Last Updated on January 9, 2025
Sustainable cocktails with an East End flavour
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Nearer Brick Lane than Gin Lane, Whitechapel Road isn’t where you expect to find an innovative cocktail bar. PocketSquare is tucked above an anonymous Hyatt-branded hotel. Arriving on a dark rainy evening, the bright lobby downstairs didn’t have any obvious signposting for the PocketSquare rooftop bar – but from the street, we’d spotted the warmly lit balcony up on the ninth floor and knew we were in the right place.
Upstairs, PocketSquare was gently lively and decked with an attractive row of sparkly Christmas trees visible through the tall windows and professional-looking seasonal decorations around the compact bar. Not large, PocketSquare could hold perhaps 50-70 people, a decent size for a private party. The terrace faces south-easterly with a view of Canary Wharf; the building is fifteen minutes walk from Liverpool Street and the main City of London.
The cherry atop a global hotel branch, PocketSquare is happily making its own kind of music. Widely using Fairtrade products, they employ sustainable practices with regards to making their own sugar syrups and re-using bottles wherever they can. Twice yearly, their menu is updated and features signature cocktails that nod towards the Bangladeshi, Jewish, and Cockney heritage of the area. A section on the menu collaborates with “Fair” drinks, a brand that pioneers Fairtrade practices in the drinks industry. Non-alcoholic choices have grown in number since they opened in 2021.
PocketSquare flavours many of their own liqueurs and infuse spirits; they grow herbs on the balcony and dehydrate their own fruits. Leftover foods from the hotel are often repurposed. Breakfast buffet biscuits, for instance, are used to flavour the gin used in their “Enigma” cocktail (£16), paying homage to Alan Turing. His local contribution was a quicker end to World War II, which heavily impacted East London. More humorously, “Kushty” (£15) celebrates the fictional Cockney Del-Boy. Deliberately presented with a pink umbrella and kitsch pineapple-shaped glass, this lovely jubbly is a Pina Colada riff flavoured with mint lassi which in turn points to the local Bangladeshi community.
London being the home to a solid gin heritage, gin cocktails are a speciality at PocketSquare, with a dedicated Negroni section on their cocktail menu. I tried their Peachy Negroni (£13) made from Bulldog premium London dry gin. The dried peach garnish was not something I’d nibble but as a Negroni fan, I enjoyed the light fruity flavour. My companion tried two citrus-based cocktails; Æppel (£15) made with kumquat, almondy orgeat and sage (grown on the premises), followed by their Fairtrade Autumn Sour (£12) using Oaxacan (Mexican Whiskey), freshly squeezed mandarin and lime juices and ginger syrup. We also sampled a shot of the “Fair” brand Oaxacan liquor, it’s firey and fragrant as perfume. Normally a non-drinker of whiskey, I could be converted.
Food-wise, we devoured the Cod Fritters with Sriracha Aioli (£9), and very truffley, Truffle Pecorino Fries (£6), from the bar snack menu; and we felt a mini serving of fish and chips was an appropriate tribute to the Jewish immigrants who traded near here. The batter was light, and the chunks of fish were sizeable. Other bar snacks available are Sicilian olives, anchovies with bread and butter, Padron peppers and Cobble Lane Cured meats from a specialist butcher in Islington.
Being rather hungry, our attention fell on the flatbreads choosing Ortolana (£13), topped with roasted vegetables, and Tonno (£15) with tuna, capers and cherry tomatoes. We should acknowledge that PocketSquare is primarily a bar offering some food rather than a restaurant. The flatbreads fell, well, a bit flat. Not that they weren’t airy, but rather that we badly desired sauce to moisten them. Or olive oil and dipping vinegar. Or just let pizza be pizza! If PocketSquare presented a side dip to help those crusts go down, we’d have enjoyed the flatbreads more. As it was, we’d have gladly swapped one for extra fries.
In lieu of any dessert being on the menu, we each had an Espresso Martini (£13); these were foamy and well-flavoured. Apart from the Oaxacan firewater, none of my chosen cocktails had been like rocket fuel; despite the late hour, we skipped home not feeling too tipsy.
If you were staying in the Hyatt Place hotel downstairs (late on, most present were guests), you’d be delighted to have an in-house cocktail bar as nice as this upstairs. The building may be home to a hotel, but PocketSquare exudes modest individuality with a friendly welcome that extends to non-guests. By using lots of in-house crafted ingredients, PocketSquare punches above its weight and the team is visibly passionate about its offering. If you live or work nearby, or are staying in this part of East London, PocketSquare is an address for the pocketbook.
PocketSquare
9th Floor, Hyatt Place London City East
Black Lion House
45 Whitechapel Road
London E1 1DU
