Smithfield Market was, wrote Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist, a place where 'filth and mire' rose 'nearly ankle-deep', as the 'reeking bodies of cattle' massed all around.
Through a pair of thick velvet curtains, a hidden 30-seat cocktail den brings fat-washed freezer door Martinis and brie and kimchi toasties from a bartender’s dream to a popular pub.