Question: When is a shop not a shop? Answer: When it’s a bar!
The Shop NW10 is a new bar on Kensal Rise that not only offers food and drink for sale but also the artworks on the wall and even the furniture you’re sitting on. The concept is that the bar presents a shop front for local artists looking for exposure and to provide a meeting place for creative minds.
The drinks are served in retro milk bottles adorned with old advertisements, and the attention to detail goes right down to the metallic lids with the Shop logo pressed on to the top of the bottle. Punching your straw through the lid will reveal beneath a cocktail specially designed for the bar and take you back to your school days and the beloved milk trolley. ‘The Shop Assistant’ consisting of El Jimador tequila, fresh lime, honey, raspberries and lager, a concoction that on paper shouldn’t work, but really, really does. Refreshing and fruity, it went down a treat.
If that isn’t to your taste, then perhaps the pina colada-style ‘Once Loved’ is more up your street – a tropical mix of our favourite Kraken rum, coconut milk, creme de abricot and pineapple which is surprisingly potent. On a warm summery day, this could transport you from Kensal Rise to paradise. We also tried the 5th Floor Margarita, a heady mix of tequila, Triple Sec and lime juice, dangerously addictive and dangerously strong!!
The Shop really looks the part, especially the bar itself, reclaimed from World War II era crates and multicoloured floorboards, giving a particularly bohemian feel. The lighting is pretty special too – some reclaimed from Manchester Airport circa 1960’s and some from Cold War era Czech factories. The overall feel is very relaxed and somewhere for locals and creative personalities to mingle and socialise over a few particularly special drinks.
The Shop NW10, 75 Chamberlayne Road, NW10
theshopnw10.com