Flashback to 1981: then called Le Beat Route, this Soho basement attracted a who’s who of the New Romantic scene to its dance floor. Exotic regulars included members of Spandau Ballet, who filmed the video for Chant No. 1 here. The venue has now been reopened as part of the mid-market B@1. Wet your whistle and keep it wet at B@1, the chain of mainstream cocktail bars where every night is party night. It’s easy to sneer at these cheesy drinking dens with their polo shirt-clad bartenders and bright-eyed, bushy-tailed clientele of youthful suits, but after a dodgily monikered cocktail or three to a soundtrack of Wham! and Phil Collins, you’ll soon be laughing with the rest of them. There’s a knowing honesty about a list of ‘disco’ drinks that includes the likes of sex on the beach and screaming orgasm, although you might feel on safer, more grown-up ground with an espresso martini or Aperol spritz. B@1 has a dozen locations across the country and it’s free to reserve an area at any of them. Cocktails are two-for-one at happy hour.
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