The scene Vintage is bigger than ever this summer thanks to the long-awaited release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby – good news for The Candlelight Club, which pops up at secret venues across London in speakeasy style, inviting revellers to dress up in their best Roaring Twenties garb and Charleston to retro tunes and live jazz bands.
So far, so standard hipster, but the Club’s real USP is in the name. Wherever it sets up, the venue is “entirely lit by candles”. Well, this is what they tell us, but when TNT visited in April, the vibe was a little compromised by a number of neon ‘emergency exit’ signs. Woops. Still, everyone in attendance had put maximum effort into their get-up, bringing the desired ambience with them.
The grub Menus change depending on the evening’s theme (they’ve just done a The Great Gatsby duo of events, and next up is ‘A Night In Old Havana’ on May 31 and June 1). Starters from £5, mains from £15, desserts from £5.
Behind the bar A different cocktail list accompanies each new theme. Our visit (‘A New York Speakeasy Crawl’) was blurred by obscenely whisky-heavy Manhattans.
Bill please Cocktails from about £7.50, plus there’s a £15.75 entrance fee.
Verdict The concept sounded better than what The Candlelight Club managed to pull off when TNT visited, but the surrounding groups of grinning partygoers gave us the sense that you get out of the experience what you put in.
Secret location
thecandlelightclub.com
Photos: The New Sheridan Club
