American comfort food may be Britain’s panacea to the recession. Diners and honky tonk restaurants are turning up all over London, and now the classic college bar has opened. Inside the Earlham Street Clubhouse is a drinking den with cavernous spaces finished in exposed brick and reclaimed wood.
Vintage beer advertisements decorate booths and 90s music blares from the jukebox. As an American, I can attest to the fact that it could easily be located in State College, Pennsylvania, rather than Covent Garden.
Yellow, with its banana and pineapple flavors, is more like a spiked smoothie. The drinks are terrific, as are the bartenders for remembering the lengthy list of ingredients, and some very generous pours.
A wood-fired pizza oven serves continuous slices, each with that perfect paper-thin base, allowing them to qualify for the “New York” style description all too often applied to sub-standard slices.
Toppings are classic, like pepperoni and mushrooms, as well as exotic, with pulled pork, fennel sausage, kale, and salmon. Not sure about the salmon, but the mushrooms worked. Beyond the pizza, the Clubhouse mainstay, each month a different local street food vendor will take up residency, serving their specialty.
This month, its Anna Maes, dishing out deep cups of creamy Mac and Cheese. The rich taste of white cheddar may prevent me from ever buying another rectangular box of the stuff.
The Clubhouse is decked out with some fancy tricks — a special app lets customers make special music requests, and a vintage gas pump pours beer directly at the table. It’s a fun place to get the night started with a light bite and a heady cocktail, or finish; sure beats a kebab.
Photography by Jamie McGregor Smith
