Wax Jambu

It has been one of my pet gripes recently that there is nowhere left in London to go at the weekend that doesn’t involve being wedged into a tiny space fit for 200 with 300 other people, overcharged for everything that passes your lips and then probably getting into a fight over the scrap of space you have found to perch on being swiftly taken over the minute you get back from the hour and a half spent queuing for the ladies toilet. Perhaps it’s really time I stopped hitting the town and left it to those just over the age of legality who care not about having somewhere to sit and easy access to the bar. But I’m just not ready to hang up my heels just yet. Which is why I continue this quest for a weekend venue that doesn’t feel like taking part in a cage fight.

It was with a sigh of relief then that I recently discovered Wax Jambu on Upper Street in Islington. I’ve been driving past the place for some time and ignored it, writing it off as a similar establishment to it’s Upper Street neighbours, overly crowded, sour staff and ridiculous, rude punters. Then a friend of mine invited me down on a Saturday night and feeling adventurous I decided to take them up on it. Although from the outside it looks like it will be all sticky surfaces and drunken rugby boys, what I found inside was a rather nicely laid out bar playing a mix of music with a nice but not overly intense atmosphere and some of the best cocktails I’ve tasted in London.

The bar is run by a Geordie which may explain why it hasn’t conformed to becoming standard Islington fare and long may they continue to hold out against the tide of overcrowding and overcharging (twitter.com/waxjambulondon).

Wax Jambu
144-145 Upper Street
London
N1 1QY

02072267660