Famously, Sienna Miller received the ultimate compliment when her ID was checked at this funky basement club favoured by celebrities. It’s little surprise, Cherry Jam serves delicious cocktails to sip on whilst dancing with friends to funky house tunes.

The Venue
The minimal, dark main entrance to Cherry Jam is flanked by two large doormen in black coats. As you walk in, the beat of funky house music echoes from the basement so check your coats in the lobby’s cloakroom and make your way downstairs. Here, you’ll enter the main space and a quick look around at the under-lit walls and gleaming bar soon make you understand why this place has gained such a good reputation.

You’ll spy a few seats dotted around the perimeter of the room, although these are removed later in the night to create more space for dancing. An intimate venue, the DJ booth is directly over the dancefloor. A raised seating area is available for reservations, and provides an all important spot to rest your weary feet after a night throwing out shapes to the cool funky house tunes. The decor is suitably sexy and glamorous for a club that attracts the A-list. Sumptuous red walls, partially hidden behind thick black drapes offset cow print booth seating. Wooden walls compete for space with psychedelic black and white wallpaper and there’s the unique touch of specially designed light projections against one wall, which change frequently with suitably cool imagery. The bar is green in colour, offsetting the pink and red lighting perfectly.

The Atmosphere
The club is over 21s but you can expect a mainly over 25s crowd. Due to the relatively diminutive size of this basement club, the party can become a bit up close and personal at times, but some would consider this a good thing with so many well dressed, attractive people heading here. There’s little attitude at Cherry Jam, allowing you to enjoy an upmarket, glamorous clubbing experience without the awful pretension of the more typical celebrity clubs. The staff are very friendly and capable of a spot of banter, even when the place is pumping, which is a welcome change for such a moody city. Even the door staff are pleasant, a happy surprise in London.

The Music
Although the music at Cherry Jam is pleasantly commercial, it isn’t the cheesy rubbish that often infects these kinds of clubs. Regular DJs and big club events provide the punters with a cool choice of funky house, soulful and uplifting house and electro tunes to keep feet firmly on the dancefloor. They also have the huge Kidology event as a regular here after picking it up from The Cross, which is sure to keep pulling in up for it partygoers.

The Food
The food at Cherry Jam is very good considering it is served late into the night, providing more than just a stomach-liner. There’s a good choice of Asian food, including nibbles such as edamame, vegetable spring rolls, prawn crackers and, of course, the ubiquitous bowl of chips (all £3), through to more substantial dishes with a definite skew towards vegetarians. Lamb Balti, green chicken curry and prawn curry (£10-£11) are offset by the green vegetable curry, Japanese vegetable parcels and vegetable dumplings.

The Drink
Many bars claim to make a good cocktail but Cherry Jam really delivers on its promise. The Old Fashioned (bourbon, sugar, angostura bitters and a garnish of orange or lemon) is particularly good and rightly takes up to four minutes to make. Best of all, the cocktails at Cherry Jam are made with premium alcohol, although you may end up with a sizeable bill at £8.50 a drink (although this isn’t extortionate for the area and wine is a much cheaper option at £4 a glass).

As well as the classics, they also have an interesting range of Champagne cocktails, and a unique Red Bull cocktail section of the menu. This includes such offerings as Shag a Bull (vodka, peach schnapps and cranberry juice topped up with Red Bull), Turbo Tequila (tequila mixed with cranberry juice topped up with Red Bull), and Easy Ride (vodka and chambord raspberry liqueur combined with lemon and lime juice finished off with Red Bull). Everything is made to perfection and is immaculately served. Shiny glassware hangs from the ceiling and their Cosmopolitan is served with a flaming orange peel.

If, however, you prefer your drinks more simply put together then the Champagne is priced reasonably for a nightclub – you’ll have to stump up less than £50 for a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. Alternatively, you can keep it really easy and indulge in their brilliant selection of premium bottled beers: Asahi, Staropramen, Estrella Damm, Kasteel Cru.

The Last Word
It’s easy to see why Cherry Jam appeals to the A-list. It’s missing the pretentious nature that so permeates the usual celebrity clubbing scene but still offers plenty in the way of glamour and sex appeal.

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