NOTE: The team have now relaunched this bar as Crossroads – we’ll be back once we’ve got the full scoop.
Ladies & Gentlemen have done a number two.
The original Kentish Town cocktail bar caused quite a stir when it opened in a former public toilet back in 2015, mostly by making everyone question whether it was ironic or not to ask if they were taking the p*ss. Now, flush with awards, the proprietor has opened a second site in a rather convenient public convenience in Camden.
That proprietor – just while we’re on the subject – is one William Borrell, who happens to also be one of the founders of Vestal Vodka. And the upshot of that is that they make a great many of their own bespoke cocktail spirits on site in Kentish Town, using a rather lovely 16 litre copper still.
This new venue, much like the old one, is underground – find the small brick molehill in the street next to Camden Road station, wander down the narrow stairs, and you’ll find yourself staring at a moodily candlelit cocktail lounge space that seems far larger than it really ought to. You’ll see feet saunter over the ceiling through the semi-transparent ‘luxcrete’ pavement above your head. The walls are covered in original Victorian tiles that were presumably once white, and which seem most stunning for the fact that they’ve survived. And you’ll notice glimpses of robust polished ironwork from the 1900s-era railway that once ran through here.
Roll over to the concrete bar, and you can score cocktails like their Asterix (vodka, tomato vermouth, sour cucumber, and some botanicals), or their Doctor’s Orders which involves peated whiskey, ginger wine, and what they’re calling a “citric acid blend”. There are even a couple of numbers made with their own low-alcohol spirit, Willow (made in that copper still). And they’re not too pricey either.
So you won’t find yourself spending too many pennies.
NOTE: Ladies & Gentlemen Camden is open daily from 5pm-midnight (later on Fri & Sat). You can find out more at their website right HERE.
Ladies & Gentlemen Camden | The former public toilets on the junction of Royal College Street and Camden Road, NW1 9NL
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