Cahoots

If you, like us, are intrigued by the thought of London’s subterranean network of disused tube stations, the new opening beneath Soho’s Kingly Court might pique your interest.
1940s cocktail bar 'Cahoots'
Cahoots is the latest offering from Inception Group, the team behind Maggie’s, a 1980s-themed boutique nightclub on Fulham Road, Barts speakeasy on Sloane Avenue, and various other themed south-west London drinking spots. Their new bar in Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street, imagines a disused underground station, commandeered as an air-raid shelter during the war but captured post-1945 by a group of ‘scoundrels’ and set up as a secret bar.
Cahoots takes its cue from the success of recent immersive theatre ventures: customers are greeted by actors dressed as 1940s characters and are issued with a ‘day ticket’ on arrival. The underground theme has been taken up with gusto – wooden escalators lead drinkers downstairs, one room is set up as a tube carriage, and white and green tiling evokes an underground station.
Sandbags, bunting and posters urging you to ‘grow your own vegetables’ contribute to the 1940s premise, as does the music policy: jazz, swing, and rock’n’roll, with some electro swing later in the night. Cabaret shows are intended in the future.
The cocktail menu is a lengthy eight pages, with an extra black market list hidden in an envelope at the back marked ‘Do Not Open’. The fashion for mismatched drinking vessels is observed and cocktails are presented in mugs, hip flasks, tins and vintage milk bottles, but the Tanqueray No. TEN Station Clock cocktail goes one further: it’s served up in an actual clock with a working clock face.
If, then, you’re looking for a late-night drink and an immersive 1940s experience, Cahoots is now open till 1am from Monday to Wednesday, 2am on Thursday and Friday, and 3am on Saturday.