Tonic & Remedy

Oh dear, reallllllly the worst. Waiter was so bad — i get that a person can flake once or even twice but the upper level of the bar/​restaurant was not busy. He ignored us repeatedly to the point where it was clear he didn’t like serving people. Big thumbs down.

Tonic & Remedy totally went beyond my expectations, so good that I decided to return again in less than a week. The cooking was excellent and the price is very affordable even if you’re not using the 50% off discount, with starters costing about £7 and mains about £17, the cooking here is pretty special and I cannot think of a better restaurant in Old Street apart from The Clove Club. It is refreshing to see Old Street has such a reasonable priced restaurant with good quality cooking in an informal but yet premium setting, a welcoming change.

I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is… more cocktails.
We came to Tonic & Remedy, a gigantic and chic looking new bar in Hoxton. It’s impossible to miss, first being in the insane triangle building on City Road and then, as you get closer, the bar having walls of glass and neon pharmacy medicine bottles in the window.
Inside, it’s got that hotel bar vibe going on. Very clean, very spacious, lots of seatings in and around the bar. There’s also real seating for real eating but we never made it that far.
We sat at the bar and ordered some drinks and food, both top quality. My Patience and Thyme, which was a raspberry gin and honey drink, was beautifully crafted and came with bits of dried raspberry and honey even on the stem.
We also had some eats. The sweetcorn popcorn was fine, but nothing to write home about. However the chips and curds — woah. It was like Canadian Poutine but without the gravy (so beef and cheese curds) but the chips I believe were fried in beef stock, and tasted amazing. They honestly didn’t even need a dip, you could eat them straight out of the mini frying pan. I don’t think I’ve ever had a fry this tasty.
Of course, with service and craft this good, you’re going to be paying for it. Most cocktails run about £8 to £11 but are well worth it. I’ll be back for sure, most likely for dinner.

This place just opened up and it is conveniently around the corner from where we live. We are always looking for new places to have a drink and this is a definite change from the various pubs that surround us (which we love as well!).
It’s located in the M hotel which would make most people go «ugh, a hotel bar» but it doesn’t have any real feel of a hotel bar except for its location. The space is gorgeous with both a ground floor and first floor space with floor to ceiling windows. The long communal tables are nice and the stools are incredibly comfortable — great for long nights of drinking and chatting. Plus, they have other seating on comfortable sofas.
Anyway, on to the drinks! Adam was in a beer mood and went with a Camden Pale Ale (£5). Unfortunately, they only have three beers on draft (Amstel and Heineken being the other two choices) but the name does state they are more of a cocktail bar. I started with a Spring Negroni (£9.50) which was incredibly light and refreshing. A nice twist on the classic Negroni with some candied ginger and dried flowers in the glass. A really nicely made cocktail and strong! I hate a beautiful cocktail that tastes like… juice. I could definitely taste (and feel) the alcohol in this drink.
For my second drink, I opted for Jamming (£7.50), one of their signature cocktails. The mix of Beefeater dry gin with mint and crushed ice came with a spoon made of caramel (!) holding a pomegranate and basil jam with a bit of black pepper extract. The drink was basically a mint julep and the additional jam was a welcome surprise! Loved the addition of black pepper and the caramel spoon was a nice touch.
We were also a bit hungry so we had some olives (£2.50) which came with a mix of pitted black olives and green olives as well as the G&T cured salmon and treacle bread (£8). The olives were a nice snack and the salmon was a really lovely appetizer before heading to dinner. The salmon was fresh (though I couldn’t taste too much G&T) and went well with the cucumber and treacle bread croutons.
All in all, we are so excited to have this new place in our neighborhood! The drinks are interesting and the food is good. Plus, they’re open until 1am! A great place for that nightcap on the way home :)