Bijou

Date:             Saturday 10 December (2nd Saturday, monthly)
Location:       Carter Rooms, 56 Carter Lane, City of London, EC4V 5EA

Cocktails, cocktails, cocktails

Bijou feels like one of those nights from ‘back in the day’.  It’s down a quiet City street, and once you pass the front door and tell the security which night you are there for you are greeted warmly by the beautiful Lauren and Robin who run the night.  The location has an intimate yet spacious feeling bar with a good number of comfortable booths to leave your bag and coat and to catch up with friends. 

The music is a fun mix of newer pop and old classics, and is that perfect volume that encourages you to approach people (should you be brave enough) as you won’t have to shout in their ear!  And if you are the type to approach women on the dance floor Bijou is the place to do it, they are a friendly bunch who seem to be there for a good laugh; Bijou is the only place I have ever seen people having splits competitions on the corner of the dance floor, and dancers creating an impromptu dance circle with people taking turns to dance in the middle. 

Of course, if you are the type to approach women on the dance floor you’ll need a bit of Dutch courage, and in this respect Bijou again comes up trumps.  There is a good selection of cocktails at about £8 a pop, but better yet there are two cocktails specially designed for the night at only a fiver.  In the name of research I felt it my duty to road test both and can report that, though I personally preferred the ‘Dyke-quarie’, the ‘Pussy Galore’ was very tasty too.  The best part was watching the bartender mix the drink, pouring the ingredients free hand.  It is all too rare that bar staff are given the freedom to pour Bacardi sans shot glass, and the result was a delicious drink that went down all too quickly.  The beers are reasonably priced and a good stock on tap and perfect shaped bottle form.

Finally, a word about the smallest room; the toilet.  These are shared with the other night in the venue and are clean, with a supply of soap.  There is no toilet attendant in the bathrooms, which I prefer, and though there are 3 cubicles the queues didn’t seem any worse then other venues.

Review by Tali and Viene

 

Tickets are available in advance and we’d recommend pre-purchasing to ensure entry by emailing elysionevents@ymail.com.

So was the move from Tart Bar to Carter Rooms a good one? Well a larger space was definitely needed, but the Tart Bar offered a very 'Bijou' space (pardon the pun). In our opinion this venue was extremely well thought out. We thank Lauren and Robin for their hours of 'research' into venues as you have done us proud!