Cahoots in Kingly Court: what to order and when to go

Cahoots Underground is a 1940s-themed cocktail bar styled as a disused tube station, and it commits to the bit from the first step. Find the underground sign on the ground floor of Kingly Court, by the Beak Street entrance, and old wooden escalators carry you down to a stationmaster in a kiosk who issues a day ticket. It is theatre before you have ordered a thing.

What it is

Cahoots calls itself a 1940s Soho pub inspired by London's tube, with vintage interiors, cocktails and live music nights. There are two platforms, Northbound and Southbound. Visit London describes three spaces across two parallel buildings, with entrances on Kingly Court and Kingly Street. It sits off Carnaby Street and opened in 2015, from Inception Group, founded by Duncan Sterling and Charlie Gilkes.

A word on the history: the station is a story, not a real one. Visit London says the site was once an air raid shelter, but treat the tube station as pure set dressing, and the Bakerloo line carriage as a replica. Time Out has noted it is a little confused about which era it is playing. That is part of the fun.

What to order

The menu is a newspaper, with more than thirty cocktails according to East London Girl. Drinks arrive in flasks, vintage milk bottles and tins, per Visit London.

• The Cahooch: Mount Gay Black Barrel rum, Bulleit Bourbon, Cointreau Noir and Martini Rosso, as listed by 50 Best Discovery.
• Meet Me Under The Station Clock: the sharing cocktail, for a group with a plan.
• Winston Churchill (gin) or Good-time Charley (whisky), both named by Visit London.
• Pigs in blankets among the small plates, to keep the cocktails company.

Expect to pay roughly £15 to £16 a cocktail, going by reviews rather than a published menu. Menus change, so treat the list above as a starting point.

The seat: Time Out says to ask for a table in the carriage, the best spot in the house.

When to go

• Friday and Saturday, 7pm to 10.30pm: live music, per Cahoots' own site.
• Saturday from 2pm: Bootlegger Breakout in the Underground, listed on the Cahoots FAQ page.
• Saturday afternoons: the Black Market Knees-Up, a bottomless cocktail package. DesignMyNight lists a standard ticket at £55 a head (from £59.40 with fees), with a welcome drink, two rounds of cocktails, a sandwich, skinny chips, a brownie and 1940s quiz games.

Opening hours differ between listings, so check cahoots.co.uk before you set off, especially for late nights at the weekend.

Booking and the rules

• Book ahead. Tables are for up to two hours, according to the Cahoots FAQ and Time Out. Weekends fill up.
• The Underground is strictly 21 and over.
• Dress: 1940s garb is favoured, but any well-presented guest is welcome. Go smart-ish.
• Groups of 13 or more should ring 020 7352 6200.

For after: Cahoots Ticket Hall

Across the way at 5 Kingly Street, the sister pub Cahoots Ticket Hall is a 1940s black market pub with a large terrace, open daily from noon, serving draught beers, pale ales, cocktails and wines, with live sports screenings. CAMRA mentions wood panelling and a coin-operated jukebox. It is the same operator, so this is the easy next step rather than a change of scene. Order a pint on the terrace.

Details are on the Cahoots FAQ, the Underground page and the Ticket Hall page.