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db eats: The Blues Kitchen
Fed up with the winter blues? Well jazz up those cold dark evenings with a trip to recently-opened London venue The Blues Kitchen.
Located on the site of the former O-Bar on Camden High Street, The Blues Kitchen is setting itself up as the place to come for live blues sets, complete with authentic soul food and an extensive bourbon list.
The venue marks the latest venture from Columbo Group owners Steve Blonde and Riz Shaikh. With a London pub portfolio including the Albert & Pearl in Islington and The Westbury in Kilburn, The Blues Kitchen sees the pair aiming to introduce blues to a whole new generation of music fans.
A short walk from the tube through the anarchist leafleteers, gravity-defying hairstyles and even more hair-raising piercings which make up the Camden scene, The Blues Kitchen offers character and cool without scaring your granny. Even at 7pm on a chilly midweek night, the place was buzzing nicely with a young crowd.
The well stocked, well displayed backbar is good starting point for relaxing into the rest of your evening. We settled onto one of the cosy booths up on the raised level and, having still failed to make up our minds the second time she came over, ended up grilling our long-suffering waitress for recommendations.
The Derby Cocktail, a mix of Woodford bourbon, Martini Rosso, ginger ale and fresh fruit had the same deceptively drinkable appeal as Pimms, but with a bourbon twist.
Less girly but with a more noticeable kick was the Old Fashioned, a more classic cocktail of Woodford Reserve, sugar and Angostura bitters.
Perhaps it was the moody lighting, but the starters arrived looking identical. Let’s just hope I never get called on to identify a line-up involving corn fritters and fish “popcorn”.
Both arrived as deep-fried, bite-sized snacks; rather heavy but ideal comfort food and, perhaps more pertinently in our case, for soaking up the cocktails.
The main courses showed far more character. Melt-in-the-mouth pork belly arrived on a double bed of spicy beans and rice. Don’t have a large lunch if you’re planning an evening here. And maybe jog around the block before you come in, just for good measure.
I was assured by my well-travelled dinner buddy that the fish jambalaya was authentic and tasty, although I could have guessed the latter from the way his plate left little work for the dishwasher.
All in all, the food here’s decent, but it’s not worth the trip alone. What makes this place worth a visit is the whole New Orleans-style package of kicking back with friends for an evening of blues with some great cocktails and fun atmosphere.
Despite the tempting selection of puddings, we were forced to admit defeat at the prospect of squeezing in a portion of Mississippi Mud Pie.
If it hadn’t been a school night, it would have been easy to slump back in our booth, soak up the atmosphere and embark on a gentle digestive wander through the 40-strong bourbon list.
As it was, we wandered gently out into the night, too full and relaxed even to bat an eyelid at the Amy Winehouse look-alikes starting their day.
The Blues Kitchen
111-113 Camden High Street
London
NW1 7JN
Tel: +44 (0)207 387 5277
Gabriel Savage, 15.12.09