Phoenix Artist Club

Situated beneath the Phoenix Theatre, this subterranean den welcomes wide-eyed impressionables into its eccentric bosom prior to 8pm nightly; after that, your best casting-couch smile might be needed persuade a member to escort you into this luvvie lair. Part bar, part restaurant, part social club, part museum, this was once Larry Olivier’s dressing room & everyone from Noël Coward to Richard Burton drank here at some point. What they’d get today are muscular continental lagers, English cask ale, grape & grain for under £20, & a menu of snacks & mains for a cast of hoofers, hopefuls & hotties from West End shows – eavesdropping & gossip are like gold dust. Heart-throbs can even hold their own civil partnership ceremonies here (& invite the press to boot) – thanks to a special licence.