A red beacon at the top of Brick Lane, Casa Blue is a colourful and exotic delight that emits warmth and merriment; so much so that the windows are often steamed up. This all adds to the mysterious air, which is only pinpricked by the fairy lights hanging outside.
The Venue
Walking into the blue house, a blast of heat and chatter hits you in a similar way that humidity envelopes you when stepping off an air-conditioned plane into a hot country. Casa Blue can feel a bit like finding a bar in South-America; if the heat was from the stuffy weather, not just from the copious amount of bodies packed inside. With knick-knacks jumbled amongst the bottles; the walls are hidden by posters and carpets, from the ceiling hang decorated paper lamps and colourful umbrellas, it really is an Aladdin’s cave in the heart of Shoreditch.
Fairy lights in the window guide you to the London cocktail bar haven that is Casa Blue.
The Clientele and Atmosphere
Casa Blue is a great hang out for a young, mixed crowd; with it being at the Bethnal Green end of Brick Lane, students and young professionals all flock here, especially towards the end of the week when DJs get the crowd ready for their weekend. The jumble of random chairs, stools and benches gather around coffee tables and such is the popularity of the place that often a group will find themselves sharing with a couple. This does nothing to dampen the spirit of either party, in fact the opposite occurs as straws tangle up and many small groups chat and laugh together.
Casa Blue is an Aladdin's cave, rugs, posters and lights cover the walls.
The Food and Drinks
What Casa Blue is really famous for is its ridiculously large sharing cocktails, which are served hedgehog-like from the amount of straws sticking out from the incomprehensively deep fishbowl. These are not your normal sharing cocktails - which are usually gone before you can name all the ingredients; these are Casa Blue sharer cocktails, built big enough for 4 to share comfortably. They are quite honestly never-ending and definitely a challenge for any group brave enough to try! I recommend Bethany’s Elbow, which despite the vast amounts of liquid never got too sickly, or any less tasty.
With food being served till 11pm Casa Blue is the perfect place for a late night snack to make sure you can soak up the extravagant amounts of alcohol from the huge fishbowls. We ordered a sharing platter and what arrived was more like a feast of mini bites; offering bowl upon bowl of tiny burgers, sausages, prawns and dip - well worth trying!
The cocktail fishbowls at Casa Blue are not for the faint hearted.
Summary
A laid back, yet upbeat night awaits you at Casa Blue; this is the ideal Brick Lane spot for a relaxed and fun date night, or to get the party started in cocktail heaven. The sociable atmosphere is faultless as you immediately feel at home. As the saying goes, my casa es su casa, and I think you’ll like this one!
