Girls Aloud’s Sarah Harding is one of the investors in Kanaloa, the sister bar of Mayfair’s Mahiki that serves up the same tiki-themed, beachy breeziness that has proven to be so successful for its older sibling.

The Venue
Walk over the wooden footbridge that’s fringed with foliage and the bar area unfurls in front of you. Wicker tables transport you straight to an upmarket Hawaiian holiday resort and the long bar on your left leads your gaze through to the small flight of steps at the far end. More tables in the elevated seating area allow greater privacy and a bird’s eye view of the rest of the bar. Downstairs, the dedicated club area has tables dotted around the ample dance floor although you’re going to have to get your credit card out as they come with a minimum spend of £500.

The Atmosphere
Sister bar Mahiki’s appeal is that it’s fun and friendly – you may find yourself rubbing shoulders with royalty on the dance floor but you won’t have to mind your Ps and Qs. Kanaloa is just as down to earth. The regulars may be rarefied but the camaraderie is the kind that you find in a high-end, all-inclusive Polynesian resort’s bar and it’s what makes Kanaloa so enticing. From strangers high-fiving you on the dancefloor to the staff’s genuine smiles, it’s reassuring proof that in the capital carefree can be every bit as cool as cutting edge.

The Music
MJ to Madge, Duran Duran to Donna Summer, the Eighties’ hits are up tempo and fun. After a few cocktails, inhibitions are shed, the DJ cranks up the volume and shapes are thrown as City boys shrug off their suit jackets and remember that there is more to life than crunching numbers. The high proportion of good looking members of the opposite sex probably doesn’t harm their enthusiasm when it comes to cutting rug either although some of the moves should surely have died out with the evolution of the species.

The Drink
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 cocktail – the Kanaloa Kula – costs £8 and reflects their ethos not to price people out of the bar. It’s served in another carved ceramic container and the mix of Mahiki rum (yes, the sister bar is so dedicated to the cause that they even have their own brand of rum) homemade star anise and pomegranate syrups and fresh lime that’s topped with vintage cava and a fresh orchid. The Burning Spear is also £8 and whilst the presentation is disappointing after some of the other concoctions (a plain glass with a sprig of charred thyme balanced across the top) the blend of ingredients makes up for it as it’s one of the most inventive drinks on the list. Instead of adding salt they’ve combined Jamaican jerk seasoning with sugar to create their own Jamaican jerk syrup and mixed it with scotch bonnet syrup, rum, thyme, all spice, cinnamon, cloves and paprika.

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.

The Last Word
You don’t have to splash much cash to enjoy well made cocktails in the fun, flirty surroundings but if you do want to pull out all the stops at Kanaloa they’ll happily oblige with sparklers on. Holiday resort-relaxed and with a devastating combination of quality cocktails and track after track of cut-some-rug cheese, it’s time to say Aloha to a late night haunt that’s set to become a success in The City.

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