42-44 Battersea High Street,
Battersea Park,
London,
SW11 3HX
0872 148 3742
The ViewLondon Review
I feel quite triumphant about Le Quecumbar, because it is a perfect example of why London is a charming city. Like an eccentric maiden aunt who suddenly produces a large cache of fabulous champagne, the big smoke comes good in the most unexpected ways.
In the endlessly dreary season that comes between Christmas and May bank holiday, walking into Le Quecumbar from a quiet residential street is like getting a large sack of the very finest truffles out of a vending machine that you thought might grace you with a dairy milk, if you were lucky.
It possesses the most unique selling point I think I have ever encountered. Outside of Paris, it is Europe’s only venue dedicated to the promotion of Django Reinhardt Hot Club Gypsy Swing. This may not sound like much to the uninitiated on paper, but when your ears get involved it starts to seem more and more amazing.
In a town where there is never a shortage of people to rip and be ripped off, it is truly righteous that here you can see some of the most passionate and accomplished musicians you will ever encounter. For £3. Or free, if you get there before 8pm.
The owner, Sylvia Rushbrooke, is a glittering presence in the bar with her flashing eyes and megawatt personality. She has created an atmosphere that captures the heady intoxication of 30’s Paris and the thrill of swing. The anonymity of the big city is broken down as a jazz orientated crowd of British and foreign musicians chat, pretty girls with shiny bobs twist and shimmy, and bohemian people defrost in the corners.
Creamy walls flicker as pincushions of light blush out from small candles. Fairy lights are laced through luscious palm leaves that sway with limpid colour from the corners and along the walls, round the folies bergeres poster girls and the grecian pots and urns.
The musicianship is breathtaking and exhilarating; the mood sways and lilts from glancing rhythms spinning round the room to slower, more subtle melodies that drift across the air like thick silk veils. There is no trace of any seriousness or condescension, just sheer enjoyment on the part of the musicians and the audience.
I had to tear myself away, and you would be missing one of London’s finest treasures if you were not to go.
Le QuecumBar and Brasserie has been reviewed by 13 users