Fontaine's - bar review

Vintage glamour comes to Dalston with this new Art Deco cocktail lounge, says Reenat Sinay
On the menu: martini at Fontaine's
Reenat Sinay12 February 2015

What they say: Fontaine’s is an art deco bar designed to look like a Forties lounge. The concept – created by burlesque and cabaret performer Emerald Fontaine – brings back Golden Era standards of service and original cocktail recipes from back in the day.

What we say: Stepping from Stoke Newington Road into Fontaine’s is like stepping back in time – but with a tropical twist. The upstairs lounge is relaxed and elegant with deep blue walls and plush white art deco armchairs that sit low to the ground, while palm trees and waitresses with flowers in their hair complete the Forties South Pacific vibe. Despite the vintage glamour, the atmosphere is friendly and cosy, not at all intimidating. The bar was buzzing on a Saturday night, but we were immediately seated and served refreshing cucumber water before ordering reasonably priced cocktails (£9-£11).

Order: The drinks menu is impressive with classic cocktails like the Manhattan, the Clover Club, or the original Thirties Cosmopolitan made with gin. Try the Aviation – a delicious bittersweet concoction of gin, lemon and violet syrup – or keep with the tropical theme with a rum cocktail in the Bamboo Lounge downstairs. There is also a food menu with deep fried ravioli, smoked salmon blinis, and chocolate popping candy.

Good for: Dates or small groups of friends – each table has enough seating for four or more. The low lights and old jazz playing softly in the background turn it into a sultry night right out of Casablanca.

By the way: Aside from cocktails and canapés, Fontaine’s has an entire calendar of vintage-inspired events in store for 2015, including cabaret, film nights and the Vintage Mafia’s Ric Rac Club.

Find it: 176 Stoke Newington Road, N16 7UY; fontaines.bar

Latest bar reviews

1/80

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in