This play-pit is the second site to pay tribute to the famous French emperor’s wife (there’s also a Tonight Josephine in Waterloo): ‘a 19th-century fox’ we’re told by its owners, the team behind the Adventure bars and The Escapologist.
All powder pinks, soft greys, funky neon signs, brash strip lighting and silvery banquettes, the basement lounge could be a 1990s nail bar – and women tend to predominate. Pamper sessions start sedately with two-for-one happy-hour hooch from a list of ‘party cocktails’. Aviation fans might fancy a (Parma) Violet Femme; fruity, tropical Midori and banana June Bug is a familiar 1990s Hurricane; and we like Loch Negroni Monster, which substitutes Buckfast for vermouth in a tartan twist on the Italian classic. Alternatively, trade up to a premium range that has Toasted (Jack Daniel’s) Popcorn Sour and Flaming Zombie, or order bubbles, boy beers, Pinot G and anything from the plethora of shots, shooters and bombs as the disco vibe cranks up.
Not a fan of millenial pink? Head upstairs to the far grungier Nikki's, a bar which is inspired by "the nightmare girlfriend your mother warned you about."