No one goes out in Hoxton Square anymore, right? Exactly what I thought. That was until I found myself sipping rose-scented cocktails on the roof terrace at this glorious (semi-permanent) pop-up. The team behind Dalston’s Dead Dolls’ Club have transformed this old garment workshop (slated for demolition to make way for a Zaha Hadid project in a year or so’s time) into a laid-back, and refreshingly egalitarian, three-storey members’ bar that feels like a step back in time to the Hoxton of old.

Think candlelight, cocktails, hand-illustrated walls, bartenders with smiles and not a banker in sight. You don’t need to be a member to book a table for dinner (catered by a different London pop-up restaurant each week) but with a vetting process that values attitude over job titles, and outdoor expansion plans already underway for next spring, it’d be foolish not to join up. Which brings us to my favourite part. The Dolls’ House eschews membership fees in favour of a friendly policy that simply asks you to bring along a gift for the gentleman or lady of the house; choose from a list that includes freshly cut lilies, a fine china dog for the parlour, or a cut glass decanter for the ballroom.

Images by Paul Rowland