{"id":15684,"date":"2018-04-17T16:08:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T16:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/?p=15684"},"modified":"2018-04-17T16:08:24","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T16:08:24","slug":"callooh-callay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/","title":{"rendered":"Callooh Callay – Whimsical Cocktail Bar in Shoreditch"},"content":{"rendered":"

You get to walk through a wardrobe into a secret back room at Callooh Callay. Do you even need to know anything else?<\/p>\n

It was a pretty enchanting start to my visit to this eccentric cocktail bar that\u2019s inspired by the nonsensical Lewis Carroll poem Jabberwocky.<\/p>\n

Sure, there are loads of cocktail bars in London nowadays, and yep, they all have a theme, or a pop-up theme, or eschew the concept of a theme altogether, thus becoming a non-theme theme-bar (yes, it\u2019s exhausting, I know).<\/p>\n

But to have been operating for a decade so successfully suggests that this Shoreditch spot and its wardrobe are getting it right.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s, to steal a phrase from another of Carroll\u2019s creations, \u2018begin at the beginning\u2019 – November 2008 to be precise, when Shoreditch was definitely a \u2018thing\u2019, but not really in the way it is today, and Rivington Street didn\u2019t boast quite the high number of buzzing bars and restaurants it does now.<\/p>\n

Enter: a new fantastical enclave of delight, with a mish-mash of decor inspired by the famous poem from which its name comes:<\/p>\n

(\u201cAnd hast thou slain the Jabberwock?\/Come to my arms, my beamish boy!\/O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!\/\u00a0He chortled in his joy.\u201d Since you were wondering).<\/p>\n

Wardrobe aside, there are whimsical touches throughout, from a gilded, palm-tree shaped lamp and seating made from a bathtub to the private booth that sits against a swirling monochrome backdrop that you won\u2019t want to spend too long looking at after a few drinks.<\/p>\n

The choice of drinks is inventive and inspiring, with thoughtful tasting notes in case you can\u2019t quite decide what Japanese spice mix tagarashi might actually taste like in a drink (spoiler: Very good).<\/p>\n

As with all well-made cocktails, the alcohol content wasn\u2019t the predominant taste in any of the concoctions we tried:<\/p>\n

The Bristol Milk, despite a healthy dose of Ketel One vodka and Bristol Cream sherry, was a delicate thing, heady with the flavours of nectarine and orange flower, while the White Rose with its Bulleit bourbon, pedro ximenez sherry, marmalade and egg white was a frothy, velvety mix that stole the show.<\/p>\n

I could go on, but I don\u2019t want to ruin the surprise of the menu.<\/p>\n

Just be assured that whatever you order, you can be sure you won\u2019t have tasted anything quite like it before, which is exactly the point of the place \u2013 inventive, unusual and surprising world-class drinks in a fun-filled and fabulous setting.<\/p>\n

Unlike its namesake poem, Callooh Callay makes absolutely perfect sense to me.<\/p>\n

Please clcik here<\/a> to visit their website.<\/p>\n

By Vicky Smith<\/em><\/p>\n

The Bon Vivant Journal<\/h3>\n

If you enjoyed this review of Callooh Callay, read some of our other latest reviews including Pizarro<\/a>, our guide to the best restaurants in Shoreditch<\/a> and the best cocktail bars in London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sign up to the Journal here<\/a>.<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You get to walk through a wardrobe into a secret back room at Callooh Callay. Do you even need to know anything else? It was a pretty enchanting start to … <\/i>Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[880,151,818,882],"class_list":["post-15684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bars","tag-callooh-callay","tag-cocktail-bars","tag-cocktails","tag-shoreditch"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCallooh Callay - Whimsical Cocktail Bar in Shoreditch - The Bon Vivant Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We visit whimsical cocktail bar Callooh Callay on Rivington Street, one of the best cocktail bars in Shoreditch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Callooh Callay - Whimsical Cocktail Bar in Shoreditch - The Bon Vivant Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We visit whimsical cocktail bar Callooh Callay on Rivington Street, one of the best cocktail bars in Shoreditch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bon Vivant Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-17T16:08:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"656\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emyr Thomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emyr Thomas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/\",\"name\":\"Callooh Callay - Whimsical Cocktail Bar in Shoreditch - The Bon Vivant Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-17T16:08:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/a4dbf6b9cf1f7f0c2928c3c840467b21\"},\"description\":\"We visit whimsical cocktail bar Callooh Callay on Rivington Street, one of the best cocktail bars in Shoreditch.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":656,\"caption\":\"The Laundry Brixton Sunday Roast\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/callooh-callay\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Callooh Callay – Whimsical Cocktail Bar in Shoreditch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/\",\"name\":\"The Bon Vivant Journal\",\"description\":\"A place to note our travels, share our musings, hot new tips and the most recent must-see, do, go-to places to have caught our imagination; the very best of London and further afield. 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