Saturday 2 February 2013

Rum Shack (baby rum shack)


Last night I popped into the launch event for Floridita's new pop up rum shack to sample a few cocktails. I used to come down to Floridita to dance a few years back so it was lovely to come back to an old favourite with a new purpose. Granted, Floridita is cheesy. There's definitely a crowd that comes in for 'dinner and a show' but the live music is genuinely Cuban, warm and characterful, and the 'live show' consists of the reaction by the crowd. There's the latin dance contingent who turn up in earnest and take over areas of the floor in turn and then there's those brave enough to join them. I technically still fall into the former, my companions, the latter so I gave a lesson or two.


The Rum Shack occupies a corner of Floridita's long bar. They've transformed the 50's stylings of the rest of it into wooden beach-hut chic and created a special rum cocktail list too. The cocktails are great - served (dare I say it) Mahiki style in coconut cups or various other gimmicky guises. First up we sampled the Hemmingway punch, which was just right - crucially not too sweet. After that, we moved on to Margaritas for the rest of the night - not the frozen kind. Oddly I find that these don't give me too much of a hangover so I'm likely to order them if I'm planning on drinking a few.


If you're on one of those dates that start in a little Soho restaurant (great idea right, there's loads to do in Soho)... and then leads to wandering around Old Compton Street dazed and confused, unable to even find standing room in a bad pub, then Floridita is your solution. For nothing whisks us ladies off our feet like little dance (the old fashioned way) and an elegant tipple. Floridita is famous for selling good cigars so if you're into that, be sure to ask, though the smoking ban makes this a little less fun.

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