East Village

Forget the superclub, the small venues popping up all over East London are where it’s at. Shoreditch may now be as unfashionable as Leicester Square as the trendy troop head further north to Dalston, however East Village is effortlessly cool minus the attitude. More intimate and less commercial than many of its neighbours, the emphasis is on the music, with the worlds’ top DJ’s queuing up to play here, Carl Craig, DJ Sneak, Danny Krivit, Derrick Carter…

Laid out over three floors, the top floor contains East Village’s Bar & Kitchen, where they dish up wholesome roasts and jerk chicken on Sundays for those who need to replenish, as well as a cocktail list to wash the grub down with.

The first floor is the Deco Lounge, a bar and slouchy seating area which nods to 1980’s New York. Disco, funk and soul are favoured here and there is space to dance as well as mooch around and peoplewatch.

The basement is the main room; dimly lit, atmospheric, compact and filled with people up for a party. London’s best bodypoppers gather on the floor here to practise and outside to compare dance moves with one another whilst smoking. Cute.

East Village is catered to people who want to listen to music and are not part of the Friday night after work brigade which seems to be invading most of Shoreditch these days. With low entrance fees usually in the £6 to £8 region this is one of the best clubs around right now.