Experimental Cocktail Club Soho - Cocktail Queen Review
13a Gerrard Street, Soho, London W1D 5
Well this is a brave little number. Tucked away in the heart of Chinatown, the Experimental Cocktail Club has got 19th Century Bohemian Paris written all over it, from the quirky furniture and the mismatch glasses to the Soho uber-fashionable staff and the smattering of Absinthe throughout the menu.
But wait, this isn't Paris, this isn't the 19th Century either - how do I know this? (other than the fact that I'm typing this on my IPhone - oh and I have a diary) I'll tell you how... It's the suits. Vintage and Bohemian delights everywhere and then the suits and the designer handbags of those of us who are really rather pleased with ourselves for actually finding the place - honestly, I got quite worried that I'd cocked up my Boss's leaving do when I briefly utterly failed to find Venue 1 of the night! It's a scruffy door with absolutely no signage at all, there is a doorman with a hardback book on Gardening Tips tucked under his arm... This book it appeared was the guestlist.
We were admitted and plonked ourselves down to order a few cocktails. Wow - they ain't joking with the experimental side of things! The first round consisted of a 'Tea in Africa,' a 'Havana,' a 'Bad Blood,' an 'Old Cuban' and a 'Freudian Slip'. At £10 a cocktail it's not bad value considering the amount of ingredients. My 'Tea in Africa' was, if I'm honest, not really my cup of tea (I really am sorry). It looked beautiful but had a slightly aniseedy after taste to it which I'm not a fan of. The people I was with really liked it though, so I'm sure I'm just being picky. The Havana... Something in it had been infused with cigar smoke which gave it an incredibly powerful smell (obviously) but a relatively mild cocktail followed the butch smell, this was quite nice actually - although me thinking it was mild is probably very dangerous; both for my liver and your perceptions of this drink.
The Bad Blood and Freudian Slip were both interesting; one had beetroot in it and the other - absinth, for me neither were amazing. The best for me was the Old Cuban, it has a lovely fresh flavour with the ginger, lime, rum and Champagne all working well together.
For my second drink I'm afraid i opted for a glass of the Billicart Salmon Champagne, I do love my cocktails but i think I have now discovered that i'm not overly ambitious in that department.
It's an experience, it's in Central London so hardly out of the way - I think the ECC is well worth a visit even if it is to discover how adventurous you are in your choice of cocktails.
