The Cocktail Club - Cocktail Bar on Shaftesbury Avenue — Restaurant in London

It was an okay atmosphere, but a little weird. The whole night, the staff kept swinging lampshades above the bar and I actually had to stop them swinging when I came over to order a drink as otherwise they would hit me in the face 😂 The music was super loud!! Which is saying something, as I'm 26, so genuinely enjoy loud music. But this was louder than your average club. Our cocktails weren't strong at all sadly, but at least they were the normal prices you would expect for London (£12-14). When it came to the bill... Uh oh 😭 The waiter came over to us and handed us the bill without us asking for it, claiming "the bar was closing" (when I later asked him, he mentioned that he meant "the bar tabs are closing and you can still order drinks, you just have to pay for them right away, I just didn't mention that earlier"). They forgot to deduct our £25 deposit off the tab, which is ok, it happens! But it then took 2 waiters and a manager a while to sort out a £25 deduction off the bill. The bartender who was trying to sort the issue offered us shots and a refund. I haven't paid the bill at this point, so i told him this, "I don't need a refund I just want to pay the bill, minus the deposit". He said "ok". The manager then came over with shots, asking us what the issue was. It was such a long ordeal to pay for a bill we didn't even ask for, as we would have been (moderately?) happy to stay longer. Honestly I would say the staff let this place down, but also, it was so incredibly loud, we were constantly repeating ourselves and could see other tables...

The place itself was fine, good atmosphere and drinks but our visit was completely ruined by the ridiculously rude staff.

The young girl with long brown hair wearing zebra print trousers working on Saturday 15th Jan had THE worst attitude of anyone I have ever been served by. I questioned why I was being charged £13.50 the 2 for £12 cocktails I ordered.

She snapped at me and went on to her that has a low paid job so I should pay her a service charge to make her job worth coming for. I said to her that I wasn’t happy to pay the service charge and that I’m happy to go to the bar in future, she ignored me and charged me anyway. I appreciate service charges apply but they are at the customer’s discretion and I wasn’t happy with the terrible service provided by her.

I spoke to a colleague of hers who said that this girl is always like this and she apologised on her behalf. I asked to speak to the manager to bring it to his attention as she continued to make us feel uncomfortable which in then kind of ruined the experience.

The manager was absolutely no help and just shrugged his shoulder about the whole thing saying ‘what do you want me to do about it??’ and when the girl in question saw us talking to the manager she stormed over and began to shout at us and then shove past my mom as she stormed off.

So SO embarrassing...

Nice interior but just some shocking ways to run a business

-SERVICE CHARGE! They will try and stealthily put it on without telling you hoping you won’t notice and will then tap If I’m queuing at a bar and you make a big song and dance about 2 for £12, what are you tacking service charge on for each drink? That’s your job?

Ask for it to be taken off. Don’t accept this trend, and if as a business you want it either provide an actual exceptional service or incorporate it into your menu prices. Lame.

One guy went into the back for ten minutes after ordering a drink then came back and still tried to charge it on a £13 cocktail (putting it to £15.19). Lol. Liberty.

-Happy hour is 6-7 but doesn’t state it on the menu and as soon as it ticks to 7 they’ll pour your drinks and then try charge you full price. Another sneaky trick

-Too dark as certain lights not working

-Music was club level loud, couldn’t hear my friends across the table

-I came here last year and bar staff were far friendlier, service was on point including good table service. Shocking the difference, gone downhill.

1*, there are a hundred better cocktail bars in soho you can go to. As soon as happy hour finishes, get...