Graphic Bar

Since moving back to London, it's the wide variety of bars that London has to offer which has caught my attention. On Saturday night I headed off to Graphic Bar, unfortunately without my fellow blogger, Paris, to check out a bar that had been recommended to me by a very good friend of mine. 

  

Her name is Charlotte and she is single if you're wondering

 In the heart of Soho, Graphic Bar is a place where you can go to eat, predrink, catch up with friends or party all night long. The atmosphere is buzzing and extremely lively.

They even had a DJ who was blasting out some quality head banging tunes from the likes of Michael Jackson and Miguel Cambell. However I recommend if you come on a date, don't sit on a table right behind her, you will end up screaming in order to be heard! 

Look how happy she is! I would come just to see her beaming face. 

What the bar is well known for though is its wide variety of gin.

 You can order pitchers of gin and mixer for £30 which arrive in a assortment of paint pots where each colour indicates a different combination. I think its a cute and novel idea and it allows big parties of friends to try out all Graphic Bar has to offer.

Graphic Bar has just made parts of their drinks and food menu 3D - How Exciting!!

Saying that though, the 3D effect was weak - the glasses enhanced nothing. 

BUT they were fun to put on. 

Moving on to the food, because when it comes down to it, although I do love to drink, I love to eat more! The menu is fun, and simple and pretty cheap - which is good because I am skint.

Check it out here:

http://www.graphicbar.com/pdf/augusts2012-food.pdf

The food was good and not too heavy, which is perfect if your heading out after, however I was slightly dissapointed with the lamb burger I ordered. I mean it was ok, but lacking in flavour. Look at me, thinking i'm some sort of food critic!

This is a picture of what it actually looks like inside, I will admit its not my own photo.
I realized after that I actually did not take one picture of the interior, which is probably not the best when your trying to promote a bar.

To be honest though I do find it genuinely embarrassing taking pictures, you see girls who actually blog carrying round these professional cameras and i'm using my IPhone 3, which does not even have a flash. I look like an amateur.  

Anyway if your looking for somewhere to go with a group of mates that has a chilled, lively, fun atmosphere, head to Graphic Bar!

http://www.graphicbar.com/

The Factory House

Blog adverture number two took us to the infinate depths of the City; into Bank. Surrounded by a sea of suits we sought direction for a fun and lively bar from three dudes we stalked out in Leddenhall Market. They gave us everything we needed: the name of a bar around the corner, promised to be cheap, fun and lively.

Joe, 1,2, 3 - in all the excitement we forgot to actually ask their names; they look like Joe's 

Off we went under 'Joe's' directions onto 'The Sterling'.

Pretty impressive location - right underneath the Gherkin.

However the bar left quite a bit to be desired... we seemed to have left three men in suits only to move to a new location with slighlty more men and women in suits; lacking much atmosphere.

After that mishap I suggested that we follow a more trusted source. That leads us to me - Paris.

After working at the opening of a new restaurant nearby I had the inside scoop of where we could find amazing food in a great setting - all for 50% off! Music to my ears. The Factory House opened its doors last Thursday - the 1930's style restaurant celebrates all things British. Offering its guests quintessential Brit faire like Guinea Fowl, Grilled Wood Pigeon - mixed with a modern twist.

The fun starts as soon as you walk through the door, at which point you are asked to 'clock in' using an old school docking machine; making you feel like you are stepping back 80 years into the age of industrial Britain.

The decor of the restaurant perfectly mirrors the 1930's theme: exposed ceiling pipes and shafts paired with big speak easy style booths.

..Posing to the max with the newspaper style menus..

The food was good. Damn good. 
Sasha choose Sea Bass, accompanied by some weird things in shells; whilst I had the Guinea fowl,  with two scotch eggs, parsnip puree and spinach.

You heard it here first.. Clock into The Factory House today! They are offering a promotional 50% off food during their launch period, well worth a trip into Bank.

And if you do want to contact them here is the number : 020 7929 4590, and the website:

http://www.thefactoryhouse.co.uk/

BRICK LANE MUSIC FESTIVAL

This is my best friend Steph, and on calling her to ask her what she was doing this weekend, she told me there was this banging FREE day festival in Brick Lane. 

So I followed her, to see what all the hype was. 

The Line up says it all! 

The sun was out

The drinks were flowing

From the onset Vibe Bar, was buzzing, the bbq had meat on, people were dancing and the sun was shining. Although I only stayed for a few hours, I managed to catch The Heatwave, who mixed all the classic soca, reggae and dancehall tunes you want to hear on a Sunday afternoon. Plus they had an extraordinary lady on the stage who could move her ass like no other woman I have ever seen, on trying to copy her, someone said to me,

"Your too white to dance like that!"

Click on this link if you want to hear one of their mixes. 

http://soundcloud.com/theheatwave/five-million-rewinds

Additionally it was only £1 for entry and all money was donated to charity. Lets hope this festival is on next year as well, because I had a very fun day and recommend everyone to go next year. 

What's This All About?

Snap and Follow is a blog which snaps a few individuals a week and follows their lives to a certain extent. For example, there will be a few standardized questions I will ask each person i.e " What is your favourite restaurant in London" " Where is the best bar you have been to in London" " Where do you hang out with your friends in London" Then in the following week Paris and I (Sasha - thats me) will go to all the places they recommend and document, take pictures and see for ourselves what they like so much about it. That's the follow part! So watch this space and you too can be exposed to some of London's hidden gems

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By the way that's me, Sasha on the left and my best friend, Paris Starr on the right. Before you question whether that is actually her name or some stage porn name we have made up for the purpose of this blog, let me tell you she was born with that name. Some would say though with a name like that, she may as well be a porn star!