Archer Street, 3 – 4 Archer Street, South Soho, London, W1D 7AP
During my (almost) three years of blogging I’ve often ummed and ahhed over what to post and what not to post. With so many brilliant blogs out there, the last thing I’d want to do would be to simply regurgitate someone else’s content. After all, you lovely lot don’t have to read my musings and why on earth would or should you bother visiting La Petite Anglaise if you’d already seen the exact same stuff on a hundred other sites!? With an editorial team of one, I think it’s safe to say I’m never going to compete with the likes of Style.com in terms of delivering hot-off-the-press fashion news so instead I decided to focus on sartorial stories personal to me. In a roundabout sort of way, the decision to narrow down has led me to broaden my blogging horizons because much as I love a good handbag – and God knows I do love a good handbag – like most people, I indulge in other pastimes too. Aside from shopping, of which I”ll admit I do rather a lot, I also spend indecent amounts of time frequenting various wining and dining establishments around London (and writing essays, but you don’t want to read about that) so without further ado, I bring you my first EVER cocktail bar review! Given that I often go there more than twice a week, I probably didn’t to pay another visit to Archer Street in order to write this piece. But what kind of girl says no to complimentary cocktails? Certainly not me.
Since my housemate/BFF/perma-party pal Charlotte introduced me to the Soho hotspot some time last Summer I’ve been criminally obsessed with Archer Street. I don’t know whether it’s the French chateau meets luxe lounge bar decor, their delectable Pinot Grigio selection or the fact that they often play 90′s RnB, but I just can’t get enough of the place. Generally speaking, a crisp glass of white wine is my tipple of choice. But on the occasions I opt for a cocktail (usually around the point in the evening when you know you should call it a night but inevitably don’t) my current favourite is the Lychee Martini. As I knew full well before I visited in a “work capacity” last week, Archer Street does a damn good version of the sinfully sugary late night treat. Obviously I had to check that nothing had changed in the, ahem, six days since my last visit and I’m pleased to confirm that their lychee delights were every bit as delightful as I remembered. My only complaint would be the lack of real floating fruit in the drink although I’ll admit that when semi submerged in a martini glass, lychees can sometimes look disturbingly like eyeballs. On the whole, my long suffering boyfriend gets the raw end of the deal having orders barked at him while attempting to take my outfit photos. On this occasion he was more than happy to help out and ensured me that his Old Fashioned was ice cold perfection.
Despite the gorgeousness of the place, one thing I particularly love about Archer Street is its total lack of pretention. It may be ridiculously in demand and ingeniously located but as the bar’s manager so succinctly put it, at the end of the day “it’s all just a bit of fun”. I mentioned earlier that they sometimes play 90′s and early noughties RnB. Well, other times the bar staff climb aboard the tables and treat you to a pitch perfect rendition of various classic tunes. In theory this sounds beyond cringeworthy. In practice (and after two or three Lychee Martinis) it’s complete and utter genius.
I hope you enjoyed the first of my posts about wining and dining. As you’ve no doubt gathered, Archer Street wholeheartedly gets the LPA seal of approval and I’d strongly recommend making a visit… Provided of course, you order a Lychee Martini.
Love Ella. X
