‘Horseflesh for human consumption’, the shop sign above 384 Coldharbour Lane once read. Not when it was an edgy popup, but way, way back in the post-war rationing era, when this Brixton Market premises really did sell horse meat. That sign’s long gone, and the butcher’s shop with it, to be replaced with this trendy bar, as heavingly busy as any contemporary meat market.
Getting in past the metal-grilled stable doors without a reservation proved tricky; the friendly doorman advised us to book a table online, and return. So we did. The sole bartender was kept at a gallop all evening; service was well-mannered throughout. Our Smoked Manhattan (£7) arrived in a solo-sized cocktail shaker; take the lid off to pour, and clove-scented smoke curled away from the Rittenhouse Rye within. Ice is used in copious quantities, notably in the Rum ’n’ Orange Julep (£7), served in a steel beaker beaded with condensation.
You can perch at the bar, but a table allows you the best vantage point for admiring the artfully distressed interior, with its building site walls, old bus seats and banquettes, and light fittings created out of supermarket baskets filled with spent light bulbs. Having a table also helps if you’re ordering some nibbles. The grazing menu chases every trend down to create on-trend small plates. Among our favourites were the sticky ribs, the reuben slider, and the ’nduja with ricotta and quail’s egg on toast, all costing around a fiver.
You know Brixton’s changing when you need to book a table to get into a bar that looks like a squat. But both food and drinks are decent, and the bill won’t amount to a pound of flesh.