Congo's rumble in our urban jungle

Here I am sitting in a cobbled courtyard at a red plastic table advertising Primus beer — the brand of choice in the Congo — and wondering if I’m in the coolest venue London has ever known. This is The Double Club, THE must-visit venue of this winter, funded by fashion house Prada and designed by installation artist Carsten Höller, famous for his slides at Tate Modern.

And, if that wasn’t cool enough, it’s musically curated by Richard Mortimer, club promoter to the hip and famous. A host of fashion names turned out for its opening late last year, including Miuccia Prada herself, Giorgio Armani, Ozwald Boateng, Alexander McQueen and Sting’s daughter Coco Sumner. Last week Lily Allen visited with designer Giles Deacon. Lily’s brother Alfie and his girlfriend Jaime Winstone have passed through the doors, as have Guy Ritchie and Sharleen Spiteri, too.

The nightclub-cum-restaurant-cum-art installation, housed in a Victorian warehouse in a mews behind Angel Tube, is part western and part Congolese (hence the name, Double). Playing a mix of upbeat African music from the Congo and western dance beats, it often hosts live bands.
Half is designed like an urban western venue, half is done Congo-style. Originally a pop-up club, its popularity has spread through word of mouth. It was going to close in May, but its success means it will now stay open until the summer.

It’s loved so much because it caters for such a diverse audience, plus it’s free to get in. Fashionistas love the Andy Warhol paintings on the walls and kitsch plastic palm trees and glitterballs in the disco room. Club kids can’t get enough of the brilliant line-up of DJs playing until 4am. The after-work crew love the chic ­restaurant and inexpensive bar and there is live Congolese music for the alternative crowd.

The Congo-style side of the bar is a sort of shack, with a timber frame imported from Kinshasa and a corrugated iron roof. Ordering drinks takes me back to nights out on my gap year, even if the beers here are rather more expensive. The down-to-earth attitude extends to the staff, who are mostly Congolese and so friendly, you want them all to join you for a drink.

The other side of the bar is a different story, with its sleek copper frame and neon lights. Half the profits here go to charities City Of Joy and Unicef, so I’m happy to pay £7.50 for a cocktail or £7 for a beer.

Within a tiled mural in the courtyard, which has a glass ceiling to keep in the warmth, is a two-way mirror revealing the disco with the revolving dancefloor next door. On the other side windows look into the restaurant, which makes it feel even more like being on a Kinshasa street. The restaurant, with its geometric floor tiles and stylish chairs, is pretty smart and, you guessed it, they serve a part-Congolese, part-western menu.

So you can have quite tame dishes like pan-roasted duck breast (£19) and apple tarte tartin (£6.50), or be more adventurous with the mayayabu (salt fish), fumbwa (yam leaves) and liboke na mbisis (catfish). My three girlfriends and I have booked a table, but we could have just as easily ordered some goat brochettes from the barbecue at the bar. After a bottle of wine, some goat stew (£10), fried plantain (£3) and salt fish (£8.50), we head over to the dancefloor. By this time it’s about 11pm.

Manager of Ed Banger records, Busy P, is er, busy, spinning discs in the middle of the room on a raised platform. He is surrounded by girls sporting red lipstick and jaunty haircuts. They’re young and super-cool, and we join them on the dancefloor. We boogie away, though, frankly, everyone’s posing more than dancing.

Back in the courtyard for more drinks we meet
Khaleed, a Canadian fashion writer who’s here to get ideas. He found the club when it was being built and one of the managers told him about the pop-up concept. "It’s rare to find a sophisticated crowd in this city who also know how to let loose and check in their inhibitions and egos with their coats," he says, adding it reminds him of clubs he’s been to in Africa.

At the back of the courtyard a door leads to the roof, making it perfect for the smokers. A French girl’s making friends with everyone and giving out rollies to all. The friendly atmosphere of the Congo has definitely infiltrated this corner of Islington.