The Convenience

Continuing my desperate search in East London for nice food with pleasant, efficient service, decently priced offerings… and good music played at a conversational volume… I was overjoyed to stumble upon this place.
As the prior review states… it’s a former toilet. That alone drew me to the place. Toilet, drinks… it just sounds inherently decadent.
My friends and I were warmly greeted by staff, and being a balmy summer evening, shown upstairs to the roof terrace. Absolutely divine. Basic décor without trying too hard to be ‘shabby chic’. Warm without being fake. Plates of food well designed and tasty minus a stupid price. My Negroni cocktail was delicious. The menu specialises in ‘medium’ sized sharing plates. Not tapas but a few dishes between people to share. The effort of choosing 7 dishes for 3 people is exhausting…4 dishes should be enough, really. My personal favourite was the squid. The mushroom dish was surprisingly full of flavour, and the ingredients on all dishes were very fresh and high quality. They offer a nice cheese selection with sourdough bread. I don’t generally eat cheese but damn it looked good.
Did I say how nice the staff were? It is a talent to be charming without being overbearing.
Weekends: Can’t wait to devour the menu on each day, and update my review. They offer a Saturday brunch and a Sunday BBQ, which apparently includes fish offerings — excellent for us pescatarians (I really hate that word but it is sufficiently descriptive) .
Thank you, I’ll be back!

I checked out The Convenience on a rainy Friday evening to see a local gig. The venue was formerly a public toilet, hence the name, and was completed refitted after a successful Kickstarter campaign by NANA’s.
You enter through the ‘Men’s’ doorway and immediately to your left left is the bar, and in the corner is where the band plays. It’s a very small venue and suits intimate gigs and stand up comedy. Upstairs there is a roof terrance with extra seating and big outdoor umbrellas — perfect for summer nights.
I liked the community vibe of the place, and it’s a great venue to see fresh untapped talent, and have a couple of beers. Also check out NANA’s during the day, where they serve homemade lunches and afternoon tea.