The Macbeth has been open on Hoxton Street for more than 100 years. It began – with an attached distillery – as The White Hart public house in the mid 1800s and became The Macbeth in 1978. The name was inspired by the mural running along the side wall of the bar: a scene from act III, scene four of Shakespeare’s Macbeth hand-painted on glazed ceramic tiles.
Over the past century, The Macbeth has been both an old-school boozer and a live music venue hosting gigs by The xx, Florence & the Machine, Roots Manuva and Franz Ferdinand. Blake Fielder-Civil (husband of the late Amy Winehouse) famously once assaulted a previous landlord. Now, a new incarnation has seen The Macbeth return to its public house roots with a fresh lick of paint and a brand-new food focus, thanks to Jamie Allan, who co-founded Four Legs and was chef-patron at The Plimsoll, and his collaborator, Patrick Nolan, who will be heading up the front of house and worked with Allan at The Plimsoll.
“These iconic pubs in London are hard to come by – so, when they do come up, you have to jump at the chance,” Allan tells Broadsheet. Allan brings his experience from cooking pub-friendly food at Four Legs at The Compton Arms and The Plimsoll, and shifts his lens here to a menu inspired by the tascas of Portugal. Similar to a Portuguese bistro, a tasca is a casual eatery where you can watch the Primeira Liga with a cold bottle of Sagres in one hand and a pastéis de bacalhau in the other. Beer snacks on The Macbeth’s menu, such as morcela fina (blood sausage), chicken samosas and pork bifanas, emulate that laidback feel.
As for larger plates, there’s plenty of fresh seafood as well as cockles with garlic and coriander, a showstopping snail rice and a selection of roasted meats, cooked piri-piri style. “Lots of garlic. Lots of pork. Lots of potatoes,” says Allan. Alongside Sagres, drinks include a house lager (which costs £4.95); wines selected by Charlie Carr of Wingnut Wines; and a selection of classic cocktails like Negronis and Margaritas.
Hoxton and its neighbouring Shoreditch have witnessed significant change over the years. “I’m from Upper Clapton, originally,” says Allan. “I used to go swimming around here at the Britannia Leisure Centre back in the day. So I know it well. About 20 years ago we used to party around these ways a lot – when Shoreditch was looser than it is now. There were fewer restaurants, more clubs.”
The Hoxton landscape has shifted from the days of pre-gentrification East End boozers to gritty live music venues to partly gentrified yet still-cool nightlife spots, and inevitably, to fully gentrified, much less-cool ones. It’s also become a hub for gastropubs along the way. It joins other pubs where you can order a pint with your small plates, including The Knave of Clubs, The Marksman and The Princess of Shoreditch.
What The Macbeth’s refurbishment has done right is retain the building’s character, by stripping it back to some of its original features. A sturdy English oak bar has been installed and the Shakespeare mural remains front and centre.
“We’re just bringing it back into an old school pub, like it would have been for most of its history,” says Allan.
The Macbeth
70 Hoxton Street, N1 6LP
Hours:
Mon to Wed 3pm–11pm
Thu 3pm–midnight
Fri 3pm–1am
Sat midday–1am
Sun midday–10pm
