Islington bar Homeboy unveils Guinness afternoon tea

Islington Irish cocktail bar Homeboy will begin serving the very first Guinness afternoon tea every Saturday from 10^th October, offering a set menu of Irish-inspired dishes made with or accompanied by the stout as an alternative to the traditional sandwiches-and-scones format.

The menu is divided into savoury and sweet courses. The savoury selection comprises Irish Smoked Salmon on Guinness soda bread, a mini Ham and Cheese Toastie, Beef and Guinness Stew, a mini Sausage Roll, and an Irish Beef Slider with Guinness gravy. The sweet course consists of a mini Guinness Cake, a Black Velvet Blancmange and a Baileys Panna Cotta.

The tea is priced at £45 per person, which includes a welcome drink – either a Guinness, a frozen Irish coffee or a pot of Barry’s Tea – alongside the full set menu. A second option, priced at £65 per person, adds a drinks pairing across both courses: a pint of Guinness and a Black Velvet with the savoury dishes, followed by a Frozen Irish Coffee and a Baby Guinness with the desserts.

Homeboy was founded in 2018 by Aaron Wall and Ciarán Smith, both Dublin natives, and operates on a concept it calls Modern Irish Hospitality, which the bar traces to Ireland’s ancient Brehon Laws. Those laws held that every traveller was entitled to a warm meal, a drink, entertainment and a bed; the bar says it addresses three of the four. It was named among the top four best new bars in the world at Tales of the Cocktail in 2019, and its cocktail list includes long-standing signatures such as the Irish Coffee, Whiskey Smash and Taoiseach.

The afternoon tea represents an extension of that food and drink offering into the daytime trade, with the operators positioning the menu as comfort food suited to the colder months. The format is designed to be shared, drawing on familiar Irish staples rather than the French-influenced patisserie typically associated with hotel afternoon teas.

Food Desk

For further information and reservations, visit Homeboy’s website here.