16/3/2009

This place is brilliant,  and a well kept secret... so much so that I even questioned whether I should review it on here for fear of spoiling it, but what the hell - good things are for sharing, right?

Chances are you still might not find it anyway! The entrance is pretty inconspicuous, a single door with a small metal nameplate - not exactly flashing neon signs or even anything close for that matter. The discreet entrance is just the first indicator that this might  be somewhere a bit different, and when you go downstairs you'll soon see why.

To start with the effect is bit like walking into a hidden gin joint during prohibition, assuming prohibition was during the 1970's that is... and the decor of the day involved lots of black and white photos of stars and kitsch (but original from the period) decor.

It's one of those places where you start to suspect that the aged items and decor may have been there so long they've now become fused into the fabric of the building and any attempt to move/remove them might require a visit from those stripey jumper clad archeology experts on Time Team.

Once you've entered you'll see lots of wine bottles and candle-lit tables and a small bar serving mostly wine to the interesting looking and hip but not overly trendy clientèle.

Prices are reasonable, £12ish gets you a decent bottle of red with which to put the world to rights, discuss Nietzsche, people watch or work on your latest prose/screenplay or other creative masterwork you suspect half the people in here are also plotting/working on... just don't tell to many people about this place, you might spoil it.

p.s. It is meant to be a members club but I've never been asked to sign in/join or anything of the sort.

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