Shoreditch Grind, Happiness Forgets and Simmons Bar

With Freshers' Weeks happening up and down the country, some of that student-y vibe must have secretly overflowed and seeped into Marcus and I as we inexplicably decided to organise ourselves a little bar crawl. Well, more of a cocktail crawl in fact (so maybe not so student-y after all!).

Marcus put scrupulous planning into our crawl, carefully selecting interesting sounding bars all within walking distance of each other.  The only thing not planned for unfortunately was the weather. We donned our suitably smart attire and stepped straight out into the pouring rain.

The first stop along our route was Shoreditch Grind. Shoreditch Grind is a multi-functioning place- a dedicated coffee house by day and an equally committed cocktail bar by night, just opposite Old Street Station. Here, Marcus had an expresso martini and I opted for a vanilla and ginger daiquiri which I very much enjoyed. We sat at a bar running around the glass wall of the venue, looking out onto the lit up Silicon Roundabout and laughing as the smokers attempted to huddle themselves out of the rain.
However, before long we were slurping up the last drops of our drinks and getting ready to dash back out into the rain ourselves.

Next stop, Happiness Forgets. This was a busy little bar hidden away in a basement in Hoxton Square. The atmosphere inside is dark and sultry, the bar staff friendly and knowledgeable (and bedecked with bow ties and braces) and the drinks are delicious.

 We sat down and were immediately given glasses of cucumber flavoured water which was a nice touch. We were then faced with a rather long menu supporting unfamiliar names and after a fair bit of pondering over what various drinks would taste like, we finally chose. I went for a 'Baptiste' which involved cider, cognac and maple syrup where as Marcus went for a 'Penfold Sour' which was described as 'rich and herbal' and was our favourite of the two drinks (not that mine wasn't enjoyable!). Don't worry however if you're phased by unfamiliar names- we heard plenty of people order cocktails off menu without complaint! Anyway, we happily sipped away, immersed in the chatter surrounding us, watching as the bar tenders vigorously shook the life out of cocktail shakers and whipped up delicious creations. Happiness Forgets was an incredibly enjoyable experience and despite the bar's name, not one I'll be forgetting easily.

Our last scheduled stop on our little cocktail crawl was Simmons, a stone's throw from King's Cross. Simmons had a fairly different atmosphere to the other two places we visited just because it seemed to take itself that little less seriously. Done up like a bookshop (but with a large, mirrored skull 'disco ball' hanging from the ceiling) most of the cocktails came in tea cups and tea pots, served by a charmingly tweed clad bartender.

The menu in itself was entertaining to read and had me giggling happily into my tea cup. Here, I had a creation entitled 'Tastes Like Elliot' which according to the description on the menu was to be 'possibly the best drink I'll ever have'. I have to say, I enjoyed it immensely- it tasted somewhat like a naughty strawberry milkshake and (again, true to the menu's description) had me licking up every last drop.  Maybe this wasn't the most 'adult' of drinks, but it was definitely my favourite of the night. Marcus had another tantalising elixir in the form of a 'Toblerone' which I happily kept stealing sips of. Lively and packed with people, Simmons was obviously a local favourite.

The three bars we visited were all great in their own way. Shoreditch Grind was a good place to 'pop in' for a drink, where as Happiness Forgets' had mixology geniuses as bartenders. However, I think my overall favourite may just have been Simmons- creamy cocktails in teacups really seemed to hit the spot!