Usually when I tell people where I live, the response is one of horror! "Hackney Wick! why the hell would you want to live there?" Not being London born and bred I seem to have missed the stories of Hackney's past that has some how built up in people's mines that it is some sort of ghetto hell hole, where you can't walk out your door without being robbed or murdered. Ok so Hackney Wick is not the most pleasing place on the eye, but I love it and would not want to live anywhere else right now. In fact in the june 2008 issue of Time Out, Hackney Wick was featured as the place to be right now. So this post is dedicated to the wick and its delights?
OSLO HOUSE
Well where better to begin than where I live. Looking at this old converted clothing factory you might not think of this a being a place in big demand for people wanting to live, but it is! Oslo over the years as become a bit of a Hackney Wick legend with it's wild parties, creative residents and unconventional ways of living. Its actually looking a lot better these days as it had a bit of a make over last summer (only because the coucil complained about the state of it!) and the whole building was painted. Unfortunatley it was painted in Lilac and Maroon (The landlords must of got it cheap or something!) Mustn't complain though, as its quite nice not to see "Your mother is a hoe" and "Shaznay is a fat slag!" written everywhere. The building also stands out, due to the big Hackney Wick letters on the roof ( Incase you forget where you are!), which Laura from the building put up as an art piece for the first hackney wicked festival in the summer. Unfortunately as Laura herself said, she should of made it out of wood instead of plaster board as its not doing to well with the British weather and now only saids HArKNF WICY.
THE OLYMPICS
Love it or hate it! The Olympics are coming, and it just so happens they are coming from down the street from us. Ok! so it doesn't look like much at the moment. All we can see at the moment is a load of cranes and tops of diggers, all surrounded by a blue fence with idealised pictures of the Olympic village which will look nothing like the real thing, for a start its sunny on them! The area is going to change so much over the next 4 years. It already is, with buildings being knocked down at the rate of knots and news ones rising in their place. I just hope it does not change to much and looses it character and becomes another of a long list of picture perfect souless suburbs of London.
THE LORD NAPIER
Those of you in the filming industry will probably know the Napier, as its used as a a location quite a lot. The Napier is also know as the squatters pub, as yes you have guessed it is also a squat. These are not just any squatters though! These are clever squatters, not only do they make good money from renting it out to film crews, but they also have now and again a big rave up here. I saw the aftermath of the last one as I was going to work at 6.30am on a Sunday morning (Sad I know!) and saw a mass of sprawled bodies on the floor outside. Another time before that I tried to go on a Saturday night but got told I was too old as it was underage night!
VICTORIA PARK
If you cross over the bridge that it is one of the few escape routes of the A12 that surrounds the Wick, you find another world on the other side. This world is called Victoria Park (Or Vicky park as us locals call it!) It is a green peaceful haven that it is a deep contrast to the industrial landscape of the wick. Sometimes you forget that you are in the middle of Hackney when your here. Not to say its all peaceful and quiet as in the summer its home to many events including the "Love Box" festival and was the location of Radio heads concerts last year. It is by far and away my favourite park in London and it seems its quite a few other peoples as well as it was voted favourite local park in summer of 2008 by the readers of "Time Out" magazine.
VICTORIA PARK VILLAGE
This seems to be the upper class area of the neighbourhood, with its "Yummy Mummies" pushing their designer buggies around and being catered for with its ever increasing over priced boutique shops and cafes. All that said the village is not without its charms and little gems.
The first of which is Namo. With its big Vietnamese community, Hackney is the place to get the best Vietnamese in London and along with the Huong-Viet in Dalston is my favourite . Namo is a a lot more visual pleasing on the eye than Huong _Viet, with its modern if not slighty kitsch decor. It even has a tiny a tiny out door patio complete with heaters. The staff are really friendly and the prices really good that you will never pay over the odds here. I love the summer rolls and the monk fish. My mouth is just watering writing this.
NAMO: 178 Victoria Park Rd. E9 7HD TEL: 0208533 0639
Namo also has a cool Bansky on the end of the building which the council tried to deface by trying to remove the penis. Fortunately, no matter how hard they tried to remove that penis it would not go.
Other good recommendations in the village are the Lauriston which makes really good home made pizza in its stone bake oven, and has a good old duke box. I Have got pissed in there a few times thanks to the bar man feeding me free shots. The Royal Inn In The Park also does decent food and the beer garden is great but busy in the summer. Worth a mention is Elbows Cafe which does a small and simple menu, but it means they stick to what they are good at. The Ginger Pig butcher next door does the best cuts of meat around. Its expensive but worth it for a treat.
The Lauriston: 162 Victoria Park Rd E9 7JN TEL: 02089 855404
The Royal Inn In The Park: 111 Lauriston Rd E9 7JH TEL: 02089 853321
HACKNEY CENTRAL
There is much more to hackney central than just Tesco, illegal DVD sellers and drunks. Though still very much dirty round the edges (Probably in the middle as well), central has seen a huge rise in its popularity in the last couple of years as people have learnt to embrace the rough and the dirt and this is seen no where better than the Dolphin pub. The Dolphin which is a good example of a grimy local in Hackney has over the last couple of years, gathered quite a following of "Hoxton Trendies" who are migrating more east in their search to live like the "Common people!" To be fair the dolphin is not the best place to be sober in, as you walk in and are scared by the last of the true locals, the dirt of a pub that has not been cleaned in a century and the smell being omitted from the toilets. Once under the influence though, one can feel right at home here having their little working class dirt fix. Waring though, don't lean over the fence in the pub garden as I got bit by the pub German Shephard and spent the rest of the night in Homerton Hospital in a drunken haze.
THE DOLPHIN: 165 Mare St Hackney TEL: 0208985 3727
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST....
Is the Palm Tree Pub. One of the last true East end pubs. Set back from the road and along Regents Canal, going to this pub is like stepping back in time. The decor is so tacky and bad taste it becomes cool and the owners and the bar maids are all quite glum and sour faced like there on the set on Eastenders or something. The toilets are tiny and half way through the night a bunch of Chaz and Dave type geriatrics come on the tiny stage in cheap suits and start playing jazz. Maybe not everyones idea of heaven but I had a good time. The only let down are the drink prices that are not so old East End! Maybe they are saving up for a new till as the one they have now looks like its from the turn of the century.
THE PALM TREE: Haverfield Rd Mile End E3 5BH
