Gay Camberwell

Friday night in Camberwell had all the elements of glamour: a secret piano bar, theatre, exotic food… And, as is always the case with our fine neighbourhood, Camberwell delivered.

First stop, with our friends from the far off land of Borough, was the Blue Elephant Theatre. Hidden down a sidestreet, this isn’t a Camberwell venue one just happens upon, but as you draw closer, the cool Blue Elephant-themed streetlights draw you into this little theatre staffed by friendly, cheery people. Climb the staircase for admission into an extremely sweet little bar, grand piano in one corner (albeit covered up last night), eclectic photos exhibited on the walls, a spectacular origami lightshade, and little wooden tables that feel they ought to be crammed with people but were sadly quite empty last night. It is a shame that this bar is not more known. It’s only open when there are performances, but in fact the Blue Elephant has quite a regular programme.

Last night we saw First Class, sitting on cushioned benches in the delightfully intimate little theatre that probably holds about 50 people. It was a real shame that there were only about 8 audience members, because the play was of a very high standard (as was the other play I once saw here), with quite impressive, nuanced acting and a sweet, inspired story. Recommended!

After the play, which was just an hour long, we took a five minute walk along the road to realise my ambition: a visit to Pasha! Allegedly London’s only Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan restatuarant, online reviews of this place have been impressive… but rather improbable. The probability of there being a busy, popular, excellent, non-alarming Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan restaurant hiding somewhere behind the shiny front of Pasha Hotel seemed more than unlikely. Luckily, with our friends for moral support, we stepped through the door, immediately convinced we had come to the wrong place, as there was no restaurant in sight. The man at the front desk welcomed us enthusiastically and instructed us to “follow the red carpet”. This we did, through an endless corridor, past bedrooms, past a hammam, past rolled up bits of carpet, and just when we feared the worst, we turned a corner and there it was. In the bowels of this seemingly little hotel hides seemingly one of Camberwell’s most popular restaurants! Like a tardis, the corridor opens out into a massive room, walls clad in thick tapestry and carpet. At the front are low tables, people sitting upon thick carpet, cross-legged, tucking into large and tasty-looking plates of food, chatting, and greeting others. These people did not appear to all be of Kazakhstan / Kyrgystan origin, but there was very much the feeling of a secret club. Further into the room is a little bridge over a fish pond, complete with waterfall. On the other side of the bridge are more traditional chairs and tables, also bustling and more than half full. We stood and stared.

The exceptionally friendly staff gave us the option of where to sit, and having chosen the low table experience, we relaxed with wine and perused a varied and tempting menu of dishes seemingly Turkish/Greek in style, though obviously a little different, being that they are from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. We had delicious mezze and Kazakh/Kyrgyz bread starters, then enthusiastically moved onto the main course. Disaster struck when one of us, a committed vegetarian, was accidentally served the meat mousakka rather than the vegetarian version. The staff could not have been more apologetic, offering another free main course, then (appetite having gone, and thus declined), a free bottle of wine, and free tea and coffee for all of us. Quite impressive, if rather unfortunate. Otherwise, Pasha was a surprise hit with Gay Camberwell.

Two weeks today is the start of Gay Camberwell launch month. More events are on the brink of being confirmed, at Oval House Theatre, South London Gallery, and Redstar, so do check the launch events page regularly. Sam, our lovely designer, has been working flat out to whip up flyers, coming soon. And we’re looking at some very quirky entertainment options for the launch party… We were at Polari, the great gay literary salon in Soho, earlier in the week and by the time we left, everyone there was very excited about Gay Camberwell. Hope your diary is ready for this!

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