Titus Andronicus

2-4 Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, London, N1 6NU

Titus Andronicus is the earliest Shakespeare’s tragedy. It is about Roman times, and it is supposed to be fantastic. However, if you ask to JuanFran or me what Titus Andronicus is about, we may have a quite different answer…

We would talk you about an incredible rock band based in New Jersey that Juan discovered in a trip to NYC last year – they performed in one of those Barack Obama campaign shows. He was so utterly impressed about their performance that as soon as they came to London in tour he couldn’t leave the chance to go and watch them. And so did I, and that is what this post is about.

Titus Andronicus

The concert was at The Hoxton Bar and Grill, a bar/venue in Hoxton – Old Street – I had been before just once. The only I could remember about the place was that the food was quite expensive and that it was a bit too posh for my taste, with somehow pricey drinks and not a big range of beers. Top of that, it has a nice terrace which is quite dangerous if you go around with Juan, as it will very likely will mean you’ll be on it smoking, or being accurate, watching he smoke for most of the time you spent in the place J.

What I didn’t know is that the place includes a quite nice venue on its backyard, and that it is a quite respected one in the area: any band playing there you may expect to be quite gifted, if not a lot. And so far and so forth, there we were, both of us, pint of Guinness in hand, waiting to the support bands.

The first one, to be honest, was a bit of a disappointment. Citizens they were called. Two girls, one singing and drumming and the other one playing the bass, did a good effort and had a quite nice pitch. That is not enough to generate appealing music, I’m afraid, and a third member would be really appreciated on the future. Good enough for a warming up, though.

The second band is a completely different story: Little Death. Maybe it has been the best not-known-at-all band I’ve seen ever. They played rock that sometimes sounded like Muse, sometimes sounded more like brit-pop. The singer voice was ok, but the most impressive fact about them is how solid as a band they sounded. Each single music was great – the guitarist was a virtuoso, the drummer almost broke down the patches with his mighty way of playing, and the bass… well, she was HOT! -, but that wasn’t really the point. The point is they appealed me as one of those bands that may sell loads and loads of albums if they put some effort on it, and, obviously, if they counted with the support of the industry. Really a lot of energy not too appreciated by the audience, if you want my point of view. But everybody there was about Titus Andronicus, I’m afraid… anyway, if I didn’t buy an album of this band, I’m afraid I won’t do it in the future in any other gig.

Well done!!

And latest but not least, Titus Andronicus. Pretty cool band, indeed: a nice mixture between korn, bruce springsteen and who knows what else. More professional than Little Death, they were really vigorous in their display. Juan told me that, on his view, this London performance was better than the NYC one, maybe because they were heading the gig. Vocal distortion, harmonics, everybody dancing around the stage… this is one of those bands that transmit a good feeling and somehow improve the mood of everybody around. It is not that much about the music, maybe, but about the atmosphere they were able to develop. And I’m not saying with that they are bad musicians, which would be nonsense. What I’m pointing out is that this is not their best virtue, because they can offer something else some other bands actually can’t.



Anyway, an incredible nite of music.

The Datsuns at the World’s End (The Underworld)

174 Camden High St London, NW1 0NE

Camden is really one of those amazing areas you never stop discovering new places to spend a good time with friends. None the less, at some point it starts to be difficult to find a surprising one – at the end of the day, a pub is a pub. Not the case of The Worl’s End.

Why is this a different one? First of all, because it is massive, really huge. Second, because it is busy, too busy sometimes. The amount of tattoos per square meter is maybe higher than anywhere else in the UK, and the first time you just realize you are behaving as a stupid tourist looking at all those punks and heavies with their cool attires. Try to avoid it, go to the bar, wait for a long time, pay a quite expensive price – no pint cheaper than 3.20 – and enjoy the loud music, heavy metal or punk mainly. That is what this place was built for.

On the tap they serve Carling, Carlsberg, Carlsberg Export –the one we have in Europe, including Spain-, Lowenbrau – a nice German lager -, Bombardier – a classic ale -, Tetleys –bitter-, John Smiths –best option - and Directors – another ale, slightly stronger than Bombardier. No Guinness, unfortunately, but a variety enough for almost any taste. It takes a lot to get one on the weekends, though.

For everybody's taste...

