There’s a condition we all suffer from: the Sunday blues. Instead of being a sufferer, you should embrace the feelings to the full by heading down to Oslo in Hackney for their ‘Hus Av Blues’ show from 6pm till late. The weekly live acoustic blues performances feel personal, tangible and authentic. They also have Rock n Roll & Motown DJs throughout the night. During our visit, the soulful Joe Corbin played, who is extremely popular on the blues circuit with his impressive guitar sets as well as his mesmerising and captivating vocals.
The music takes places in their ground floor restaurant and bar with their stripped back Nordic decor and relaxed vibes the ideal space to showcase the chilled out blues music. If this wasn’t in trendy Hackney, the bar and restaurant wouldn’t look out-of-place in any city in Sweden or Norway.
They do have a spacious concert space upstairs as well which has hosted greats such as Mumford and Sons, Marina and the Diamonds, Years and Years with a state of the art sound system.
Opting for a detoxing package food-wise anyway, I tried their beautifully sourced heritage tomatoes which was interspersed with fresh buffalo mozzarella and a touch of basil and balsamic glaze. There is something remarkable about being just served premium quality produce with minimal human interference.
For main course, I tried their salmon, avocado and potato salad which was only a mere 50p more expensive than the heritage tomatoes starter. There were liberal amounts of rich, oily smoked salmon with added baby potatoes and soft avocado. This isn’t one of those lightweight vegetarian dish that makes you want to head for the nearest burger bar. It is also well-flavoured with red onions and a dill and mustard mayo.
Not many people often pair wines with salads, but their extremely quaffable Faultline Sauvignon Blanc from the ever popular Marlborough Valley in New Zealand has a splendid crisp, clear taste which matches superbly well with both vegetarian dishes.
Passionfruit cheesecake is serviceable here: the base could have more crunch, but the fruitiness of the cake is refreshing. However, this isn’t the kind of venue where you walk in expecting desserts to be the attraction. It is the excellent selection of beverages and the highlight is undoubtedly their eclectic selection of musical evenings as well as disco nights.
baldwin@townfish.com