It’s a Shore thing
As temperatures rise this summer, JANE HAASE suggests you beat the heat with a cool UK city break
COVID international travel restrictions mean many of us will be looking to holiday in the UK this year.
If a city break is on your to do list there’s never been a better time to visit London. A lack of foreign tourists means the capital is much quieter for domestic visitors to explore.
And if you have exhausted the usual popular locations like Covent Garden and Leicester Square, Shoreditch in the East End is worth a trip.
Our family of four, including James, 17, and Nina, 15, made it a stop-off during the recent half-term. And while the glorious weather meant the temperature was hot, Shoreditch is achingly cool. Galleries, independent boutiques and vintage clothing shops jostle for attention amongst trendy cafés and restaurants. A pop-up shop near our hotel was selling just sequinned outfits – fabulous dahling
Shopping is one pastime we all enjoy, and while Nina rummaged in vintage shops like ATIKA, which has two floors of the sort of stuff your granny used to wear but now goes for treble the price; hubby Ian and James scouted for statement trainers and T-shirts.
Straddling Shoreditch and Whitechapel, is Brick Lane – famous for its cool shops, markets and curry houses. After browsing there we headed to Old Spitalfields Market, a site where traders have been plying their wares for more than 350 years.
As well as independent stall-holders and a weekly antiques market, there are plenty of high end shops like swimwear brand Orlebar Brown, Whistles, fragrance specialist Diptyque and beauty brand Deciem. It’s also the ideal spot to grab a drink and bite to eat with its food stalls and hipster coffee bars.
As you pound the pavements, look up at the myriad bright and bold murals on building site hoardings, brick walls and shop shutters which transform the streets into an everchanging urban art exhibition. There’s even a Bansky to keep an eye out for.
They provided great backdrops for the teens’ Instagram posts.
Fitting well into this laidback neighbourhood is the four-star Hart Shoreditch Hotel London, the base for our stay. Part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, these hotels have more of a boutique feel and are designed to reflect their surroundings.
Hart Shoreditch draws heavily on the area’s rich industrial heritage with lots of wood, copper and an impressive wrought iron spiral staircase to create a cool and stylish hotel.
Its 126 smart rooms carry on this theme with woven rugs on herringbone flooring, light bulbs suspended on leather straps and brass fittings.
Perfect for families, our king deluxe room had an interconnecting door to a twin bed room. Both were spacious and spotlessly clean, with handy plug sockets and USB points either side of super comfy beds. I loved the glamorous bathroom with its large marble shower and geometric tiled walls.
Following a drink in the relaxed Tavla bar which has a DJ booth ready and waiting for when life gets back to normal, dinner was in the light and airy Barboun restaurant.
The name means red mullet in Turkish, reflecting the East Mediterranean food it serves. Our starters of red mullet; talagani cheese with fig, drizzled with wildflower honey; squid with coriander mayo, and soft shell crab were all light and delicious.
Highlights of our mains included the flame-grilled baby chicken on a bed of charred corn; and a short rib of beef smothered in a rich Turkish iskender sauce, all washed down with an aromatic Turkish sauvignon blanc. Expect to pay from £6 for starters, from £21 for mains and £8 for pudding.
Breakfast the next morning was also in Barboun, with plenty of options, from poached eggs on sourdough (natch) to a full English and speciality dishes like Turkish eggs.
It might have been a fleeting visit, but with its mix of shopping, fabulous art and cool location, we certainly left our Hart in Shoreditch.