Lively afternoon bar central London

[joyouslady]

Dear MN
Looking for help 🙏🏻 I need to find a lively bar in London for a group of ladies. Ideally around the Soho/ Mayfair area. We are going to a smart brunch with a dj but need somewhere to go from around 5/6pm. Nothing too crazy but we're celebrating a big birthday so want to go somewhere fairly lively and fun. Any recommendations hugely appreciated!

You could try 100 Wardour Street, lively and in Soho. They do brunches but also just drinks and bar snacks

Try bar soho or Waxy O’Connors

Weekday or weekend?

My go to would be Be at One.

What do you mean by lively? Waxy o Connor's I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

I would for the rugby, I wouldn't for anything else.

https://archerstreet.co.uk

if you like to have your drinks served by west end singers who intermittently do a fabulous performance

Unsure if you have time but Albert Schloss on Great Windmill street is a newish Bier Keller. We went there about 12 days ago on a Sat afternoon and loved it!

I just read about cahoots underground bar. Not been but looks good.

The Wolsey is always fun. And claridges. For a bit quieter but beautiful is maison assouline on Piccadilly

Cahoots is great. Been a few times with my husband. Not sure if great for a larger group though, or where you plan to stay a while. It's quite small in the actual Underground bar area, with only a few larger tables. You need to book and you get a 2 hour slot which they do politely "police".

Waxy O’Connors 😂😂😂

If you haven’t been to Trisha’s on Greek Street then it’s absolutely worth popping down for one. You’ll probably find Trisha herself propped up at the bar with her sherry, as she has been since sometime in about 1973.

I’d recommend going off the beaten track afterwards, up into Fitzrovia. The Wheatsheath and the Black Horse are two of my faves. Nicer atmosphere and crowd than Soho, and definitely more likely to find a decent table to sit at for a larger group.

Thanks for that insight as was hoping to go with a handful of colleagues

Star man next door to Gordon Ramsay's maybe

This is where we wanted to go but they're no longer taking bookings unless it's a mixed sex group 👎🏻

We're going there later in the evening for a boogie 😀

This is somewhere we looked at actually! It looks like a really fun vibe. Was it crazy busy on a Saturday afternoon? Wasn't sure if it was more somewhere to go later on. This is for that awkward in between bit where you want the vibe to carry on but don't want to go into full party mode at 5pm 😂 also we'll be dressed up from the brunch, is it more of a casual place?

We've got another friends celebration here soon otherwise this is the kind of place we'd go to. Thanks for the suggestion

Has anyone been to the Ham yard hotel? This is somewhere that has been recommended but I've not been. Thanks so much for the ideas and suggestions here.

Bit further but my go to bar is Gordon's on the embankment, never been on a Saturday but it's busy from 5 on a Friday. Old school wine bar rather than modern style

Love it there and Mr Foggs . They are part of the same group.

Joyous last- it was busy towards 7-8 pm but before that there was plenty of room downstairs where the long tables were.

Yes but when it first opened. It was ok

So sorry to hear that. We had an amazing time there, admittedly before Covid. Hope you have a lovely evening, wherever you end up.

Mr Foggs off Berkeley Square? I remember a great magician entertaining my colleagues over a few drinks there.