There’s been much chat about the opening of One Club Row.
It’s a sort of “if you know, you know” level of chat. Like you wouldn’t be surprised if there were a secret handshake to claim just how much you know.
Almost like One Club Row is in fact a secret club? That being the case, see this as stage one of your initiation.
One Club Row is the highly-anticipated restaurant from the triple-threat team that have just opened The Knave of Clubs. They are The Camberwell Arms and Bambi co-owner James Dye, former JKS Restaurants director of strategic projects Benjy Leibowitz and chef Patrick Powell. A sort of exercise in killing two birds with one stone, One Club Row is conveniently just above The Knave of Clubs in the Grade II listed site that sits a stone’s throw from Shoreditch High Street.
At street level, you enter via a discreet black door that’s topped with a scalloped-edge, electric blue awning. Up the stairs – painted the same vibrant blue as the awning – your ascent is soundtracked by upbeat jazz, catapulting you far away this corner of E1. Entering the dining room, the space is a mix of lime-washed walls, white table cloths, bistro chairs and soft lighting. The overall impression feels “fine dining” but it’s certainly not stuffy or rigid. Instead there are flirtatious nods – colourful artworks on the walls, an upright piano, that upbeat tempo from the jazz – that hint at something more playful. It’s a restaurant with its top button undone, tie loosened, heels kicked off in anticipation of finding the nearest dance floor.
The relaxed-yet-refined vibe is a love letter to the martini-slinging, glamour-without-glitz energy you might find in New York; it’s fun with a bit of frill, abundant but not lavish. And the timing of One Club Row’s opening feels just right too as it joins a wave of other big-hit restaurants that are helping to give Shoreditch a resurgence. We’re talking about the likes of Singburi E1 and Legado. Plus, the format of having a pub downstairs and a more formal restaurant upstairs, follows the trend of multi-floored venues – Notting Hill’s The Pelican and Marylebone’s The Hero – which cater to all your dining needs while making the most of the site’s every square inch.
If hard-liquor is what you need to whet your whistle, you’re in the right place. There’s four different types of martini, a chilli Margarita and a Manhattan, as well as other classic cocktails. Order one and sit in arguably the best spot in the house, up at the central wooden bar, where you can chat with the bar staff as they mix your drink or indulge in a solo dinner.
Speaking of which, we’d highly recommend starting with the pickled jalapeño gougères, that come shrouded in parmesan and oozing in the middle. Then onto the rest of the menu, which covers a lot of ground. There’s steak tartare, tuna crudo with smoked aubergine, crème fraiche and amalfi lemon, hand-cut pasta with girolles the One Club Row cheese burger au poivre, and whole lobster tagliatelle, confit tomato & fennel. It’s a marriage of French-leaning classics and Big-Apple confidence. If you still have room for dessert, don’t scrimp on the cheesecake, which comes with a table-side pour of strawberry coulis.
The next step in your initiation? Get yourself down to One Club Row…
NOTE: One Club Row is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30pm. You can find out more and book a table on the One Club Row website.
One Club Row | 1 Club Row, London E1 6JX
