Shochu Lounge

I came down here to try the «Shochu kanteen» a while ago with Katie B… and loved some of their food, so I brought my husband it to try it too. I couldn’t see any mention of the shochu kanteen… so maybe they’ve given up on it? The menu was exactly the same as Roka upstairs this time.
Drinks:
— The have some cocktails, a small list of shochu and some infused shochu, like ume-​shu. We tried two of the shochus… I really liked mine (made from sweet potatoes, rather than barley)
— However considering the bar is called «shochu lounge» I found it a bit weird that none of the staff could tell us anything about the (very short) list of shochu they had on their menu. I am not a shochu expert, but I know which areas I like… but none of the staff could even tell us which prefecture their shochu comes from! All they could tell us was that it comes from «south Japan…» So, we had to guess blindly.
Food:
The food was pretty expensive, with small portions but every bite was lovely.
— The sashimi was divine. Especially the Hamachi and the ebi. The portions were very stingy (especially as the platter cost £30) but I couldn’t fault them for the amazing fresh fish.
— I liked their yakiniku. We tried the negima and asparagus skewers.
— We ordered some mushroom rice to fill us up, and this was also really lovely.
In the end, I think this would be a good place to bring someone on a first date, and the food was amazing (which is why I gave them 4 stars.) Having said that, they seemed to be trying slightly too hard to look cool… it was just a shame the staff didn’t seem to know anything about the drinks they serve.

Had the both the premier (£79) and standard (£55) tasting menu at Shochu lounge both pretty good– the premier is worth getting for the black cod but otherwise I would say that the standard tasting menu has some great dishes for £55
It’s definitely worth doing the tasting menu as a la carte is quiet pricey and you obviously don’t get to try as much. The food was all good but the black cod and the dessert platter really stood out.
Great atmosphere, really knowledgable and friendly staff but overall I have tried more impressive Japanese food at places like Chisou (chiswick) and Kiraku (ealing) more close to home. I would probably go back here if I was catching up with a group of friends in central but it wouldn’t be my first choice if the food was the main priority!

I should add a disclaimer. I am 42, and this place is designed for 18 – 25 year olds. I was a fish out of water, so take this review with that grain of grey-​haired salt.
The bar was everything I kind of expect of a place designed for a younger generation than I. It was noisy, crowded, and the way they make the ice for the drinks seemed more designed to give it an air of pretentiousness than any practical purpose.
The wait to actually get served is longer than the time it takes to consume the drinks, and the price you pay appears to indicate you were being charged by the hour for the wait as well.
That said, we had a cocktail based on a gin fizz, but made with Lemon Sorbet, that I could have drank by the gallon. It was delicious! We spoke to the guy who ‘invented’ it, and got a great backstory before enjoying it. I was pleasantly surprised by that.
I wouldn’t go back, but that’s because I was a old fish in young water. The people there within the target demographic appeared to be having a great time, and the cocktails did taste nice.

I’m giving it 2-​star out of my love and respect for Zuma and their potential for greatness. but it really only deserves 1 star in my opinion.
A bit of a back story. Zuma was one of my favorite spot in Hong Kong so I really had high hopes for all restaurants and lounges under the same group. So having 2 hours in between work and dinner I decided to give it a try. However I was let down by the following:
1. Service — I was on my second glass of wine when the waitress showed up at my table all pouty and whiny, «hi sorry, so I got your first order of wine wrong. The first glass you had was this 15 pounds glass of shiraz, this one you’re drinking is what you ordered. Is that ok? Do you mind to just keep it on the tab??? or um. do you want me to remove it? But it’s ok right?» I turned to her and said, «I thought you repeated my order after me, how did you get it wrong?» The waitress replied, «yes I’m sorry about that. Can you keep it on the tab?» To which I responded, «I would prefer it to be amended because you made that mistake on your own and to be honest that first glass of new world shiraz really didn’t taste like 15 pounds.» So she took it off the bill. To be honest this type of thing will never happen in the States or in Asia. If the serve staff made such a mistake they would’ve kept it to themselves. They most certainly will not whine and pout to the customer about it.
Oh, and they served me edamame without napkin. i mean. really? no napkin for a food that you have to eat with your hands?
2. Seating — the booths were TINY!!! I’m a little girl and even I had trouble getting in and out of the booth. It’s a lounge, you are supposed to be able to sit back and relax. not sitting upright with the table 3 inches away from your body.
3. No 3G reception in the basement!?!
On the plus side they’ve got decent cocktails. so that’s where the 1 star goes.

