An outdoor and indoor cocktail bar opposite Leyton Midland Station has room for hundreds of punters

A tropical-themed cocktail bar has opened opposite Leyton Midland Overground Station.

Featuring a foliage-heavy interior with wooden flooring and warm lighting, Leyton Calling (previously known as The Paraquet) is offering classic cocktails with a modern twist.

The cocktail bar can be found in the Tilbury Road railway arches opposite Leyton Midland Overground, and is open from 5pm to late on Thursdays to Sundays.

Speaking to the Leytonstoner, Leyton-raised owner Danny Saunders explained why he renamed the bar: “Though we loved the original [name] and had a pretty strong link to what it symbolised, luckily this does too.

“We landed on it for two reasons: It’s a nice little nod to the classic London Calling cocktail and to our signature drink – the Lei-ton Calling and more importantly, we believe we are a Leyton Calling, a bar that this area has wanted and needed, and we have filled that gap and as the latest bar in the area, we are, in essence, your final calling.”

According to the Leytonstoner’s Stephen Emms, the bar’s interior additionally features “intimate corners, booths, counters and a more social bar space where you can even pull up a stool and chat to a mixologist”.

In the massive outdoor bar and garden up to 200 punters can grab drinks from a cocktail hatch run by Point Cocktails, a Tilbury Road premium craft cocktail business. Negronis cost £8, while draft lager (£5.50 a pint) will be provided on tap by Leyton brewers Libertalia.

Food pop-ups will also be on rotation in the outdoor space, while those who don’t drink booze can pick from a selection of alcohol-free cocktails from Kahol Spirits, another local business.

Leyton Calling’s drinks menu includes wines priced from £7 a glass, and twelve signature bespoke cocktails, alongside classics.

A signature, Lei-ton Calling, described as a “love letter to Leyton”, is a twist on the modern classic London Calling cocktail. It is made with Porters tropical old tom gin, elderflower, fino sherry, and lime sherbet.

A second cocktail worth writing home about is the Dutty Banana, a Caribbean classic with a modern twist. Originally created in Jamaica around the 1990s, this rich and spicy cocktail is made with discarded banana rum, whistelpig rye, coffee, and banana creme.

Leyton Calling (formerly The Paraquet) is open now at 145 Tilbury Road. Follow @leytoncalling

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