THE PLAYER

If you’re out drinking in Soho, a basement dive is where it’s at. It somehow fits with Soho’s Soho-ness: the vibe of hidden drinking dens, bored-looking door-ladies in fishnets, sex shops, advertising folk carrying DJ bags, off-duty actors with drinkingproblems, and the sense that legendary characters have stalked these streets – maybe even tonight.

The Player is the kind of basement you need here: big yet intimate, sexy but not sleazy, and open late Thursday (1am), Friday and Saturday (2am). Disco balls sparkle, spotlights twinkle, and the parquet bar gives it a vaguely ’70s feel. In fact, this could be a location setting for Boogie Nights, without the porn stars.

It was cocktail king Dick Bradsell who opened the Player in 1998, a subter-ranean vanguard of the resurgence of London’s cocktail culture. It closed in 2001 before reopening under the present management, who didn’t change it much (‘don’t fix what ain’t broke’, reads the menu). Cocktail consultant is now Dale DeGroff, and the drinks are still fabulously, delectably good ways to get tipsy. As well as the classics, there are alcoholic innovations, like Fa’afafene, which mixes 42 below vodka with lime and apple, honey and passionfruit syrups, or Fabulous Gay Wedding, with Tanqueray, lime juice, honey, cucumber, strawberries, raspberries and Prosecco. And there’s no excuse for drinking on an empty stomach – the snacks hit the nail on the head (think Atlantic Prawns, chips with jalapeño relish, or mini chorizo sandwich with onion marmalade).

Thursday to Saturday DJs plunder the dub, disco, house, funk and booty drawers, but it’s a bar rather than a club, with plenty of pod-like seating so that you can hunker down for a
tête-à-tête. That it’s a members-only bar after 11pm gives a sense of exclusivity, but it’s quite easy to become a member (see the website), and we’ve heard whispers you can sometimes get in even if you’re not. Shhh.