Trend is a double edged sword, and a sharp one at that. It takes a very special eye to avoid the jaded edge on the wrong end. It is into a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ world that Discount Suit Company (DSC) was born and it is the highest praise that we can give is that they have come of age utterly unscathed. To open a subterranean bar within a stones-throw of Shoreditch is a perilous task. The saturation of the area has caused a kind of post-post-modern backlash to the word ‘speakeasy’ and just about everyone is confused. Luckily DSC force you to check your hang-ups, preconceptions and confusion at the door. Because, while this bar is bang on trend, and it is, it is also just a damned good bar. It is a rare treat to be able to wax lyrical about a bar without providing a price caveat but DSC is incredibly affordable (£7.50 across the cocktail board). They have a red, a white, a Prosecco, two beers and an unparalleled collection of northern soul records flowing out of the speakers. The single room bar has been repurposed from a tailor’s store room. The ceilings are low with exposed beams having had the suspended ceiling ripped clean. The abundance of wood on show somehow leaves a nautical impression. And there is something of the Pirate Tavern about the entire experience, there’s mischief in the air, a rare sense of ‘anything can happen’ for a bar straddling the border of the square mile. This is accentuated by the presence of the owners who move around the bar meeting and greeting their guests grinning from ear to ear. And that’s where the mystery ends. It is downright impossible for a bar to fall victim to the jaded edge of trend when the proprietors are having this good of a time.

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