you blink you will miss it, it’s actually opposite Shaka Zulu and Gilgamesh.

Having never been to the chain before I had no idea what to expect but I had seen a few reviews that suggested I was in for a treat. What struck me first of all was how close the tables were together. While the place was empty when we arrived this wasn’t a problem but as it started to fill up on a warm afternoon it became quite stuffy inside and when I’m eating I don’t particularly like to be nearly sitting on the lap of the stranger sat at the table next to me - it’s one of the reasons I try to avoid places like Wagamama.

Browsing the menu doesn’t take long. Like Dirty Burger the choices are quite limited - a picture of the menu is below.

The menu

The staff were really attentive, they gave us time to cast an eye of the menu before taking our drinks order - I opted for traditional lemonade which looked great when it arrived in a jam jar with plenty of ice. It was so cool and refreshing and set me up for the meat treat on its way.

I ordered the tribute burger at £10 while my partner in crime had the cheese burger priced at £8.50. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but the burgers do some with fries. Again, the staff knew their stuff and were attentive, they even came back to check how we wanted the burgers cooked.

The waiting time was reasonable, a good ten minutes to sip at our drinks while watching the world go by and there is no better place to people watch than Camden Lock Market on a warm sunny afternoon. 

As the cheese burger was placed down I think I drooled a like bit with envy, especially when my burger rocked up with a film of grease covering the entire top of the brioche bun. I was so hungry even this couldn’t put me off. There were plenty of crispy fries that were perfectly seasoned and full of flavour.

The Cheese burger

After dismantling the burger to take a look I was impressed that the bacon was cooked really well and was crunchy, just how I like it. There was plenty of American cheese and the relish mixed with the mustard pickles combined wonderfully. The patty was cooked medium and again I couldn’t argue with the preparation, it looked fantastic and as I took the first bite there was a taste explosion in my mouth. The beef patty was rich in flavour and juicy without releasing a spray of grease and fat onto my shirt. 

As we entered I was really hungry but after finishing the burger I was actually so full I struggled to finish the fries. 

My Tribute burger

While I think it is slightly overpriced and I was disappointed by the seating layout, how greasy the brioche bun was I couldn’t argue with the fact that it tasted amazing and filled me right up. Chomping away on a burger where you can taste the rich beef while watching the world pass you by was a fun experience. 

I don’t think I’ll be visiting the Camden Lock branch again unless it’s empty however I will be trying the  larger Honest Burger in King’s Cross on a more regular basis, especially as it is just around the corner from my office.

Honest Burger doesn’t beat Dirty Burger or the specials at Bryon Burger but you could do a lot worse, especially in Camden Market with the ‘special’ £4 Chinese meals on offer.

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Where is your favourite burger joint? Why not let me know in the comments below?

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

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Dirty Burger - The Best Burger in London!

For someone so obsessed with trying to reverse the ravages of time I really shouldn’t eat fast food, but I just can’t help myself when it comes to Dirty Burger.

I first spotted a review for Dirty Burger in Time Out when looking for the best burger joints in London.

All of the reviews had me literally drooling and as they had a branch in Kentish Town, Camden I just couldn’t contain my excitement. I even started to stalk pictures of the burgers online and on Twitter. It became something of OCD moment for me and it wasn’t long until I ventured off to find it – map in hand.

Make sure you play with Google streetmap before you leave home – this place is a hidden gem and you are more likely to walk on by a few times before you find it. I know I did.

Dirty Burger doesn’t need to be all flash and gimmicky - it also doesn’t need a menu the length of your arm. They sell burgers, correction. They craft the best burgers in town.

With a simple pricing system and few options ordering doesn’t take long – you can have a cheeseburger, burger or what is known as a Dirty Cop Out (that’s the vegetarian option). In addition, there are fries and onion fries (think stringy onion rings).

Once the order has been collected you can then tuck in. The patties are served on a brioche bun, smothered in a lovely tangy mayo with a tomato and gherkin. The burgers are juicy and the flavour to die for – you can really taste the deep rich flavour of the meat come out with each bite.

The patties use several cuts of beef including rib eye and Bavette. The juiciness comes from the way in which it’s cooked. Rather than just slapping the meat onto a grill the chefs drizzle stock over the cooking patties and then cover them so that they steam in their own juices.

Each time I visit I’m never disappointed – the fries are hot and crunchy. They have texture and flavour. The onion fries are awesome and so much nicer than conventional onion rings, but best of all the quality and consistency of the burger is king.

With a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on offer you can’t go wrong if you fancy a snack or have a hunger hole the size of Texas.

Dirty Burger has everything you need.

As an aside, the shack in which Dirty Burger is located is always clean and tidy. It’s not the largest place on earth and it can become slightly crowded at times. Don’t let this put you off – pop in for a bite to eat and you’ll be hooked for life.

At £5.50 for a taste sensation of a burger you can do a lot worse.

Burger King who anyone?!?

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