The building itself, dating from 1875, is an attraction good enough for dropping once or twice. There are plenty of big rooms and levels, with stairs all over the place. Rooms are spacious, even on the weekends when it is supposed to be really packed. I strongly recommend to go on a week day. In fact, I cannot think right now about a bigger pub I’ve been in the UK. Sure there are some, but I cannot make my mind up about it right now… anyway, and to make it clear: this pub is sort of a theme park one, but with enough authenticity to make it worth the trip. It is also really close to the tube station, so while going shopping to Camden is a really appetizing option.

All that said, and after having a couple of drinks in the pub itself, last Thursday we went down to The Underworld, the Club in the basement, to watch The Datsuns. We were Jase, Cesar&Cesar, another friend of mine and me. And after a rude bouncer in the door, everything became quite ok.

The club is nice, creepy but nice. A bit narrow maybe. This is the most obvious flaw if you like quiet concerts, and in the other hand it is a real success point if you like noisy, dirty and crazy ones. As I’m more in the second group, the place is fine for me: mossing, pushing, sweat and all the ingredients you are supposed to have in a rock/metal/punk gig. The drinks in the club downstairs are the same price than upstairs, which is fair enough. Tequila is quite expensive, though, but… who may have in mind having tequila shots on a Thursday nite? :)

About The Datsuns, they performed quite well. If you don’t know them, I recommend a listen or two to their first, self-titled album. They are from New Zealand, and they play good and aggressive rock. About the git itself, the quality of the sound wasn’t perfect, in fact it was quite far away from being good. But they played with heart and feeling, and they got almost everybody in the first rows dancing and having fun, which is actually the point. Maybe they are not one of my favourite bands, and the music they play is maybe not the one I fancy the most, but they do a god job in live.

Motherfucker from hell, as they performed it in the Underworld

Uno, Dos, Tres… Twelve!!!

22-23 Denmark Place, London WC2H 8NL

This is just another of those really nice places you may find in Tottenham Court Road vicinity. Or you used to, as as a result of a new railway construction quite a lot of real classics have been recently closed: Metro -one of my favourites-, The End-for many people, one of the best techno clubs in Europe-, The Sin – a nice Heavy Metal club-, Astoria and Astoria II – once more, real classics and real loses to this city spirit-, and so on. Under this circunstances, it is indeed a real pleasure to find out from time to time that there are still places opened that are worth a visit in this area. And Twelve bar is one of them, with all the basic ingredients you may expect in this blog: good mood, good music, nice decoration, and opened til late. All those Beatles posters, old mag covers, vinyls, and so on, make this place a unique one.

I discovered it a while ago, or, being accurate, Victor discovered it. And I rediscovered it quite recently, thanks to my brother, who spent his New Year’s Eve in the place. And I’d love to re-rediscover it as many times as needed, as this is the sort of place that makes a difference.

The main issue about Twelve is music, or, to be as accurate as possible, live music. Gigs. Everyday there are not one or two, but four bands playing, some times for a small door cover, some times for free. I’ve seen here two different types of band: a new metal crazy crew and a blues jam session. That should give you an idea of how open minded the place is, and also should make you think about the type of music you really like and the one going gon the specific night you are in before going inside, as you can expect almost everything there.


The distribution is the following: a small room with tables to have a quiet drink with your girlfriend, a small and dark room where gigs take place (what were you thinking about, naughty boy?), a big room with a pool table and a small terrace where every smoker can have a fag – and get frozen in the attempt, at least last weeks… how can it be THAT cold?

If you go earlier -gigs usually start about 8 pm- you can also have quite fun. Pretty good UK music is played, including Beatles, Rolling Stones, Smiths and also some more recent stuff, and, depending of who’s in the bar, you may ask for a couple of songs if you want. One of them is a nasty bastard, the other is really very very friendly. So good luck.

Drinks are cheap enough if you think you are in Central London, on a 10 minutes walking distance from Leicester Square. 3 quid per pint, with Red Stripe as option if you like lager. Guinness and other usual suspects are of course available as well. And all in this sort of low rent look venue so common in London, where everything looks like it is really dirty but you somehow decide to like it.

And of course the pool table that, luckily enough, is almost always empty while no concert is taking place… well, it is also empty when a concert takes place, but playing pool with a band playing would be kind of a rude thing, don’t you reckon?