Trendy Japanese bar with a price tag to match. After being rejected from Bourne & Hollingsworth because it was too full (at least to let guys in… three girls made it in after us), we headed down the street to this place. Luckily, we had dressed up a bit for a night out as, while they didn’t seem to enforce a dress code, you’d feel out of place in a tshirt and jeans.
The bar/​lounge is downstairs with the correspondingly dim mood lighting. The place is dominated by the actual bar in the center with massive gold-​fish bowls on the corners and an entire rack of smaller (but still large) bowls in a cubed rack on one wall. Each bowl contains a shochu flavoured by the fruit floating inside it. The effect is pretty cool although you can’t dip a straw in to taste (although it’s very tempting to try to do so anyways).
The cocktail menu isn’t that large but there is enough of a selection to please most. However, the drinks themselves are quite weak which is disappointing when each one costs the best part of a tenner. My martini tasted watery and went down in no time at all.
I’d set the atmosphere as good for a chill date or catching up with a friend but there isn’t any energy if you are prepping for a night out. And at those prices, it would be a costly place to drink quietly!
Overall, save it for those nights you just want a nightcap before going home, or when you want to cuddle up with that special someone (lots of couples were there), but don’t bet on making it out clubbing unless you can summon the energy up from deep inside.

Not as good as hoped, but my expectations were very high. They have a good list of cocktails involving shochu, and some (er, few) interesting shochus that you can order straight (recommended!)
The japanese whiskey list is short. Very short. Very little japanese staff, which I found disappointing — I was hoping to have someone really walk me through the shochu options and generally learn something from the place (as one might at a good whiskey bar) but the focus was more on the complex cocktails which left the shochu far overshadowed, so I suppose it’s not surprising that the focus wasn’t on the liquor itself. I’d hoped to find a den of japanese hippies sipping sake and shochu, instead it was scores of SW19 types drinking champagne and shochu elderflower martinis served to them by cocktail waitresses. Oh well, expectations.
Really a one-​star experience for what I’d wanted, but a three-​star kind of place if you know what you’re after and this is it.

Dimly lit, sexy art, sexier drinks. The music played isn’t too loud to where you can’t have a conversation. A great place to go for a night cap.
For someones first time it can be a little tough to find as it has its own door on Charlotte next to Roku restaurant. Just go down the stairs and you’re there.
The shochu lounge has some really great cocktails and very attentive staff. The shochu is a vodka like drink that goes back 1549 and is made of distilled sweet potato alcohol and has a distinctive taste when had without mixers. I couldn’t stomach it, hand over some lychee juice!

Great sushi, fresh and good. i liked the staff presence as well.
Though it can get a bit too loud at times. but it’s a good environment, quite corporate-​ish.

We came here for drinks while waiting for a table for dinner and I was impressed. It’s a lower ground lounge underneath the Roka restaurant. It was full but not jammed and it had a great vibe.
My girlfriend got a flower champagne martini and it was a really interesting drink. I’d say that everything there was done with some care and detail. For example, there’s a huge block of ice from which the bartenders saw and chisel block for your drink.
You can also order food which is from the Roka menu which is great. We had a couple dishes by the bar because we were starving. The only comment I have is that its not cheap — but I guess that’s typical for London.

Kaum möglich mit dem Iphone zu fotografieren. Viel kleiner als gedacht, unter dem Roka gelegen, kann man hier auch das Essen aus dem Roka bestellen.
Sensationell ist das riesige beleuchtete Stück Eis, von dem für spezielle Cocktails etwas fürs Glas abgeschlagen wird. Auch die großen Gallionen, in denen der Shochu geflavoured wird.
Ich bin gespannt, ob sich das mit dem Shochu tatsächlich auch bei uns irgendwann man durchsetzt, bei uns im BEN wird der ja leider noch nicht wirklich bestellt.

