Rainforest Cafe,
20 Shaftesbury Avenue,
Piccadilly,
London,
W1D 7EU
(020) 7434 3111
The ViewLondon Review
At 11pm every Saturday night the world famous Rainforest café closes its doors as an eatery and transforms itself into one of the West End’s most popular R&B and funky house nights.
The Venue
Spectacularly adorned to resemble a jungle rainforest, with the walls and even the ceiling draped in convincing fake foliage, you need to be careful where you sit - you may find yourself splashed by a waterfall or menaced by an animatronic gorilla when you’re least expecting it. It’s also surely the only London club which boasts a massive fish tank stocked with vividly-coloured tropical fish as the centre piece of its dance floor.
The Atmosphere
Because of its location close to Piccadilly Circus the club reckons its audience is about 20% tourists, but it mainly consists of a racially mixed, smartly dressed 20-something crowd from all over London eager to flirt on the dance floor (invariably full from the moment the doors open) and collect phone numbers. There’s a lot of showing off of expensive designer gear, but that doesn’t mean the crowd is too cool to get sweaty dancing enthusiastically.
The Music
The Rainforest prides itself on being the West End’s primary purveyor of commercial R&B and hip-hop, so expect a playlist mainly dominated of US superstars like Beyonce, Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes. It‘s not so dogmatic that there isn‘t room for the occasional 80s classic or new skool UK heroes like Tiny Tempah and Dizzee Rascal. Alongside resident spinner Marc Sharma, big names like Rampage and Spoony also pop in to play regularly and, on busy nights, a second room opens up playing more specialist funky house.
The Drink
Show off by quaffing Dom Perignon Champagne at £161 - or a bottle of Mauet French fizz if £13 suits your budget better. Most popular seem to be bottles of Smirnoff Ice, Becks, Corona or Magners (all at either £4.70 or £4.80), but there’s also a choice of four or five whiskies and brandies, house wine (£7 a glass) or vodka jellies. Designated drivers are well catered for with non-alcoholic Becks and freshly pressed fruit juices.
The Last Word
The up for it, glitzy crowd, pumping music and stunning surroundings justify the £15 entry tax. You could spend a fortune having a proper West End blow out here, but a good time can still be had on more modest means.
The Rainforest has been reviewed by 5 users