Gordon Ramsay’s Warrington

93 Warrington Crescent, London, W9


For those who may know him, as I didn’t not so long time ago, Gordon Ramsay is one of the most famous British cooks, and, by a long way, the fouler mouthed one of all. At the end of the day he is not famous because of his several -many- Michelin awarded restaurants, or because his several pubs, each even better than the previous one. What he is better known for, and in that he wins hands down every other cook, is because of the incredible way he swears in every single TV program he presents, and he has presented several. Hell’s Kitchen -a contest like Big Brother, but with young cooks hosting a restaurant in Brick Lane- or Kitchen Nightmares – where Gordon’s visits a desperate restaurant losing money and manages the recovery and resurrection of it- are my favourite ones, mainly the former. One of his mightiest moments, here with this petulant French Chef:



Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I met my friend Rima and we decided which pub to go, in Maida Vale -North West London, really close to Paddington. This area, where by the way one of my favourite friends used to live five years ago, is a pretty good example of how the best and the worse and dodgiest areas in London are divided just by a single street. As is, the posh side of street has several –not too many, though- pubs where you may enjoy an overprized pint, and the rough other side is just fried-chicken-opolis and kebapopolis. After a while walking, we decided that the posh option was quite better under the present circumstances and we entered in the Warrington.

How to summarize it? Well, quite easy: just the most beautiful pub I’ve been in London yet. Definitely not the most charming one, and very likely not the most surprising or impressing, but if it is beauty what we are talking about… well, this is the place.

The main characteristic of the place is its incredible Victorian decoration, with a great fireplace, a marble rounded bar, marble columns and crafted wood all over the place. The best of all, though, is that it is really a very comfy place to drink in, and indeed a very warm one. Patrons are just middle class, not the too upper class you may expect in a place like this, and the lack of music –otherwise it wouldn’t be a proper British pub- is really concealed by all the simultaneous and friendly conversations that take place around.

About the drinks? Not pricey, I have to say. Around 3 pounds per drink, so expect Central London prices in the Warrington… what is somehow logic, as you are still in Zone 1 and in a particularly expensive area. They have four five real ales, plus Guinness, London Pride and Fosters. It was a real pity no Carling was served, as the real excuse to meet again with Rima was sharing some of those, but you cannot have everything in life, however hard you try.

And about food… well, this is a Gordon Ramsay’s pub. So even as they are not so stupidly high as in the restaurant in the first floor, the pub food is still too overprized and, even while I will not justify the quality of it, I’m not the one to pay 6 pounds for some ham and cheese in bread.
So forget about the food, get a pint of Pride, sit down in a table, if possible close to the chimney, and forget about everything else. A great experience.

Single Malt Nation

No sólo de Carling vive el hombre… or in Shakespeare´s, man does not live of Carling alone. Indeed, I´ve started recently to discover the world of the Single Malt (for a good wiki-scientific explanation of what a Single Malt is, here). Indeed, this post is about my opinion of the last ones I´ve tried (since starting 2009, while I still remember what they tasted like :=)) and the idea is update it with any other coming up in the close future… Let´s go for them.

(Just note I indicate the name of the Malt, the age, the region, the alcoholic content and the price if I know it).

1. Talisker 1987 Distillers Edition. 14 years. Skye. 45.8%. 40 pounds/litre.

I tried this one straightforward as I arrive from London to Madrid on Christmas, with Albert and Pedro. Talisker is the only distillery on Skye Island, which by the way is my favourite region in Scotland and one of the most wonderful places I´ve ever been in. This particular edition is characterized by a stronger flavour than the normal Talisker, which indeed is quite a lot to say as Talisker is very likely one of the most flavoured Malts in the range in the fairly well known and affordable ones. A bit smoky, and with a lovely dark colour given by the cherry oak barrels it is partially matured in, I strongly recommend it. As it is quite strong I recommend to taste it mixed 50-50 with water. Indeed, every single Malt should be mixed 50-50, or at least that is what I´ve been told in every distillery I´ve visited in Scotland. Ice cubes is not a good option, as the cold dilutes the flavour and makes impossible to distinguish any special touch on it. Coca Cola… well, yeah. Whatever the fuck, Pedro!!! :).

A proper tasting experience here

2. Talisker 10 years, 10 years. Skye. 45.8%. 30 pounds/litre

This one I bought it on Asda (the equivalent to Carrefour in Spain), and it is very likely my favourite one, maybe not just because of the flavour, but also for all the remembers it gives to me. I tried it first time when I went to Scotland during my Erasmus year, and it has been since then my first option whenever I want to experience a good Malt in a pub. Not as smoky or tasty as the previous special edition, it is anyway a very strong whisky with a particular and quite specific smell that somehow might remember the sea, at least compared with an insipid one as the Glenfidich/Cardhu options. In Spain, apart of in whisky shops, I´ve seen it in some superstores as Makro.

