Talk about having your finger on the pulse of this great city’s nightlife. The cocktail I drank today at Ask for Janice had only been invented yesterday. That was the Kiwi Cooler, conceived by barman Josh. The recipe requires half a muddled kiwi, which may be enough fruit to claim it’s a health drink.
Located on Long Lane, south of Smithfield’s market you can spot Ask for Janice by the helpful message This is a bar scrawled in the window. Although to be honest you can tell it’s a bar in the usual manner – there are people inside drinking. The street art, hand-painted vibe continues inside, with a selection of original artworks on the walls, including the graffitied philosophical aphorism (or do I mean nonsensical statement) Love does not come to an end. Kid Acne has been commissioned to decorate the lower floor bar, whilst an untuned analogue TV broadcasts static amongst the bottles on the wall behind the barmen. There is a Damien Hirst print on the wall upstairs, but this is trumped by a spotty spoof on cardboard by a nine-year old girl that hangs on the stairs. The door into the toilets has a glass insert so you can peer into the ladies and see another artwork on the far wall – but this behaviour might lead to complications and I can’t recommend it.
Named after a Beastie Boys lyric that references a men’s clothing boutique in Brooklyn, Ask for Janice is stripped back and unfussy. It opens for breakfast at 7.30 and doesn’t kick you out until half past midnight on weekdays. As well as the gins and cocktails (try a Hey Ladies if you really want to see the barman work – it includes breakfast tea infused Beefeater Gin, Creme de Figue, lemon, fig jam, egg white, Prosecco and sherbet) you can also order a 1/3 of a pint beer flight, tasting speciality ales from across the country. I sampled three London brews from which the (Greenwich) Meantime Yakima red ale won out over a relatively sour Camden Hells, and the fizzier Wild River.
A glimpse of the impressive gin list. And that’s not even half of it…
Food is taken seriously, with seasonality giving changing menus throughout the year and resulting in British-sourced, fully-provenanced dishes such as Portwood Farm asparagus with Somerset ricotta and hazelnuts. But make sure you read the menu thoroughly. I must admit to having some shock as I glanced at a menu and only read the first three words of one entry – Yorkshire black badger... I had to re-read to discover the vital next two words …bean Dahl.
Head Chef Nik Prescot and his team are foragers. When I visited the menu included wild garlic flowers that they had picked themselves, deep-fried to give a crispy alternative to chips. OtheCod cheeks and ar dishes on the menu include marinated flank steaks paired with a creamy Young Buck blue cheese which adds a salty tang to the rare meat. You can finish with a Poor Knights Farringdon syrupy pudding which is historical, lightly sweet and hard to imagine anyone turning down.
Set over two floors, with a restaurant upstairs and a basement bar, Ask for Janice features the concrete-heavy, urban design and distressed decor enjoyed by cool kids. To quote one of the scrawlz on the wallz – you should probz have your party here.
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