Reviews Zenna Bar

Had an absolutely amazing time here. Bar staff were incredibly knowledgeable about cocktails and were super friendly. We got chatting to the bar staff and they ended up giving us some free cocktails and charged us cheaper prices for the drinks we originally bought!! The cocktails themselves are delicious and there are some really exotic ones if you are looking for something different. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this bar - it boasts beautiful decor too.

Popped in without a reservation on a Friday and they were really accommodating and friendly, let us sit in a reserved area until the party arrived. Cocktails were lovely and it had a great atmosphere. Small and cosy, feels like a bit of a hidden gem!

To judge from the lack of crowds on a Friday night this is an undiscovered gem. A basement bar below an Indian restaurant in Soho might not be the most obvious choice for cocktails, but this deserves to be more widely known! Service was a cut above expectations, and the cocktail menu, whilst not cutting edge, was delicious, well presented and had one or two crackers. Bar snacks, which came from the restaurant above, were very tasty. Lots of nooks and crannies in a funky but not OTT space with plenty of sitting room.

Popped in here for about an hour on Saturday night and had a right old laugh. It's a small place but had enough room to find a spot on the dancefloor. The tunes are cheesy ranging from disco classics to Beyonce...and some more Beyonce...and then some more Beyonce. Okay, so whilst not being a varied set at least the dj knew what would get people dancing. At one point to tunes changed to Indian foot-stompers and that was great fun too. I drank a Cucumber & Black Pepper Gin Martini - it looked like a glass of swamp water but was refreshing, tasty and ended in a wonderful fiery kick - don't be tempted to eat the cucumber at the end though, it's far too peppery!

If my forefathers had a favourite bar, this would have been it. No, it's not old fashioned (actually just the opposite!) but it has two things that would have my ancestors doing the happy dance: 1) some truly excellent cocktails, and 2) a touch of mother India. Located underneath the Red Fort (an upscale Indian restaurant), Zenna immediately made me feel like I was home. We rushed to the bar to place our orders and a very pretty blonde mixed up a trio of House Nectar (no ingredients listed but it's a light fruity drink made from citrus and mango in my opinion). It was a nice easy way to start but there was no way it was going to last. To deal with our sheer numbers, the manager, Dan, was called and in no time he rolled up his sleeves and started mixing up cocktails. I can't help but be impressed when the manager is ready to dive into helping work the bar when needed so this was starting off very well indeed. As we quizzed Dan about the menu, he revealed that he had created all but two of the drinks. Upon further questioning and compliments about the shot, he pointed out the Illiana (or Golden Dragon) which lays claim to the spiciest drink in the world. Being naturally competitive, I had to give it a go. Dan explained the ingredients as he carefully mixed the drink. For the longest time, it didn't look that daunting as it's a beautiful looking beverage with just a few chillies in the mix. The danger comes in the last ingredient which is a concentrated extract from Habanero chillies. One drop of this extract (400,000 Scoville units) has more fire than 50 jalapenos. Yeah, I was starting to sweat... The Illiana comes with two things: i) a fire extinguisher of Gin Fizz (a cooling drink but it does nothing for the fire), and ii) the requirement to sign a waiver of liability. The first few sips were easy and I was down a third of the drink before the burn started to hit. The danger of these chillies is not the initial spicy taste, but the fact that each incremental drop adds more and more pain until your mouth, throat, and stomach are on fire. With the dual motivation of wanting to finish and Anna mocking me, I managed to get the drink down in about 15 minutes (along with the entire Gin Fizz) and after a further 20 minutes of agony was finally ready to drink again. And we did. Dan kept talking about the bar (which he owns too by the way) and like love-struck schoolgirls we hung on to his every word. When my friend Mark mentioned he wanted to try a whiskey drink, Dan took us through a tasting of three whiskies and made a drink with each one. The night wasn't done (although my memory was starting to be) and we continued sampling different spirits before finally bidding Dan farewell and dragging our inebriated selves out. All in all, Zenna has become my favourite place for a quality drink and I'll undoubtedly be back to taken the Illiana challenge (I'm a sucker like that). Although I hear it's packed on Friday/Saturday so perhaps a more chill mid-week to enjoy the cocktails. They have a luxury selection with average prices of £18-25/cocktail which is just drool-worthy.

Great cocktails. My personal favourite is the Kawiwi. Yum.