The Ape & Bird

Hip. Oh so hip. And we’re talking about the staff, not the clientele who line up to be served by the classic array of attractive Polpo/Polpetto/Spuntino characters installed behind the bars and waiting on the multiple floors. We like that staffing policy. Or do we? The Ape and Bird is a pub done ‘Russell Norman style’. And it is attractive, warm and rammed on this particular Saturday night. Described by the man himself (behind the aforementioned Polpo/Polpetto/Spuntino restaurants) as a “pub for people who don’t like pubs”, The Ape and Bird was apparently born from Norman’s wish to create the type of pub that he wanted to go to but could never find – we’d suggest the Well and Bucket or the Crown and Shuttle, just a hundred yards apart in the heart of Shoreditch, could have solved that problem. But we digress. This is central London and it’s true, there aren’t many pubs of this ilk catering to the pre-theatre crowd and weekend visitors after something fresher than The Spice.

The Spuntino/Mishkins effect at The Ape and Bird is evident on entering the stylish building. From the ‘Dive Bar’ basement to the ‘Public Bar’, the attractive details are everywhere. Etched typography, beautiful iron counter tops and salvaged materials run amok. But it doesn’t feel like a pub. The 120-cover restaurant takes up the majority of one side and the Public Bar has hints of being a squashed afterthought. Unless you’re willing to eat, you’ll be standing in the pub with a Camden Lager/Pale Ale for company. The list of beers is too short. And that feels like another slight against the pub side of the business.

In the basement is the Dive Bar – and we won’t comment on the contrived name; oops – where you’ll find yet more stylish touches. This is the place to enjoy one of The Ape and Bird’s cocktails, which come in at a reasonable £8 a go. Sample an Old Fashioned, Americano or Manhattan in the comfort of a curved ‘Goodfellas booth’ and you’ll forget all about that poor, cramped pub above you.

If you do wish to eat in the bar then sausage rolls, pork pies and cheeseburgers are available. The restaurant is all about elevated pub classics, which means mutton mince and dumplings, Cumberland sausage and mash, whole chickens to share and Rib-eye steak and béarnaise.

The Ape and Bird is a mammoth venue and parts of its three-way split don’t do quite enough to convince. While there is a lot to like about the venue, when we want more than a pub we’d be more inclined to head for the Polpo Campari Bar.

The Ape & Bird

The Ape & Bird Picture Gallery

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