Hamish Smith takes a gamble on Archive & Myth at the Hippodrome.
Ah, Leicester Square. The cinemas, the casinos, the happy-clappy show goers – what fun? No, really, what fun? Why anyone comes to these culturally squalid badlands of London has always been beyond me. The last time I was here, not hastily passing through, was one of those youthful casino follies that are better off archived into the cerebral cloud service under ‘experience’. Unfortunately, losing the best part of a week’s wages in the space of minutes at the Hippodrome has a habit of staying with you.
I’d sworn to never return. But of course, I – as many others – couldn’t have predicted that this summer’s blockbuster bar launch would be inside the Hippodrome. Surely at Jack Sotti’s Archive & Myth, my luck had to change.
THE ENTRANCE
It certainly didn’t at the door, which, try as I might, didn’t want to let me in. I fumbled around, jabbing at painted symbols on a mock-vintage door, like that one useless contestant on The Crystal Maze.
The best bit was the indifferent foyer attendant, who gave the impression he’d barely heard of Archive & Myth even though he was stationed a few metres from it. He mumbled the password, barely looking up then, begrudgingly, shuffled over, hit the door hard three times and let me in. I’m still not sure if he was part of the show.
In a sense, I guess, it’s mission accomplished. As a thematic device, speakeasy entrances do work – everything feels an elevated experience when minutes before you weren’t sure if you were getting in. If outside it’s all bouncers and barriers, Magic Mike fans and Casino casualties, inside it’s intimately lit, with exposed brick walls and soft furnishings, happy faces and that hard-to-pitch, just-right vibe. Archive & Myth is the quintessential hidden bar, transplanting you from one world to another. And if you look carefully, the décor pulls on the storied history of the building, finding a home for its memorabilia.
THE COCKTAILS
By now, my review partner Brenda is on a corner banquette three-quarters deep into a half-sized Martini called the Martini Mineraux (£11). This tiny tipple is made with Sotti’s own gin collaboration, Renais, which is joined by limestone, Chablis and lemon oils. What the halfling lacks in size, it makes up for in character. It’s got just-fallen rain notes, it’s flinty and bracing. A reminder that with the deftest touch, meddling with the Dry Martini can enhance it.
As we descend into the full-size drinks, we mandate some dumplings and prawns from neighbouring restaurant Chop Chop to aid the absorption. Good, if unspectacular fare, but the drinks (£22) – made on the night by Laurie Howells and team – are historical recipes given a good buff and really do shine.
The Queen’s Park (Singani 63, sugarcane, cut grass, hops, lime) is fresh, herbaceous with a lick of liquorice and a waft of grass. Soixante Quinze (gin, elderflower, Torrontes, white chocolate, lemon, caviar bump) has more of a floral persuasion and is bright and elegant.
The Daisy (tequila, guava, black cardamom, lime, toasted coconut) is a fun, tropical spin on this matriarch sour. The Bamboo meanwhile (vodka, sherry, dry vermouth, fermented lychee, palo santo), foams out of its coupe and manages to be low-down funky and high brow at the same time.
The drinks are restorations of dusty recipes, with just the right amount of new complementing the old. They take the black and white and make them colour.
And sitting back there’s a lot to admire. In drinks, hospitality and atmosphere, this is a fine cocktail bar that could rub shoulders with the best indies around. The bits that let it down – the charmless surroundings, the eye-rolling entrance and the tourist-trap prices (£150 on pre-dinner drinks and nibbles!) – are perhaps the elements that Sotti and team have had the least part in. You don’t, I suppose, choose your parents.
SCORE
Hospitality 8/10
Drinks 9/10
Food 7/10
Atmosphere 8/10
Décor 7/10
Value 5/10
TOTAL: 7/10
> Hippodrome, Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square, WC2H 7JH