I had a lot of high hopes when we came to the Cahoots Underground in Soho. Located in an old London underground station underneath Kingly Court, which also served as an air raid shelter, the vibes and design are all there for a wicked cool spot. The look feels straight out of the 1940s with its style of lampshades, mismatched chairs and seating, knick-knacks, and hangings. Going down the numerous flights of stairs to where the signs tell you to go downstairs for tickets really hypes things up for what you hope will be excellent cocktails and buoyant ambiance.
Perhaps it was that I had been going 40 hours without sleep by that point, or maybe I had ordered the wrong drinks, or perhaps they were a little short-staffed for a Wednesday evening. The experience fell short of the expectations that I had seen on Instagram and elsewhere.
While the location was certainly cool and the vibes were great, and we did book a reservation, we didn't have one of the tables inside the life-size Tube carriage, which would have been cool. Where we sat was still in the corner and allowed for taking in the energy, but I was let down by the service, which felt delayed, and wasn't checked up on enough in between drinks. I was on the fence about ordering food, but because it took a few minutes to take the order, receive the drinks, and finally flag one of the staff members to order another round, I declined.
Cocktail-wise was ok. Outside of the recipes on paper and the presentation of the cocktail, which was impressive, but I didn't feel the magic when I sipped on either of my orders. The Winston Churchill was gin-based, served in a large ceramic Winston Churchill sculpted container, but tasted way heavy on the citrus between the guava, citrus essence, and the tropical fassionalo syrup. The drink would be more spritz from the pink grapefruit soda with a touch more sweetness from the cherry liqueur, but it didn't set well. It was quite acidic. The Prohibition Lantern was actually served in a lantern, which was cool. I will give them that, it was wicked cool. However, it took a minute to remove the glass with the cocktail in it from the lantern apparatus while trying not to spill it. Flavor-wise, it was interesting between the mango-chipotle-milk-washed tequila, cachaça, Cointreau, and Ancho Reyes Verde, but I didn't feel the mixture meshed well for a cocktail.
Overall, the cocktails were pricey, the equivalent of what I have had back home if I were going to Palm Beach Island. Which wouldn't be a big deal if the experience were better, but it was a letdown, unfortunately. I really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately, it didn't meet the hype from what I saw online. read more