Soho clubs

Soho’s world-famous G-A-Y Bar has everything you’d expect: cheap drink offers, a young crowd and plenty of Britney. The G-A-Y night at Heaven gets the celebrity cameos, but this popular bar is still a shrine to queer pop idols, with nightly drinks promos every time they play a video from the current diva du jour. There’s also a women’s bar in the basement, called (delightfully) Girls Go Down – popular with flirty, studenty lesbians, loathed by most older women. G-A-Y bar’s plush late-night sibling, G-A-Y Late, is round the corner at 5 Goslett Yard.

Soho’s only exclusively lesbian venue – and the longest-running by far of London’s three queer femme bars – this basement venue is run by the team behind nearby Ku Bar and has a comparable flair for laying on entertainment. With comedy, cabaret, karaoke, drag shows and quiz evenings alongside a busy programme of clubs nights, She takes its role as a stalwart of London’s lesbian scene very seriously, and stays open til 1am five nights a week. 

This glitzy cocktail lounge and DJ bar, spread over two floors, isn’t a designated LGBT venue, but because of its location and laissez-faire ambience, anyone on the LGBT spectrum should feel right at home. The glam ground-floor bar attracts a fashion-conscious crowd, who sip cocktails among chandeliers, zebra-print banquettes and Venetian mirrors. A few ‘strays’ and dolled-up gal pals add colour. The large basement club and performance space hosts weekday cabaret and gets busy with the gay party crowd over the weekend.

For those who enjoy crooning into a hairbrush, but are too shy to take to the stage, Lucky Voice might be the solution. Nine private ‘pods’ allow groups of four to 12 people to belt out a classic without any fear of embarrassment. Pizza and nibbles are basic, but the drinks menu is more extravagant; choose a snifter off the list to chase away any lingering inhibitions. With almost a million songs on the 
play-list, there will certainly be a tune you know – so no excuses.