Wow. This place is fantastic. I’m so impressed. And pleased that I’ve discovered a little basement bar in the area that no one seems to know about — Bourne and Hollingsworth is getting a bit tired now.
Shochu is apparently a Japanese spirit that’s made with barley. It’s somewhat reminiscent of vodka, but weaker at about 25%. But, you can add all sorts of flavours to it — as with vodka. The bar is underneath Roka, and they do food as well.
The staff are friendly, and found space for us to squeeze in, despite not having booked (if you want a table, even for drinks, call in advance) so we perched and watched everyone in this strange place, with this strange spirit. Which you can buy in jars, should the mood take you. They’ve got them all lined up like an apothecary. Your jar is named and stays on the shelf for your visits. It’s £420. And actually, looks like value for money, if you’re a fan and this was your local. A bit like buying your own keg of beer in a pub I guess (can you do that? that would be awesome).
Anyway, my jasmine cocktail was amazing, really sweet and light. Interesting. My martini, not so. But then, I’ve never been a fan of the martini, I need more of a mixer than a bit of cucumber.
The only thing that annoyed me, was getting charged for service twice (13.5% as well which seems steep). We paid up, decided two minutes later that we had time for another, and then service was whacked on again, despite us only having paid two minutes ago. Seemed a bit cheeky, but my friend is far to polite to say anything. I’m pretty sure if I’d asked they’d have taken the charge off. Cocktails are resting at about £8.50 which isn’t too bad.
I like this bar. I like that it’s a secret, I like that there’s a whole spirit I’ve never had before. I like that when we left, the doorman asked if we needed a taxi. That made me happy.
I’ll be back. A lot.

I’ve only been to Shochu Lounge while waiting for my table at its sister restaurant Roka. However, from what I’ve seen, it would make a good venue for drinks or even a meal.
The basement location is given a classy ambience with a nice dark décor scheme. There are a lot of comfy places to sit.
The drinks menu is extensive including some more unusual Far Eastern offerings. I was impressed by the lineup of non-​alcoholic drinks and cocktails. The centrepoint is the huge block of ice from which they carve what they need for the drinks.
The menu reflects Roka’s Japanese menu upstairs and looks appetising.
It’s definitely worth a re-​visit

«Domo arigato» guys for the slammin’ Shochu!
Ice Cool place!
After a trip to Japan in 2007 I’ve been trying to relive some authentic Shochu encounters. This place was the perfect place to do so.
The bar itself is a basement setup, with various different seating arrangements. V atmospheric with cool lighting, chilled tunes and extremely friendly staff on board.
The basic premise of the place and the Shochu thang is you can buy you own massive pot of shochu for about £200. They tag it as yours and lock it away in the glass fronted wall lockers for everyone to see. Then as and when you’re entertaining in the area, you can pop in and have a refill on your very own shochu supply.
That being the option for all the flash winkers out there, one of which I aint sir, I went for option B which was to appear extremely interested (which I was genuinely was) in the many many different flavours of shochu available and blag a rack of free tasters. (You can also act less pikey than myself and purchase drinks individually from the bar!)
The most exciting part of my sessh here was when the bar was low on ice. The is a HUGE chunk of crystal clear ice just sat on the side of the bar glistening away looking all spiritual and Japaneesy. When the time comes for more ice; out comes this ancient looking Samurai saw, with which a tiny lassie behind the bar, sliced off an end o’ ice off. Cool fun (literally).
Then the staff get a bit Sharon Stone with the ice picks and hacking up the recently severed block in front of you. V entertaining for an ice-​based show! Be careful where you choose to sit though. I had a front row seat for this and ended up with plenty of sawn ice slush in my lap and a few flying ice-​chips to the face!
Good place to take a first date (It’s quite dark in there and anything that can initially draw emphasis away from my BIG nose is a plus!) Come on peeps, gone are the days of «Wanna go iceskating /​bowling /​to see a movie» It’s atmospheric in here and much more exciting than hitting Weatherspoons for a round of near-​gone off IPA. I know times are hard but if you act interested enough you get free booze and a splash of culture to boot.
Following drinkies in here I ate in the Japanese restaurant Roka upstairs, which was delicious. .. Alas details for which is a whole other story /​write up!
Stay Frosty!
«Mata né»
–Crispy (bits of ice flying everywhere!)

