My 2 Pints
What the good God Christ was I doing in Shoreditch? It’s not far from my house, really, but what it’s also not is a Me sort of place. It’s very close to Brick Lane which is like a hive of everything I stand against. Musos, artistes and other scenester types litter the streets and bars and cafés and the Eat. place too... and they also frequent Cargo in Shoreditch which is where I was recently.
Despite the irritating clientele, Cargo is actually really nice. Inside looks quite small but it opens out round the corner and turns into this pretty sizeable club/bar area. Outside there’s a fenced off seating area [sadly near an artist collective commune and small warehouse gallery] which gets the sun in a big way but also has coverage enough so you don’t burn should you be ginger, Irish or James Wormald. The beers on offer come in bottles but that doesn’t make it massively expensive, however if you order a coke you are just getting half a can [poured directly from the can in front of you no less] for a mere triple of the cost. My advice is get beer, and the choice is pretty swank. Innis & Gunn bitter, some form of posh pear cider and a few other imported lagers are the order inside and they’ve got a deal on food before 3pm where you can get certain menu items for a fiver. I had the Cajun Blackened Fish and Chips, and they don’t screw you over on the portions neither.
We also returned to the venue at night to get a full feel for the place, and despite it getting pretty busy the queue for the main bar was no more than a few minutes thanks to them bringing in more staff for the evening [something a lot of places don’t seem to realise is a good idea] and they whacked some heaters on in the decking area to keep everyone toastie. Very thoughtful. Food carries to a certain extent into the dark hours and we ordered the Nachos which, even between 3 of us, we couldn’t finish.
All told I liked Cargo and I’d definitely go back there if I was in the area. I love Innis & Gunn bitter and it’s a bitch to get outside of Supermarkets, so Cargo gets a point right there. Good and reasonably cheap food, staff were friendly enough and plentiful for the busy times keeping queuing to a minimum.
The atmosphere is a friendly type of boisterous at night and muted relaxation by day, food is cheap if you get there at the right time and they serve it until pretty late. If you don’t mind being surrounded by arty types you should have a good time here.
BEER SELECTION: Not very extensive, but what they do have makes up for it. ***
COST OF A ROUND: Three Drinks came to around a tenner. ***
STAFF: They get the job done and there’s plenty of them to cover the crowd. ***
FOOD: Exciting and different food, decently priced and not skimped out on portions. ***
SKIRT RATIO: Pretty extensive but they’re a niche group. If you favour the undercut and the skinny jean, you’re probably in. ***
Overall: ***
I feel like I should score it higher because I had a good time, but I feel I should be objective despite them having one of my favourite beers in there. The coke from a can thing knocks them down a notch too. I mean, they could at least hide it from you when you decant the stuff into a glass somehow multiplying the price.
Cargo - Shoreditch - Brought to you by Gazz Wood -