Located at St John’s Square (where The Bear pub used to be) is Clerkenwell & Social. I was really impressed with the inventive cocktails and found it to be a fine place to enjoy a pizza and bar snacks while catching up with friends.
Service at C&S was swift, friendly, and interested in what my party had to say about our lunchtime experience. It guess it’s worth noting that we had the place virtually all to ourselves during our late lunch midweek visit. But I got the impression that this bar can fill up (and spill out onto the square) at night.
For my part, I had no complaints but mentioned the pizza could have spent little more time cooking in the oven. Still I devoured mine, the Salami (tomato, mozzarella, salami and black olives, £11) and maybe of slice or two of my friends’ pizzas as well without hesitation. Other items tried during my visit included tasty calamari (£6), chicken wings (five for £5 or eight for £8), and the arancini with mushrooms and truffle oil (£4.50).
The food just seemed to be a sidekick for the far more inspired (and inspiring) drinks. Cocktails like the Breaking Good (Pisco infused with chilli, lime juice, tarragon syrup, homemade bitters and egg white) and Beer New World (pale ale with amaretto and Bourbon shaken with honey, lemon juice and orange bitters) took me off guard with their presentation and intriguing flavour. And at £8.95 each I thought they are were rather good value for a fun Zone 1 outing.
Clerkenwell & Social is located at 2-5 St John’s Square, EC1M 4DE. Find out more at clerkenwellandsocial.com.
