Stories (permanently closed)

Address: 30-32 Broadway Market, London, E8 4QJ, United Kingdom

Door: Open door/walk-ins
Style: Cocktail bar
Food: Bar Snacks

Stories is conceptually similar to sister site The Book Club in Shoreditch, combining a relaxed all-day venue with a carefully curated list of events, activities, talks and art installations. The idea is that it's an intellectually stimulating location where local creatives can meet, socialise and network - indeed all speakers and artists featured are locally sourced from hip Hackney. Its addition to Broadway Market adds to the area's credentials as one of the capital's up-and-coming neighbourhoods.

While the outside still bears the familiar ceramic tiles of the old boozer that once stood here, the inside is now strikingly contemporary, with bare brick, polished concrete and arty lighting. Angular furniture in primary colours sits against large sharing benches while padded wall-hangings provide a bit of comfort.

A list of original cocktails takes forward the stories theme, with names like Shaggy Dog, Cock n Bull, Sob and Likely, and they're not afraid of flavour, with more brown than white base spirits and shorter serves than long, but plenty of freshly muddled fruit in all. Best of all, out here in Hackney the prices are like taking a step back in time for anyone used to the £12+ average price of cocktails in central London, with the most expensive at £7.80. A small selection of trendy beers and a small selection of wines is also available.