42 Albemarle Street,
Mayfair,
London,
W1S 4JH
0871 971 4301
The ViewLondon Review
You’d think a Japanese Karaoke bar would be an easy spot amongst upper-crust Mayfair spots like The Ritz. Ambling down Albermarle Street, however, only sheer frustration forces you to take a chance on the slender unmarked stairwell outside a Korean restaurant.
‘Cousin’ Jill Keating, a Karaoke connoisseur with ten years experience in the business, keeps her latest enterprise as exclusively personal as possible – turning away curious non-members with a card and a smile; squeezing in religious regulars in a moment. The ‘living room’ feel makes the policy necessary – three interlinked ones, to be exact.
The Bar and Library rooms accommodate up to 30 drinkers: whose fleur de lys carpets, open fireplaces and generic landscape portraits contrast leather armchairs and antique book panels to summon the effect of a Bond film crossed with your Auntie’s lounge. The third and finest is the 6-12 person ‘snug’; a crushed-velvet, minute ‘bunker’.
Rooms are hired individually, ranging from £360 to £750 all-inclusive per night; or, for high-rolling corporate clientele, the whole joint for £2500. Fees cover everything, from tiny kimonoed staff who nimbly ensure smooth service, custom-made Japanese cocktails - like the delicious fruity Shochou: a blend of lemon and orange Japanese vodka, and custom-made spicy sushi or English finger-food like seared lamb.
As for the karaoke…whilst you may not be the biggest fan of your own singing voice, if you do decide to indulge yourself, the phonebook-catalogue of over 5,000 songs and the unsurpassed relaxing setting means it ought to be at Cousin Jill’s.