Beat the Bouncer
| LONSDALE 48 Lonsdale Road, W11 (020-7727 4080). Mon-Fri 6pm-midnight, Sat 6pm-midnight, Sun 6pm-11.30pm. Many late-night bars operate a membership system as a condition of being granted a late licence, which saves the bars having to charge people after a certain time. It’s also a useful tool in crowd control and ensures that regular customers will be able to gain access when they pitch up. This is the case at the Lonsdale, Notting Hill’s most desirable venue and a honey pot for local slebs and trustafarians. Formerly Jac’s bar, this place underwent a massive refurbishment a couple of years ago and is now unrecognisable from the old version. A large, elegant and chic ground-floor bar is where you’ll find most of the action, with a smaller ‘clubby’ bar upstairs for which membership is almost compulsory – depending on the night you visit, of course. Try going early in the week to make sure you get in – it’s worth a trip just for the cocktails – and then try chatting up the waiting staff with a view to getting a complimentary membership card (a large tip might do it). But don’t go in large, single-sex gangs, the doorman is likely to be more accommodating to a smartly dressed couple. |
DICK’S BAR Atlantic Bar & Grill, 20 Glasshouse Street, W1 (020 -7734 4888). Mon-Sat 6pm-3am. Oliver Peyton’s Atlantic Bar & Grill – the seminal late-night style bar and the grande dame of them all – has been at the epicentre of late-night London for more than 10 years and continues to prosper. The massive Art Deco basement, decked out like the first-class lounge of a cruise ship, is home to the restaurant and public bar. The décor in Dick’s Bar – named after cocktail barman Dick Bradsell, who opened the bar back in the Nineties – is more like a captain’s private quarters, with comfy low-slung furniture and teak-effect tables. The entrance to Dick’s bar is guarded, with customers asked to show their accreditation, but this is rarely before 8pm, so it is possible for non-members to sneak inside and experience the finery of the venue. The entire place got a bit of a spruce-up recently resulting in a fresh new feel, with the exception of the entrance hall and stairway, which has been decorated in post-ironic, retro floral wallpaper. Even though the queues outside aren’t as long as they used to be in the old days, this doesn’t detract from the atmosphere inside, which is buzzy and opportunistic. |
| MILK & HONEY 61 Poland Street, W1 (0700 065 5469). Mon-Fri 6pm-3am, Sat 7pm-3am. A ‘secret’ members’ bar behind an unmarked door on Poland Street, W1 and meant to be for in-the-know people rather than the usual Z-list celebrities. It’s made its name by having lots of jokey rules: no name-dropping, men can’t approach women unsolicited, men must remove hats. If you call ahead to book a table they should let you in, but you might be out on your ear after 11pm when Westminster Council’s licence proviso insists on members only. |
THE FIREHOUSE 3 Cromwell Road, SW7 (020 7584 7258). Tue-Sat 6pm-3am. The Firehouse, like its near neighbour Boujis, began life as a members’ bar, and still is, up to a point. But turn up early enough in the evening (especially early in the week) and, providing there is not a major event going on, you’re in. It’s always advisable to phone ahead, though, and try to get yourself on the guest list. |
| AURA 48-49 St James’s Street, W1 (020-7499 6655). Tue-Sat 11.30am-3am. There is an air of old-fashioned exclusivity in this modern rendition of a late-night members’ supper club. It’s a celeb hangout, popular with young members of the in-crowd such as boyband Blue. The place doesn’t really kick off until late evening, so try getting there early or, better still, book a table for supper then sit back and watch the party. |
DUSK 339 Battersea Park Road, SW11 (020-7622 2112). Mon-Thur 6pm-12.30am, Fri-Sat 6pm-1.30am. On the darker reaches of Battersea Park Road, Dusk is an achingly trendy cocktail bar full of painfully good-looking young folk – often on the pull. The interior consists of two large rooms, handsomely transformed into a coffee-coloured, Moorish venue, with low-slung leather furnishings. Membership and guest lists are available by contacting the bar. Visit www.duskbar.co.uk for full details. |
| APARTMENT 195 195 King’s Road, SW3 (020-7351 5195). Mon-Sat 4pm-11pm, Sun 4pm-10.30pm. Here’s a members’ bar where you don’t have to be a member to get inside. Cards are issued to regular customers so that they can be assured of access at peak times. Early in the week, though, they’re happy to accept anyone who is going to behave themselves. It’s worth taking a look at this luxurious Manhattan-style loft apartment where an all-female team of staff whip-up scintillating cocktails. |
THE BLUEBIRD CLUB 350 King’s Road, SW3 (020-7559 1000). Mon-Thur 9am-midnight, Fri 9pm-1am, Sat 11am-1am, Sun 11am-5pm. Terence Conran’s son, Tom, owner of The Cow Dining Room and Lucky 7 in Notting Hill, is currently busy relaunching the dining room of this private members’ club, which will be unveiled on Mon 15 Nov. The bar will remain the same, though, and potential members should contact the club for an information pack and application form. Memberships will cost Ј200 per year. |
send to a friend