Met up with some peeps at this joint on a weeknight.
It was my first conscious[1] encounter with shochu and I’ve been on the hunt in the states, ever since. Shochu is a distilled spirit that is similar to vodka but I don’t think the alcohol content is as high and thereare less calories. [2] The cocktails here are tastey and the flavored shochu are FABULOUS! The flavored shochu is shochu infused with fruit and/​or sugar. There is a shelf that is filled with trendy baskets with ladles that are filled with shochu! Customers can rent a spot on the shelf and they keep the shelf stocked with whatever shochu flavor you choose. Im not too sure how much it is for the rental but you either have to have cash-​moneys, a lot of friends or be an alcoholic. It was a pretty cool idea, my friend’s friend [3] had two baskets; one was lychee shochu and I think the other was plum.
All night the boys were talking about the huge block of crystal clear ice on the bar the bartendars were chipping away at[4]. Apparently they thought the ice doesn’t melt[5] and everyone was fascinated[4]. There were rumors about the special «high tech ice flown in from Sweden[6]. Bull crap! So I asked the bartender what was so special about the ice. He replied that the ice melts slower because it contains less oxygen. Hmm. I guess my followup question should have been: «Did you ever take high school chemistry?»
[1]By conscious, I may mean «non-​blacked out memory».
[2] About 20 cal. per ounce, yes I look these things up. Don’t judge.
[3]By facebook standards, it means he’s my BFF.
[4]We were either high or REALLY nerdy engineers.
[5] Isn’t that called glass?
[6] I said nerdy not to be confused with common sense.

A great bar in near Goodge Street with great food, great drink and a great atmosphere without being overcrowded. A bouncer at the door counts the people as they enter, as does another person at the bottom (for those flowing from the restaurant). There’s enough lounge chairs and tables who feel peckish and want to indulge in the same menu served by Roka, the restaurant upstairs.
The music is loud, but not as loud as many other bars, and it’s intimate without being completely packed. Always a bonus! Of course, you need to try their speciality Shochu cocktails (and they have a selection for those who don’t drink)

Shocho is a fantastic Japanese themed bar/​restaurant beneath the famous Roka.
The food menu derives from Roka and is based around Japanese open charcoal-​grill cuisine. I do not hesitate to say the food was sensational. I definitely recommend the tasting menu so you can appreciate the artistry of the chefs.
The cocktails are also fantastic and as a mixologist myself I am hard to please. They use and brew their own shocho and use this as the base for many of their cocktails. The Plum Plum is especially nice.
The décor is dark and romantic without losing any atmosphere. The service was well paced and you could easily spend an entire evening here. Bring plenty of money though because it is not cheap.

Great chillout venue serving the latest in mixology.
Located beneath Roka, this basement bar has a very relaxed atmosphere with a hint from the Japanese influence of the above restaurant. Taking its name from a distilled Japanese liquor that the bar makes itself and uses in so many of its creations, the bar offers something unique to the air of Charlotte Street.
Probably best experienced before dinner (as was no doubt intended), you can also end up in this bar for hours, totting up a hefty bill, in a pleasant fug of relaxation.

If you want a sleek evening in slick surroundings, it definitely fits the bill. Although I’ve never eaten down here, they apparently they also serve the full Roka menu so if you can’t get a table upstairs, see if you can sneak in downstairs.
The dark, subterranean lounge has a bit of Bond feel to it. You can just imagine a seductive Bond girl being plied with a shot or two of Shochu before the baddies pile in and James is forced to impale a couple of evil geniuses on chopsticks, before returning to sweep her away to some silk-​sheeted bed.
Anyway, delicious cocktails come at a price, so unless someone else is paying, it’s probably best to restrict yourself to just one. I’m a particular fan of the Lychee Martini but whichever of their fresh fruit /​alcoholic combos you choose, you’re probably not going to be disappointed.

Came here on random weekday afternoon so it was fairly quiet. Only to have drinks though.
The atmosphere is sexy yet trendy… dim lit and full of dark wood furniture. Our seats were up against this giant animé cartoon style mural. We sat in these strange high table booths, like when you sit at bar tables on stools but they were booths. my legs were dangling hehe
The waitresses wore yellow plaid school uniforms. which seemed a little too Kill Bill and degrading for my taste. Very distracting.
The drinks were uninspiring but mostly overpriced.
Meh, I might give this place another chance if someone else was paying: P