Opium is a hidden gem amongst the back to back bustling restaurants of Gerrard Street.
At street level you are presented with a door with a simple wall plaque on which the establishment’s names is emblazoned. Three windy flights of creaky wooden stairs up through a haze of burning incense and you reach a cosy den of nooks and hidey holes in which to sit and enjoy a quirky cocktail or two and perhaps some king prawn dumplings to wash them down. The food (albeit a limited bar snack menu) is outstanding and is available late into the evening/night, perfect for the munchies that tend to kick in at about the 11pm mark. Depending on what night you go they may also open the Apothecary Bar and Cocktail Kitchen. This bar is definitely worth a visit or two.
Visit Tips
We love how the drinks are presented in a ‘First Course’, ‘Second Course’, ‘Mains’ format in their menu.
The cocktail range is vast and out of the ordinary.
You cannot go wrong ordering their dim sum platter!
www.opiumchinatown.com
This flirtatious cocktail adds a bubbly, pineapple twist to a Cosmopolitan. If you are feeling frugal switch the champagne for a Prosecco (arguably a more palatable fizz at a fraction of the cost).
Who doesn’t take great pleasure in requesting “One Screaming Orgasm please!” tee he, he?! This is a cocktail that tastes sweet and harmless but the combination of spirit plus spirit with a mixer of spirit is a lethal one!
This is both a popular and potent classic cocktail with vodka being just one of 5 spirits that make up the toxic mix of alcohol.
Pure boozy, chocolaty indulgence; these chocolate martin's should be sipped not gulped, especially seeing as they are both alcohol, alcohol mixed with alcohol!
Warming heat of vodka plus silky smooth chocolate equals heavenly, boozy simplicity in a glass.
London cocktail week was a great opportunity to try out bars and cocktails that you hadn’t yet got around to checking out or test driving and it also provided a perfect excuse (if you needed one) to get out and about a few nights in a row to squeeze in as many £4 discounted drinks as you could in one week!
Vodka is a neutral spirit that tends not to have a distinctive flavour or taste in its untampered form. Vodka is generally not aged and can be made using a range of accessible materials and ingredients such as potatoes, grains, sugars, fruit and most things that are capable of being fermented. This makes it a spirit that is easy to produce in a relatively short space of time.
Whether it’s a Friday night, a Monday night or a Sunday afternoon this place is pumping and loud, loud, LOUD! The staff are hyped, the music is deafening and the cocktails are flowing each and every day of the week.
Vodka has been sipped, downed and applied across the globe for centuries. Originating in Eastern Europe towards the end of the 9th century the name is derived from the Russian word ‘voda’ meaning water. It was primarily used for medicinal purposes and as an ingredient in gun powder during the Middle Ages but during the 14th century became an established drink in Russia and by the middle of the 16th century was recognised as the national drink of Poland and Finland. But what is vodka made from?