Ladies & Gentlemen

Toilets.

Kentish Town.

Cocktail bars.

Three things, which have two things in common:

1) They have hardly anything in common. But one of those things is;

2) Ladies & Gentlemen: a retro-inspired Kentish Town cocktail bar located – as it happens – in an abandoned underground toilet block at the bottom of Highgate Road.

It comes courtesy of William Borrell, who is both a Kentish Town resident, the founder of Vestal Vodka, and – at a hunch – a fan of moodily candlelit rooms; small, intimate bars; table service; Manhattan-cocktail-lounge-esque live jazz vocalists; and 16-litre copper stills capable of producing bespoke spirits on site.

Those spirits are made using locally sourced fruits from Hampstead Heath allotments and syrups from Kentish Town Honey, distilled behind the bar by day and served up in their seasonal collection of signature cocktails and boilermakers by night. Which makes complete sense when attempting to understand and appreciate their ethos (that we just made up for them): good ingredients, well utilised.

You can expect to see – after making your way onto Highgate Road’s traffic island, descending the narrow stairs and pushing back the blue velvet curtain above the door – two small rooms and one centrepiece bar, each housing a collection of small tables, bookshelves, vintage speakers and – most importantly – banana and chartreuse daiquiris; a St. Charles Punch with cognac and port; and a mean Aviation.

They also have toilets.

Actual toilets.

NOTE: Ladies & Gentlemen is open daily from 5pm-late. It’s walk-in only – find out more HERE.

ALSO NOTE: Ladies & Gentlemen have now done a number two, and you can find it in Camden.

Ladies & Gentlemen | 2 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5 1NR

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