Bars & Pubs

November 13 2009: This bar is now closed. Time Out were told in early November by one of the managers that the bar would be no more, despite only opening a few months ago. The following review is shown for historial purposes only.

With Dick Bradsell, a well-known figure bossing the Boston shakers in the downstairs bar, it’s a must for erudite imbibers.

Small and swathed in velvet and red carpets, with sheet music and gilded mirrors on the walls, it’s a decadent – and slightly debauched – dive bar that delivers superb drinks.

It calls itself a members’ club but the porous door policy means it often opens to non-members – especially on a Wednesday when the ‘Green Fingernail Club’, a night of cross-dressing, poetry and entertainment, is doing its thing.

Bradsell is hailed by the bartending community as the godfather of good drinking. The cocktail guru, who slaked celebrity thirsts at the Groucho Club and the Atlantic Bar in the 1990s and opened some of the capital’s finest drinking destinations, can craft a mighty fine cocktail, of that there’s no doubt.

The Rosepetal Martini, Tommy’s Margarita and the Ping Pong are just three particularly tasty throat-charmers. Shame it isn’t open later than 11pm.

There’s some fancy finger food and nibbles, but if you want something more substantial, there’s a restaurant upstairs.

As for the regulars, you'll find chaps dressed as chicks, literary lounge loafers and if you're lucky, the gorgeous girl I spotted who looked like Audrey Tautou. Or at least, I presume she was a girl.

Time Out London 11 November 2009