Oops I did it again….another soaky Friday. Kicked off on a martini high at Bethnal Green’s Townhouse Hotel. Then took it low to Gourmet San. Thought we’d check out the Whistling Shop after but there was something just a bit….rubbish….about it? Like being caught in a mid-noughties burlesque revival time-warp. So we canned that and crawled over to Nightjar: top cocktails but there are too many pressed tin ceilings and jazz-hand bars in this town. And far too many Morgan Stanley creeps with too much to say. What’s the next look? Think back through the decades – they’ve all been done! Having said that, the absolute coolest bar I ever went to was in Cologne and it was decked out like a non-descript office c1960s with tiled carpets, bad furniture, typewriters, the works. It was spooky as hell and brilliant – as if the Stasi had just upped and left. Anyway, that’s a digression. London is just all a bit me-too sometimes and we need some new stuff. I think the rash of secret bars a la Happinness Forgets, Calloo Callay and Barts is good but only if you can get in, no one else can and they deliver – in which case you might as well stay in and enjoy your own drinks cabinet!
