Common

Common is an unassuming little bar in the heart of Shoreditch, with an exterior sign that looks more like it belongs to a hip boutique than a boozer. We like it. Whether it’s the sign or the Erykah Badu on the sound system inside, it seems to draw in a more open and relaxed crowd than the rest of this overcrowded hub of nighttime action.

Cool and compact, Common makes the most of its spaces. On the ground floor you’ll see exposed brick, traditional school chairs, plenty of wooden boards and a green putty theme running through it. Intimate and close, this is a place for couples early in the week. By Thursday night that illusion of peace is shattered as the place fills from five for the £6 cocktails and four beers for £10 happy hour that lasts till 8pm. With the rush, the basement space comes alive. Although it has a lounge element to it – low-slung chairs etc. – we can only see this as a music space. And that’s what it becomes. DJs play regularly over the weekend and the music is focused towards hip-hop, soul, funk and disco. You’ll find plenty of backwards caps here – just saying. We can’t for the life of us remember the name of the bar that was here before Common arrived around 2011, but we can tell you that there has been a huge improvement. They’ve relieved the space of its awkwardness and managed to put together a sweet spot where dancing to old school hip-hop and drinking cheap cocktails and beers feels like a novelty. And we didn’t even mind that there were no beers on draught.