A proper tasting experience here

3. Bushmills Malt. 10 years. Northern Ireland. 40%. Invited

In Gilberto´s birthday, three weeks ago, Aitor, the host of the party, had an incredible Malts collection and at the end of the party we had both my brother, him and myself a really nice tasting experience – many thanks, Aitor, if you read this. I reckon at that point is when I thought about writing this post, indeed… this Bushmills single Malt, as opposite to both Talisker commented before, is a very light whiskey -whiskey, as Irish whiskey, and not whisky, as Scotch. Not as light as the blended Bushmills we also tried there -and another post would be worth about great blended Scotchs or whiskeys, as this one is-, this is still one of those you may try even without water on it, as it is distillated three times as most of the Irish stuff. A bit more light than what I do really like, in my opinion this is a good option if you want to have quite a lot of them, as it is not particularly strong either in alcoholic percent or in taste. I particularly appreciate Irish Whiskeys, like Jameson, with ice cubes after a proper lunch, as they don´t add up an already upset stomach.

4. Glenlivet 15 years. 15 years. Speyside. 43%. Invited.

The second one we tried in Aitor´s. A great exponent of what an Speyside Malt is supposed to be: not too strong, not too light, just balanced both in flavour and alcoholic content and a bit sweet. I´m not a great fan of this type of quite smooth Malts, as I prefer the more strong stuff, but I have to recognize that it is a very good option for the ´less brave´ ones :). A good compromise option for most of the people.

A proper tasting experience here

5. and 6. A Japanese one and a Frankenstein one. Invited.

Please, help here… if anyone around has Aitor´s mail, just send him this post URL, cause I cannot remember the name of those two. The Japanese one was really nice, quite smooth as well, more in the Speyside side. If anybody is surprised, you should know Japan is the second producer of Single Malts in the world, just after Scotland and above Ireland. Those little Japanese guys became nuts several years ago about this stuff, and currently they produce very good quality ones.

The Frankenstein, well, Aitor called it like that because it came from the Speyside region but tasted as an Islay, this is, very smoky with a very dark coal-like colour, and a very strong nose and persistent ending. To be honest, one of the best if not the best I ever tried. And one of the rarest as well.

7. Lagavulin 16 years. 16 years. Islay. 43%. Invited.

A very expensive and demanded Malt, this is the one we tried the last and the one Aitor was more proud about, not the least because as it is that demanded it is quite difficult to find it in a shop. It is an Islay (the same apply for this sort of Malts that I said for Talisker applies, but even more superlative: stronger, smokier, sea-resembling), but not a particularly defining Islay, as it is a bit smoother than most of them. My opinion about this one is that it is the best option to make a transition from light-smooth Malts to stronger and flavory ones, but it just lands in the very middle without convincing the real fans of any of both sides. And of course, that opinion must be wrong, as most people who understand about this rank this particular one on the very very top.

A proper tasting experience here

8. Ardbeg. 10 years. Islay. 46%. 30 pounds/litre

I bought this one as a present to Dave when I went to Berlin last weekend, and it was a fantastic finding, to be honest. When I said for the Lagavulin that was not what I understand as a full-bodied Islay… quite similar on the taste to the Frankenstein I tasted with Aitor, this one was even more smoky, but in a finer way, not so shocking. Not as persistent as any Talisker, I have to say. And, well, true enough we already were slightly drunk when we tried it, but I reckon we enjoyed it quite particularly, and the one to praise for it is the guy in the Malts shop in Stansted. By the way, really helpful those guys in that very specific shop: if you want to buy a present, just tell them the sort of drink you want to buy and the budget you have, and they are really fair and honest in their recommendations.
A proper tasting experience here

9. Aberlour. 10 years. Speyside. 40%. 15 pounds/litre (believe it or not!!!)

Well, I´m actually trying this one right now. This evening, when I went to the local supermarket, they had this one in offer, reduced from 25 quid to 15… if you think that is what you pay nowadays for Bells or JB blended Scotch in any shop, I couldn´t just let it go. Even when I did not really need any more whisky, as I have my Dyc 10 años for the weekends, and during the week… well, during the week I don´t drink, and definitely I don´t drink whisky at home. I´m not in such a bad shape yet, luckily. So just as an exception, I´m having a sip of it at the moment, just as a tasting experience for the blog post. And… well, it is just OK. Again, maybe a bit too smooth and light, if you want my opinion. But anyway… for 15 quid… well, amazing value for money.

