This glam part of Piccadilly, not far from Park Lane and Mayfair, attracts a moneyed bunch of people, and this sleek new basement bar is a honeypot for the preened, pumped-up and filled-out. It’s loud, busy and full-on; the separate restaurant is quieter, and is one of London’s growing number of purveyors of the on-trend cuisine of Peru (the snacks, such as grilled ox heart skewers, are great).
The cocktail list kicks off with pisco, the brandy-like national drink of Peru – the straightforward sours is frothy and tangy, but pricey at £10.95. More exciting are the house cocktails, advertising South American influences like chilli-infused tequila or chicha morada, a Peruvian purple corn sweet drink. If you think £14.50 is a bit steep for these, you’re probably drinking in the wrong place.
But that said, it’s a dark, sleek and lively spot, much more informal than nearby five-star hotel bars, and a good place to explore deepest, darkest Peru without leaving W1.