London listening bar Bambi highlights music and dining in equal measure

The massive popularity of listening bars – those vinyl-obsessed lounges that take their food as seriously as their music – is hardly fading out. Au contraire. In cities worldwide nightspots that serve up crisp, high-resolution sound with top-billed chefs are popping up by the month. London’s latest is Bambi, a hole-in-the-wall space in Hackney launched by James Dye, the entrepreneur behind successful neighbourhood haunts Frank’s Café and the Camberwell Arms.

Bambi defies easy definition. Some call it a wine bar, for its emphasis on natural, low-intervention, contemporary bottles. Others focus on the wee hours when the volume ticks up, and tables are pushed aside to allow for dancing. But its raison d’etre is deft small plates – from skilled chef and pop-up veteran Dan Chambers – with a soundtrack.

Like others in the ‘listening bar’ genre, Bambi has a wall of high-spec vintage sound equipment (from local purveyor Friendly Pressure) and stacks of vinyl records going back nearly a century, spun by collectors and aficionados. The quality of the sound ensures diners can enjoy Chambers’s mussels Escabeche and pork ribeye with burnt apple and chilli without shouting to be heard. The audio programme is curated by veteran London DJ and musician Charlie Dark of Run Dem Crew.

Dye refurbished the space with sleek wood wall panels and record shelves surrounding the new DJ booth and custom equipment. High stools, tables and wood ledges with library lighting cover one side of the room, while diners sit at lower heavy-grain wood tables on upholstered stools. The aesthetic flows outdoors to the north-facing terrace, furnished with casual wood tables and benches. Sun streams in during the lunch service, when the kitchen puts out a range of deli-style sandwiches, including chicken caesar focaccia and corned beef. An extensive martini menu extends to a popular pickle juice version with dill garnish.

Netil House, 1 Westgate St, London E8 3RL, UK