A proper tasting experience here

And that´s it by now... any visit coming to London and bringing new stuff is really welcome!!! (just a joke, White Label coke is good enough)

Techno on the other side of the wall: Berghain

Last weekend I paid a visit to Dave, a friend who is leaving in Berlin. I hadn’t had the chance to visit this city before, and I was really willing to do it as everybody talked very good stuff about it. My opinion about the city:

1. Very cold :)
2. Very different to some other big European capitals as Madrid, London or Paris. It doesn’t seem at any point to be a huge metropolis, and the reason for it is it is very quiet. Not too many people in the streets, not too many cars in the roads, and absolutely not too many noise anywhere. For this sometimes you really need to have a deep look in a map to realize that, yes, indeed it is a very big city.
3. The monuments over there were cool, but not as cool as London or Paris might be in this sense.
4. Former Soviet buildings are really very ugly. I liked the only remaining III Reich building, though.
5. Everything is really very cheap, even cheaper than Madrid and, obviously, shamefully cheaper than London.
6. People don’t drink beer in huge pitchers all the time. That is Bavarian stuff.

Of course, I did some tourism, pictures in the Wall and in Brandeburg Gate, and so on. So far and so good this blog is about pubs and bar, and actually the best of the weekend were, on the top of meeting back Dave after a fairly long time, pubs and clubs in the city.

a) Stäv, Schiffbauerdamm 8, 10117 Berlin

A quite illustrious and historic place, this is a german bar where you can drink Cologne brewed beer. This type of beer is quite light and easy to drink, and they serve it in small 20cl glasses… at some point you feel like you are having ca;as, but without food. The guys in the bar were quite friendly and they wrote down in a beermat a stripped mark per every drink you had, quite like I saw in Seville several years ago. Nice music and a nice place to enjoy a good conversation and a nicely furbished bar.

b) Die Tagung, Wühlischstraße 29, 10245 Berlin

Ostalgie is the term Germans use to refer to East-German nostalgia or, in other worlds, nostalgia about the Soviet times, and that is what this place is about. The pub is a nicely decorated pub with this sort of themes: communist staff, posters, paraphernalia, etc. We had Red Oktober beer, at the incredible price of €2.30 half a litre (at 2 o’clock at night, in a pub!), and music was really very good and very British. Indeed, apart of all the memorabilia the place really looked like a pub in Camden, but even better. I really liked it.




c) Berghain, Ruderhorfer St., Berlin, Germany

The name "Berghain" is a composite of the names of the two quarters, which flank the building south and north: KreuzBERG (former West Berlin) and FriedrichsHAIN (former East Berlin). It should mean TECHNO in capitals, though, as it is what it really means.

This is one of those massive clubs you cannot find anymore in Madrid. The huge building is a former power plant that currently hosts two different clubs, Berghain (main floor) is about techno and Panorama (top floor) is about House and Electro.

And it had to be good, dear, as we waited for almost 40 minutes to get through, at 2.30 am on a below zero degrees night. The bouncers seemed to be quite selective, and indeed we were quite lucky as a nice blondie jumped the queue just in front of us. As they asked to two Spaniards to leave the queue just as they were going in (and after their good share of the 40 minutes), we were really scared, as they didn’t look like particularly different or dodgy to us. No matter how, we passed the bouncer scrutiny and we were inside.

First thing: a bottle of becks was just 3.10 €. I cannot imagine any other city in Western Europe where it might be possible – maybe just in Lisbon. And the music was aloud, and good, and tequila was good as well, gold or silver.


The mood of the club is gay – friendly, this is, plenty of gay people on it but straight is also welcome. That didn’t really mind, mainly for two options: 1. I have a girlfriend. 2. The music was so good everybody was just thinking about dancing, and chatting up wasn’t really an option.
Really a very good techno club, one of the best I’ve ever been in. The only flaw… well, it was so good we arrived to Dave’s place about 9.30, and obviously there was no real chance to make any more tourism on Sunday. A good reason for go back to Berlin sooner than later, then!