Friday 11 July 2014

Ruby on Ruby

So I work on the edge of Shoreditch, I didn’t know this for several months until someone pointed it out to me. It was something of a revelation, I thought I worked in the City but hey ho.

Don’t get me wrong I’m quite happy to work in Shoreditch it has a cool reputation and it means I can wear jeans to work instead of a pin stripe suit!

And you know what, throw Hoxton into the mix and its actually a very interesting place to hang out, Its one of those places that every time you go you see something different, a new bit of graffiti or a funky bar and of course there are more blokes with beards and skinny jeans than you can shake a stick at but hey hipsters are people too you know!

Anyway, I like to think I have become something of a Shoreditch aficionado, I often take off on lunchtime safari’s around the area seeking the cool and interesting and on one of my earlier expeditions I stumbled on a tucked away little lunch spot called, strangely enough, Ruby.

I almost missed it and actually thought it was a shop but couldn't pass up the chance to go and have a look even if was going to be full of worn out jeans and 80 quid T- shirts.

Well, shop it wasn’t and super trendy cafĂ© it was.













I can't really grow a decent beard so could never be a hipster but I have had the odd henna tat on holiday, I'm probably more of a fauxhemian truth be known, but anyway, as soon as I stepped through the door at Ruby it felt… well it felt like my kind of place, great vibe, always full of people whatever time you go and if you’re really lucky you can sit at a table!



Me and my pal Laura at Ruby sitting at a table.

Me and my pal Sze also at Ruby also sitting at a table


I have no idea the name of the guy who runs it but I’ve asked him several times to tell me why he called it Ruby – he promises to tell but never does; I sort of sense a family connection, yeah go on there's definitely a likeness!



The Guy


My love affair with the Ruby grilled chicken sandwich started right there, right then. It is without doubt a legendary bit of scoff and for a fiver you could have one every day – I don’t you understand –  three a weeks my limit, I think that’s fair.





They do lots of other stuff, the soup is fab and there are always three or four pasta dishes. I can never choose between them and always end up wanting what someone else has had!




Ruby really comes into its own when you’ve spent the previous evening round the corner in Curtain Road or Rivington Street. Is it coincidence that Ruby is so close to my favourite bars?

Talking of which had a cracking night out a couple of weeks ago and managed five bars in one night, I think in anyone's book thats a decent effort.









These bars are all uber cool, Callooh Callay in Rivington Street is one of my real favourites and the Strongroom on Curtain Road is turning into a regular haunt which my son Elliot introduced me to, but I have to say the stand out bar round here for me is Nola which my daughter Jennifer first went to on a Remy Martin jolly (don't get the wrong idea about my kids!!). Nola is a real speakeasy, dark and moody, tough to find, no signs, you have to go through the Bedroom Bar to get to it but it really is worth it. Great cocktails, great ambiance and the barman, does he know his stuff or what!.

More to follow on the above in my next post, I must remember to take pictures and write stuff down before I'm slumped in the back of a cab at midnight!

But the good news, a night out like that properly sets you up for another Ruby grilled chicken sandwich the very next day – every hangover has a silver lining!