If you haven't been to Floridita before, you may be forgiven for thinking it was, in fact, a nightclub. Everything about it screams night owl-hotspot, from the dark-suited bouncer at the door to the basement set-up downstairs. In fact, it's quite easy to overlook the restaurant (despite its size), as the long, strip-like bar running along one end is Floridita's main talking-point. Serving the best cocktails this side of the ocean, with a whole host of different-flavoured Mojitos and Daiquiris, as well as offering its after-work clientele a sultry atmosphere in which to loosen their collars and flirt, Floridita is a place to soak up life rather than a place to stand and watch it pass by. So what is Floridita's story? Set up by Sir Terence Conran, Floridita takes it name from Hemingway's favourite watering-hole in Cuba (also the birthplace of the Daiquiri), and attempts to bring a little far-flung South American flavour to Wardour Street. While its menu is all about lipsmackingly good Cuban lobster, beef-and-Chorizo hamburger and cheese-stuffed quesadillas, it is its post-dinner entertainment that gets the crowds through the doors; London's top movers and shakers come to listen to the brilliant live bands and show off some sexy Salsa moves on the dance floor until the small hours, while cigar-sucking big-wigs sit in the shadows with their breathtakingly beautiful Brazilian girlfriends. It's all very Scorcese and OTT, but that is the lure of Floridita. If you wanted realism, you could always go to the Slug & Lettuce down the road.
www.floridita.co.uk / Images: Floridita