Cocktails, small plates and vinyl grooves from a DJ suspended above the main room give a buzz to Iron Bloom. Set in a converted Shoreditch ironworks, the bar is aptly furnished in quasi-Edwardian industrial attire. Slink into a booth or slot-in at a communal table – we prefer the high-ceilinged ground floor to the stuffy basement with open kitchen.
To drink, launch into sure-fire sharpeners from the team behind the Looking Glass Cocktail Club: perhaps the house (pisco) Sour or a Manhattan featuring Chivas Regal whisky, Oloroso, rosé and petal liqueur. Stand-out sharing dishes include smoked cod’s roe with crab butter on caviar-topped crumpets; and Wagyu beef and bone-marrow burger (a juicy joy). Our perfectly judged pink lamb cutlets, however, were let down by a tepid creamy curd topping and bland tabouleh. Prop up the bar until 3am, or rock up for bottomless brunches soundtracked by old skool anthems at weekends.