Pie, mash and liquor focus at new Draft House site
The menu at the Draft House Birdcage on Columbia Road in Bethnal Green will feature hand-crafted pies, "fully encased with short-crust pastry". Fillings will include steak & ale, steak & kidney, chicken leek & ham and spinach and sweet potato & goat’s cheese (all £6.90). All will be served with mushy marrowfat peas, liquor or onion gravy and scoops of buttery mash (£1 each).
The site is set to open November 30.
The company’s managing director Charlie McVeigh said: “We wanted a menu that was appropriate to the local area. The pub has a very small kitchenette so we didn’t want to do our full menu – we wanted to do something that we could do great in the space that we have.”
He added: “The pub was quiet most nights, only getting busy on Friday and Saturday nights when the karaoke that it was best known for took place. At Colombia Road flower market there are some fantastic buskers so we are planning on inviting them into the pub to perform on Friday and Saturday nights. They will be able to pass a hat around and lead a sing-along too.”
The drinks offer will take influence from Draft House’s recent Bump Caves site. Optics cocktails will be on offer, created by Max Chater of Bump Caves. They will be dispensed from traditional 3-litre pub optics bottles and will include the Manhattan, BUMP Martini and BUMP Hi-Bye (all at £5.90). There will also be a strong focus on craft beer on draft and in bottle, many from local breweries and from the USA, Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic.
The Birdcage Public House is a famed East End building, gaining notoriety in the 19th century body snatching trials.
