Enter the foliage-fringed door to the City’s coolest bar, and be transported from the streets of London to a Polynesian paradise.This is Kanaloa, brought to you by the clever folks behind sister bar Mahiki. With investors including Sarah Harding of Girls Aloud fame, Kanaloa is as fun as its Mayfair sibling and will undoubtedly attract royalty, reality TV stars and bonus-spending bankers alike, but without excluding those on more of a budget.
Kanaloa adopts Mahiki’s South Pacific theme, with tropical flora, wicker tables, and waitresses in beautiful matching Hawaiian dresses. You can almost be fooled into feeling the sun warming the back of your neck. You enter via a wooden footbridge, which takes you straight to the long bar. There is plenty of seating, and steps at the back lead to a secluded “beach” area, which is quieter and more intimate and provides a perfect people-watching spot. Even the loos are glamorous, with massages and manicures on offer. The dance floor area is open from 10pm and is certainly big enough for all those who want to throw some moves after a cocktail or five. Be warned, however, as a table around the dance floor will set you back a cool £500.
The music adds to the carefree feel of the place. Tunes from the 70s and 80s are blasted out, perfect for those who fancy a bit of a sing-a-long. Hits by the Beach Boys, Jackson 5, Madonna and Duran Duran were all noted as we sat supping our cocktails.
Imaginative and exotic cocktails are the order of the day. Categories such as “Beachcombing”, “Fireworks and Hullabaloo”, and “Mystery and Allure” jump off the page, with regular wines, beers and champagnes also available. Some cocktails are to be enjoyed alone, while others serve up to 8. Mahiki is famed for its imaginative cocktails and Kanaloa isn’t just keeping up the standard, it’s coming close to surpassing it.
The cocktail menu at Kanaloa includes Mahiki favourite the Zombie (£12) but it has been given a Kanaloa twist. It’s still an intoxicating blend served in a carved ceramic vessel but the Kanaloa version contains a blend of nine rums, grog mix, a splash of absinthe, flambed spiced liqueurs including homemade pomegranate and passionfruit, maraschino cherry liqueur and fresh lime and grapefruit juice. It’s still topped with a half lime containing a sugar cube doused in spirits and then set alight though.
The house cocktails are not to be missed – the Kanaloa Kula – and also the Tiare.The Kanaloa Kula is a delicious blend of Mahiki’s very own rum, lemon, star anise, lime sugar, pomegranate juice and a soft sparkling wine. The Tiare, on the other hand, has a passionfruit vodka basea with apple and pomegranate juices, lime, lemongrass and jasmine and gardenia honey. Easy to drink and perfect for those with a sweet tooth, both were also topped with a beautiful fresh orchid.
Neither would break the bank either, both costing £8.
In keeping with its party spirit, Kanaloa pulls out all the stops when it comes to creating cocktails to share. Christian’s Cannon (£120) serves six to eight people comfortably and is based on a Black Velvet. Inspired by the mutiny on the Bounty, the cocktail is named after Fletcher Christian who led the mutiny on the ship and the explosive combination is served in a ceramic canon complete with a fizzing sparkler fuse.
If you’re looking for a showcase for the mixologists’ talent, this is it. They’ve sourced their own old fashioned gun powder (so that it’s not toxic) and infused the rum with it before mixing it with apricots, spices and Guinness and then topping it with the house Pommery Champagne. If that doesn’t sound extravagant enough, then £600 will buy you a Pagan’s Cannon which is a deluxe version served in a gold cannon with extra sparklers. The ingredients are more high end too – inside the cannon you’ll find a bottle of Cristal (that usually costs £500 alone) plus high end Toz golden rum hailing from St. Lucia.
If you had the necessary resources, you could spend the GDP of a small European country in Kanaloa. Fear not, however, as you need not rely on the latest payout from a magazine deal in order to enjoy a fun drink after work here – Kanaloa has prices to suit all and will certainly become a firm City favourite.
| 18 Wine Office Court, Hill House, Shoe Lane, London, EC4A 3BQ | Transport: Chancery Lane |
| Telephone: +44 020 7842 0620 | Open: Mon-Tues 16:45-00:00, Wed-Fri 16:45-3:00, Sat 20:00-3:00, Sun available for private hire |
| Dress Code: Smart/Casual | Website |
