East End edges on

Dispatches from the style-bar circuit are not exactly commonplace in the East End. Its indigenous people, it seems, have steadfastly resisted all that namby-pamby nonsense, opting instead for the good old-fashioned boozer as a riposte to progress. And nothing wrong with that.

But in a world where the only constant is change, even East End folk must accept that progress will eventually catch up with them. And so it is that a former railway station is signalling the arrival of the modern genre of style bar, and more than a million East End pounds have been spent on transforming this charming-looking railway station into a hospitality space for today.

The cavernous, double-height, industrial-style ground floor divides The Former Railway Station, Amhurst Road, E8 (020-8986 5111) neatly into a welcoming lounge bar on the one side, and an elegant-looking restaurant area with formal seating on the other side. The lounge is equipped with lots of squashy sofas, and an optimistically large standing space alongside the service area.

It was devoid of atmosphere (and people) on my first visit - a blustery Tuesday evening towards the end of January, so I returned again later in the week to find that it was almost the pumping heart of Hackney. The restaurant area was only half full, but the bar was buzzing with young, street-trendy urbanites enjoying the relatively relaxed atmosphere.

You'll find no surprises on the beer front, just the usual range of mundane draught lagers (Carling and Grolsch - £2.70 and £2.80) and bottles of Coors Light (£2.40) and Corona (£2.80). They also sell alcopops, which no self-respecting cocktail operation should have within a country mile of their bar. Alcopops are for bars that can't make cocktails, and located somewhere horrible such as Northampton.

And the cocktails aren't half bad at Hackney Central. The list is split into 'short and strong', 'classics' and 'stylish and long'. My Caipirhina (£5.75) was as good as I've had in the East End, and a Bloody Mary (£5.95) was well spiced and nicely done.

I didn't try anything from the 'stylish and long' list as the drinks were called Sex On The Beach and Screaming Orgasm - Northampton cocktails. A range of shooters is also offered at £2.50 a throw.

The lunch menu includes a roasted red pepper stuffed with spiced couscous, pine nuts and halloumi cheese (£5), and a particularly impressive range of salads and sandwiches (from £4.50). The dinner menu includes a rack of lamb (£10.99), rib-eye steak (£11.99) and Thai fishcakes (£8.99).

Upstairs is a 360-capacity music venue that will be a really useful addition to Hackney. There's live music on Wednesdays, Asian underground sounds on Thursdays, deep house on Fridays, a musical maelstrom on Saturdays and drum'n'bass on Sundays. I did pop my head in one Friday night, but there were far too many men (two) wearing Colonel Gadaffi-style porn-star sunglasses. I made my excuses and left.

This venue is a very good effort, if something of a quixotic affair, and I hope that the people of Hackney will warm to the place. The next time I'm travelling on the overground railway out to East London, I might even break my journey at Hackney Central.

Hackney Central
Amhurst Road, E8 1LL