Manto

Picture the scene if you can. My friends and I are falling out of a bar, at closing time, in Leicester Square on Saturday night. We need to be on the last Tube but we haven't seen each other for a while and it would be really nice to have just one more drink. Covent Garden one way, Soho the other and we are stood arguing about where to go (and wasting that precious last drink time) on the street corner! Suddenly someone has a cunning plan and begins walking. The arguing rabble slowly follows almost without realising and shortly we are stood Manto on Old Compton St outside Manto. The tall glass doors are letting Roger Sanchez's 'Another Chance' ...

Hyped as THE place to go this summer on Old Compton Street, it does not disappoint. Sure the beer may be slightly warm on occasions, and a tad pricey (nearly £3 a pint), but hey wait till you get a load of the scenery! The bar is built on three floors. I have not been upstairs but there is, allegedly, a balcony. The main bar stretches far far back into the depths of SoHo and is quite light and airy, whereas the basement bar (sleazepit, as I call it) is dark brown. There are lots of seats and brown leatherette cubes to sit on downstairs. They do cocktails down there too. It is a bit like a sensory deprivation unit and it is very easy to lose track of time. ...