The Gramaphone is a great find. It’s on Commercial Street about 5 mins along the road from the Truman Brewery. Upstairs, there’s a bar with very friendly staff and great wine (cheap at around £13-15 a bottle), which serves good Thai food during weeknights and is quiet enough you can get a seat and have a natter. Last Thursday, I was there with my friend Pip and had yummy dumplings and spring rolls as a bar snack.
On Fridays, there’s various DJs playing good tunes – I’m afraid last time I was in on a Friday, its all rather hazy thanks to the 2 for 1 before 7pm offer at Scarlett Dot in Spitalfields market, but I think it was hip hop, there were tons of people there and everyone was having a good old dance. Very relaxed atmosphere - I seem to recall falling over a sofa, which they were fine with. Downstairs, there’s a club where I ended up after The Luxe two weeks ago – they have various DJs on during the week and weekend and club nights like Electrotherapy, where you listen to house, dress up in neon and swap clothes, apparently. So, weeknights for nice thai and chat, weekends for crazy DJ rave up with someone else’s clothes on.
Went to Isarn with my friends Amy and Mathieu last night. Been there before and can’t recommend it enough. Fantastic decor which gives it the air of a really high class place, but the prices (£8 for a main) mean that its a very good value Thai. Service is always friendly and unassuming, and little things like having your glass of water topped up repeatedly is really nice. In the summer, it has an open garden at the back. We ate duck red curry, steak, braised duck with shitake and swordfish – all perfectly done, delicate, intricately spiced. Wine list is great and the viognier (£20 a bottle) went really well with the food. The exotic fruit desert (£10 for two) is worth it – incredible fruits that you don’t get to eat often. Apparently a lot of crappy restaurants on Upper Street, but this one’s definitely worth a visit.
