East London Liquor Company — Local services in London

East London Liquor Company is an independent distillery in East London (unsurprisingly!) producing and importing a range of spirits including gin, vodka, rum and whisky. They sell their spirits at the bar as well as in Borough Wines, Fortnum and Masons, Harvey Nichols and many more retailers in the UK and around the world.

It is much bigger than we expected with a gorgeous archway entrance adorned with flowers and fairy lights. There is a garden area for those sunny days, a restaurant area (which you can hire privately) and a bar/restaurant area. With a warehouse vibe with exposed brickwork, it is a great place to chill out and enjoy some great food and drink.

It was great to see the bar and restaurant at ELLC work so closely together by combining the spirits with the food. After all, it is not that often you get to take advantage of your own distillery in East London! There was a real sense of the guys at ELLC working as a team and sharing ideas and creations, which we thought was great.

First up we tried their twist on a Negroni (£9) with Negroni Pickles (£3) and the Homemade Bread, Olive Oil, Balsamic (£3) and the Full Amontillado ELLC Vodka, Banana Liqueur, Roobios Tea, Tonic Water (£8). This was a great start to the evening with two fairly dry cocktails paired with some salty delights. The foccacia was absolutely AMAZING – so light, salty and moreish!

The small plates have an Italian food focus, with a stone oven and array of seasonal sharing plates. ELLC works with a range of producers to source the freshest & highest-quality ingredients from across the UK and Italy. Headed up by Chef Ewelina who has years of experience, including having worked with Jason Atherton, the menu has been well thought through and executed.

The plates come out as they are ready so you can enjoy each one warm and chat in between. Between us we had:

Bagna Cauda & Artichoke Hearts: anchovies, yellow pepper, chervil, smoked paprika olive oil (£8) Tuscan Macancini: Gorgonzola, Grana Padano & Fontina cheeses, panko crumb, truffle oil (£5) Burrata: ELLC Demerara rum & red wine & tomato marmalade, pesto (£9) Baked Tomino Del Boscaiolo Cheese: Speck, hazelnuts, smoked paprika, fig, fennel flatbread (£9) Salmon & Sorrel: Fillet of salmon, sorrel sauce, romanseco, dill oil (£12) Pork & Polenta: Slow-cooked pork neck steak, marinated with ELLC Batch №2 gin botanicals, polenta purée, pickled shallots ELLC gin jus (£13)

We were genuinely impressed by all of the dishes. Our must orders are the Tuscan Macancini – their take on a mac and cheese arancini. Lighted coated with panko crumb, they were filled with delicious oozing cheese (3 kinds!).

The Burrata was one of the best that we have tasted. The tomato marmalade and pesto worked so well and added an extra punch to the dish. Lastly, the speck with the Baked Tomino Cheese was so flavoursome and we loved dipping the flatbread into the melted cheese.

As to the drinks, ELLC is trying to bring looked over classics back to life by making them longer and adding their own twist. We loved their Cosmo (served long of course) with the addition of cider. It was fresh and fruity without being too sweet – perfect for me. We also tried the No Riesling to Complain ELLC Batch № 1 Gin, Riesling Liqueur, Orange, Cider Short/ Fragrant/ Fresh (£9)

We only just about had room for dessert after that feast! We had the Creme Caramel, ELLC Rum Glaze (£8) which was smooth but a little too boozy for me! The raspberry ice cream served with a biscuit was spot on – it was fresh and SO fruity. Great if you want something sweet but not too heavy.

What a great place! We should have visited sooner and can’t wait to return. The drinks and food exceeded our expectations and Ewelina and the Manager, Kyle, were so passionate and knowledgeable about ELLC, the heritage and origins of the products and were just...

We met some of their friendly and knowledgeable representatives at a tasting session at our local pub.

The gin was tasty (especially their #1 and house gins) and their reps talked about their bar, reassuring us that it was a dog friendly venue.

We'd been past a few times so thought we'd drop in with our two dogs.

We were greeted by a friendly waitress and invited to share a table.

Just as we sat down, a waiter came in, scowled at the dogs and asked us to move to the central island so that the dogs wouldn't be in the way.

Fair enough. We immediately obliged and were tying them up at the central island when within seconds the waiter returned and again quite rudely and unnecessarily insisted we tie them up to keep them out of the way.

We were disappointed that it was not as dog friendly as advertised and thought the waiter was needlessly belligerent. We left to find another pub which was much more welcoming.

We didn't get any drinks at the East London Liquor Company but I'm giving 2* because it was a nice looking venue, the waitress was friendly, and we'd enjoyed their gin.

If anyone at the company is reading this, please have a word with that waiter! Some of the other reviews on here mention a rude waiter too and I suspect it's...

We came for a whisky tour and lunch. Waiting in the bar was a great start, a lovely bright space with a huge window through to the distillery making it feel very special straight away. We were given an Old Fashioned while we waited for the tour to start which was delicious.

The tour was great fun and very informative. The distillery were completely transparent about every step of their process. The tour guide Jess was knowledgeable, passionate and humorous. We ended with a fascinating tasting of a rum and five delicious whiskys from Ireland (Green Spot), Japan (Nikka Coffey Malt), America (Sonoma Bourbon & Rye) and a Scotch Islay.

After the tour we went back to the bar and had a pizza with two sides. The portions weren't huge but the price was fine and the food was delicious. We also checked out the bottle shop which is well stocked and interesting but you can find most of their selection cheaper elsewhere.

Bar, tour and food all highly...