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VERSION:2.1
N:Marie Lloyd Bar
FN:Marie Lloyd Bar
TEL;WORK;VOICE:020 8510 4500
ADR;WORK:;;Hackney Empire, 289 Mare Street;E8 1EJ
URL:
NOTE:Aah Hackney. Beloved of Guardian journalists, who live in its posh, white southern part and boast endlessly about its 'multiculturalism' (i.e. all the other bits, which they never dare visit). The Marie Lloyd Bar is a case in point. Built on the ruins of the grubby but fun 'Samuel Pepys', and incorporated into the recently-enlarged Hackney Empire, it presses all the right buttons - retro 80s feel, mezzanine, Tracy Emin art, a nod and a wink to the Empire's dancehall past - for an exclusive white crowd that desperately wants to feel inclusive. The very things that attract them seem to put Hackney's other residents off, who always seem to give it a quick, curious look but then walk on by. It does what it does fairly well (although, when in a pub, I want CRISPS, not olives) and the rosta of DJ nights and live music events seem to please its adopted crowd, but I can't help feeling that its cultural and racial exclusivity is both a sad indication of the way this city is heading and something of a blown opportunity by those in charge of the design. Does food.
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