In the heart of Shoreditch, The East Room is a trendy, laid back members lounge, providing the perfect snapshot of East London cool.

The Venue
Down a dark dingy road, surrounded by industrial depressing buildings lies a chic little haven. As you go up a flight of stairs and step into The East Room, a wave of ease falls over you, and you know you’re going to feel good.

The venue is all about being as effortlessly cool as the people who inhabit it. Exposed brick walls, duck egg blue tiling, steel ceiling and quirky black and white art cover the walls, making simple sophistication come through in droves. Darkened light bulbs hang over comfy dark leather booths, which the chilled clientele find themselves sinking into - never to get up again - except maybe for another drink. Look outside and you’ll see the grubby mess in the courtyard, but it’s like another world inside.

The Atmosphere
The East Room isn’t the place, unlike many in London, to come and look glamorous. Instead, come to hang out with friends and have a casual drink. Not even colleagues would come here after work – it’s all about the groups of old friends laughing together, their witty chatter vibrating around the room. The lounge gets busy quickly, so it feels cosy and secluded, but the bar can get a bit busy if you’re looking for a drink later on in the night.

The excellent table service saves the parched customers, making it even easier to slouch down on the sofas and let go. Soothing music buzzes around the room, and the trendy twenty to thirtysomething crowd, decked out in everything from cute dresses to jeans a trainers, wind down forgetting about the usual pretension of member’s only lounges.

The Drink
All of the wine served in The East Room are new world wines, and the prices range from £15-£100 a bottle, giving the clientele a chance to sample much finer new world wines than they might be used to. There’s also a DIY service, where you buy a card at the bar and fill up your own glass from the DIY wine bottles. It’s definitely hands on drinking and it makes it way too easy to drink a tad too much.

There’s a good selection of cocktails for around £8, with delicate flavours that are extremely desirable to drink. The Silver Angel is a wonderful concoction of vodka, apple juice, passion fruit juice lemon and Champagne that has an essence of all the fruity flavours with the fun effervescence of Champers. Another light mixture is the Anejo Highball, consisting of golden rum, orange Curacao, fresh lime, bitters and ginger beer, which has a great balance of zesty and fresh flavours.

The Food
During lunch there is a delectable buffet on offer that consists of health conscious, unfussy, simple food that will satisfy but not overpower your taste buds. The rare tuna has a melt in your mouth consistency and goes extremely well with the crunchy stir fried beans in soy and chilli, which has a delicious Oriental tang.

There is also a selection of vegetable dishes, including red cabbage and broccoli - all with individual, fresh flavours and well cooked ingredients that work together nicely. A large plate of salami and slabs of cheese on a board are perfect for little nibbles, and the high quality of the products means their unique strong flavours are emphasised on your palate.

The Last Word
The East Room is the epitome of all that’s great about the nicer side of Shoreditch, the membership of £350 is worth it to become a regular at such a unique lounge.

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