A community cocktail bar in a place where they have community cocktail bars, Off Broadway is actually on Broadway Market, and has more to offer besides good value shaking and straining.

The Venue
Broadway Market developed initially due to its location on a cattle droving route – London Fields was the last field before Smithfield so the drovers would relax in the local hostelries while their doomed charges grazed. A couple of decades back it had fallen on hard times but has since been regenerated into one of Hackney’s most vibrant streets, with shopping and catering that would leave those drovers of old thoroughly bemused. Off Broadway is one example, ‘An East Village bar that got lost and ended up in East London,’ as it describes itself. It was an art gallery until late 2008 when the same family owners reopened it in its present guise.

The bar does the NYC dive thing convincingly well – it’s a smallish space, dimly lit with stools and closely packed wooden tables around a cluttered L-shaped bar that boasts a marble top and a proper rail. Downstairs still serves as a gallery, and also hosts a regular programme of comedy, acoustic music and film screenings, with table football available if nothing else is going on. There’s also a couple of benches outside.

The Atmosphere
The Manhattan style works well in creating an intimate but lively atmosphere. Glitzy it is not – this is Hackney after all – but more laidback and boho, with a trendy but friendly, generally youngish crowd. Efficient, cheerful bar staff clearly relish the cocktail theatre they’re called upon to perform, but are also helpful and informative about all the drinks on offer.

The Food
Popular and tasty Mexican and Tex-Mex fast food is efficiently assembled to order at very approachable prices – you’ll find nachos, tacos (from £2.50), quesadillas (£4), burritos (£8.50), tamales and salad plates.

The Drink
The main attraction is the cocktail list, ideal for those who want authentic shaking, stirring and straining for a fraction of the price they’d pay at swanky West End joints. There’s a fabulous collection of specialist spirits and other ingredients – the house signature blends Rittenhouse Rye with fresh lime, falerum and ginger beer. Traditional and contemporary blends are present and correct, with a few unusual ones involving coffee liqueur. At least as interesting and comprehensive is the 25-strong beer list, most of it bottled and American – Bear Republic, Brooklyn, Goose Island, Great Divide – but it also has space for Londoners like high-performing Kernel and nearby Redchurch. The 20-strong wine list is less American themed, and includes several by the glass.

The Last Word
If you associate Broadway Market with cooler-than-thou trendies with loads of attitude, this neat and hip but unpretentious place might well change your mind.

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