Jimmy Liks (CLOSED)

Ten years on and Jimmy Liks still brings it with spicy cocktails and even spicier food. It’s all about punchy herbaceousness here at this dark mod-Asian restaurant-bar. It’s one of those places you might not immediately think of in today’s drink-and-dine-o-sphere of American-style cocktails and rock’n’roll-roadie snack menus. But we’re here to tell you it’s damn refreshing to enter a bar and be, well, refreshed with a chilli-infused cucumber Martini. According to our bartender they get sent back all the time because they’re so hot. It’s a spicy drink, to be sure, but not nearly so flame-inducing as the betel leaves topped with chopped prawns, fried shallots and a pile of green scud chillies. Raw – and intense. A Saigon Smash is a little more approachable. Here, rye whiskey and poire William are muddled with fresh pineapple and mint, served tall over plenty of crushed ice. Chase it with a couple of sweet, rich son-in-law duck eggs all covered with toasted peanuts. Yeah, the music is pitched at about the level you’d expect – chilled beats, upbeats, funky house – and the menus are laminated, suggesting nothing’s changed for quite some time. But that’s OK. You can ignore the music when you’re hanging by the dimly lit bar getting great service and hoeing into a serve of sweet, sticky caramelised pork hock.