Flat Iron

Address: 17 Beak Street, London, London, W1F 9RW, United Kingdom
Website: view Flat Iron’s website
Door: Open door/walk-ins
Style: Cocktail bar
Food: Bar Snacks

Review

Low-lit, simple decor and with bizarre equipment on every table - welcome to Flat Iron Soho, a once pop-up steak gig now ensconced in a permanent home. Enter the basement cocktail bar of this Beak Street steak restaurant via a sauna-like tongue-and-groove-walled staircase and you'll find a warm and buzzy small bar with bare walls, plywood tables and school chairs. The soundtrack's just the right volume and the temperature's cosy too.

A one-sheet menu carries a short list of cocktails - at first glance it's almost fully classic but on closer inspection each includes their own twists - a salted Old Fashioned, a French 75 with a cognac base a la Arnaud's French 75 bar in New Orleans, an Aperol spritz with rhubarb and Martini with orange bitters, with popcorn on the side (a vintage sign promising hot dogs is sadly only eye-candy). The palate will appeal to those who like their drink on the sweet side. Good maraschino cherries, though.

Cash only, for now.