Little Mercies is an extremely modest cocktail bar.
Because really, it’s giving us a lot to be thankful for.
Nestled on Crouch End’s Broadway Parade, it’s a spot you could easily walk straight past, thanks to the stripped back shopfront and subtle signage on the doors. And once you’re drawn inside, into its heady concoction of potent cocktails, the low thrum of music and flickering candles on every table, you’ll feel equally distant from the rumble of daily life outside.
Cloaked in deep teal walls, with comfortable banquette seating and a run of stools along the central concrete bar, the decor is pared back and malleable – this is a place that feels both bright and airy enough for a weekend coffee with friends, and moody enough for a Friday night date. That combination of clean-hewn decor and killer drinks is a telltale sign of its pedigree; Little Mercies comes to you from Scout’s Alan Sherwood (with Three Sheets‘ Venning brothers for godparents).
So, to the drinks: the pleasingly succinct list is a punchy, all-star line-up. Drawing on Scout’s scientific flair, the drinks here are all made with carefully treated ingredients – the Pornstar Martini’s base is a passionfruit cordial that takes 3 days to make from scratch in-house.
There are light drinks to start the evening – the crisp and clear Leaf Martini, made with avocado leaf; the fluffy Flower Sour with jasmine and marigold; the Strawberry Spritz with pisco, vermouth, and an intense hit of fresh strawberry. Then there’s the nightcaps – the Breton cider-laced Delicious Sour; a zippy Coffee Picon with Amer Picon apéritif, cold brew coffee and orange; and the eminently drinkable Old Fashioned, cut through by white chocolate caramelised in a sous-vide cooker and then infused into the whisky overnight. £9 is a steal for cocktails anywhere in London, but for concoctions of this calibre it’s staggering.
Finally, there’s a menu of dainty small plates to accompany the drinks, that change regularly. Currently they’re sending out dishes like beef crumpet with blue cheese rarebit; tempura enoki mushrooms served with a black garlic mayo; cod cheek and monks beard with pickled shimeji and cured egg yolk; and doughnuts with lemon curd and rosemary. Designed to share, you can get through about 6 dishes for less than £20 each.
Which is very modest indeed.
NOTE: Little Mercies is open Tues-Sat. You can find out more, and reserve a table, HERE.
Little Mercies | 20 Broadway Parade, N8 9DE
Last Updated: 21st March 2022 | Images: Lateef Okunnu
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