Name: Cantaloupe
Address: 35-42 Charlotte Road, London, The City, EC2A 3PD, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7729 5566

I have to say that venturing into Shoreditch after dark was an experience for me. True, in the long distance past I had visited one or two of the night clubs in Curtain Street but my memory of those occasions are pretty blurred. Anyway, I discovered that this is where all the happy, (relatively) young people now hang out. There were loads of bars and restaurants which were easy to spot as each had an impressive crowd of ordinary Londoners spilling out good naturedly onto the pavements outside. I even spotted a young, black Pearly King amongst the throng. There was a band playing in the street and it was like being on holiday - and on a Thursday night in the City.

Anyway. Cantaloupe was apparently one of the first establishments in the area – and judging by the décor it’s pioneer status shows. We are talking warm and worn-in rather than scruffy. And comfortably confident coffee-shop rather than spit and saw dust. Dark wood floors with brick and blood red walls. And a smattering of plants and tasteful, but not in your face, flowers (the odd jolly gerbera). It all adds up to warm, friendly and inviting. No wonder people settle in for the evening…

The bar and music

You enter into the bar area – with a large, get-served-quick bar to the right. Wine selections chalked on the walls. On one side there are some nice high (and thin – so easy to talk to your mates on the other side) bench tables with stools around them – ideal for easy chatting over the music. Thursdays through Sundays there are DJs playing – some old and familiar (old soul) and others new and, as yet, undiscovered (electronic dance, Brazilian). On the other side are well spaced out sizeable sofas organised in ways to accommodate small and large groups. Maybe it was summer in the City but I was amazed that despite being busy and buzzy there were one or two free sofas – and at 9pm in the evening. What a bonus for those wearing high heels!

As you move through to more bar area – this place is huge (with a table football snuck in the corner – unattended and lonely when we were there) and the restaurant at the back you pass a large enclosed on three sides space with more sofas that would easily accommodate a group of 15-20 – and signs on the walls encourage you to “reserve an area”. And I will be doing so next time I want to organise a group outing in the area.

There is an extensive bar menu with tapas, vegetarian, meat, fish dishes – all very reasonably priced between £2 and £5.95 and there are also salad (£4-£7.50), platter (£7.50- £21), burger (around £6) and dessert options.

The restaurant

It was tricky to find the restaurant desk – but it’s right in front of the large open hatchway to the kitchen (always a good sign as it means they have nothing to hide!). We were greeted warmly and led to a table for two, whilst there were plenty of open banquette booths that would take from two to six. Nice muted photo montages on the walls with character portraits and street scenes from South America. You could spy a plasma screen in the bar area from the restaurant (which was in a slightly raised area) – but nothing was playing on them when we were there. It was an even mix of couples (including one gay female couple happily canoodling) and small groups, and a larger group of young (male) office workers in suits. But not the brash, braying City types. Whilst there were probably more young (20s-30s) casually dressed people there were most age ranges and social groups represented. How nice to be in such mixed company!

We started with perfect mojitos (£7 each - I am becoming an expert at these now and have made and drunk enough of them to know what’s good and what’s not). There was some confusion over the menus as they had apparently just changed. For starters I had shredded roast chicken burrito (£5.50) which arrived with a sour cream like dip and I was surprised that it wasn’t spicy. My colleague had made a better choice with the beetroot and goat’s cheese salad with orange and balsamic dressing (also £5.50) – it was a huge portion, the beetroot was really fresh and the goat’s cheese light and creamy. Other options included chicken livers, taco chicken salad, king prawns and Greek salad (a bit of a surprise in a South American restaurant).

For mains I opted for the chargrilled peri-peri poussan with fries (£12.50) and was presented with two halves of a beautifully cooked bird – lightly seasoned (not Nandos hot) and moist. My colleague had again made the better selection with chargrilled tuna and substituted the advertised baked new potato and onion salad with sweet potato fries (£12.50). Excellent choice as even though the tuna steak was not “rare” as requested it was moist and flavoursome. We were too full for desserts but sorely tempted by Peruvian dark chocolate mousse with pistachio ice-cream (someone please try this and let me know if it is as delicious as it sounds!).

I wanted to mention a visit to the loos. These were down an interesting industrial spiral staircase and passed doors that said rather cutely “Nothing interesting in here” and on your return journey other doors said “Neither in here” – it was a nice touch and the gentle, self-effacing humour kind of summed up the place. And what a disconcerting surprise that I surfaced from the underground facilities in a different place from where I descended – so glad I hadn’t had much to drink at that point!

We didn’t sample the wines but the list offered a reasonable selection from a Chilean Merlot at £15, a couple of Spanish rose/rosados (£17 and £22), six reds (£13.50 to £26) and some “spicy, complex and savoury” including Riojas (£20 and £36) and an interesting Castillo de requena tinto, Uitiel requena at just £15.

My only grumble – whilst the background music was properly background, the ambient noise (and not as a result of any raucous behaviour but probably the sparse, high ceilings) got quite loud which made it a little difficult to talk. Unless, of course, you got up real close and personal to your companions (like the gay couple). But if you are looking for buzz and a really sociable venue, you would be hard pressed to find better.

Cantaloupe

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