Hungerford House,
Victoria Embankment,
Embankment,
London,
WC2N 6PA
(020) 7389 9933
The ViewLondon Review
After a luxurious and classy refurb, Opal, formerly known as Motion, has become an ideal spot for a night out fuelled by cocktails and commercial music.
The Venue
You can’t miss this venue if you ever pass through Embankment tube station (and who doesn’t at some point or another?). It’s the building immediately to the left of the river side entrance of Embankment station on the former site of the very popular Motion.
The venue is split over two floors and includes a small ground floor, which acts as bar and cafe from midday, a time when people come in for a bite during their lunch hour. The renovation work has done wonders and the decor is opulent and classy
throughout, with just a few over-the-top touches. White padded leather booths of different dimensions cater for smaller groups and, above each table, contemporary glass chandeliers add some elegance to the room, while metal bead curtains provide
some shade on the windows.
Entering at ground level, you descend via a grand staircase lined with split mirrors, to arrive in the impressively large basement. Here the decor is even glitzier than
upstairs: the large booths are studded with glittering stones and the dance balls, already present upstairs, become larger and greater in number. Despite the contemporary feel of it all, there are several original brick surfaces which are not at all out of
place and give more personality to the space. An elaborate lamp hangs over the DJ booth and whilst the huge booths - some of which can easily sit thirty or more people - hug the sides, the centre of the room is all about the dance floor.
The Atmosphere
There are plenty of venues in Central London that trade on being ultra glamorous and usually take themselves and their music a bit too seriously. At these venues you can guarantee door screening will be fierce, the numbers limited and the dress code
strictly applied. Opal has a glamorous feel, but it does so without any attitude. Having said that it does insist on a couple of things from its clientele: smart casual attire and that they're over 21.
The Food
The main virtue of the menu is to that it will not do too much damage to your wallet. Throughout the day you can choose from gourmet sandwiches (£4.50-£6), sharing platters (£15) and nibbles (£2.50-£6). These are all ideal to help you wash down your
cocktails and every dish is good value for money, especially since they have a 50 per cent off offer between 5pm and 8pm everyday (this applies to drinks as well). The mains also have three or so weekly changing specials, including favourites like wild mushroom
risotto with rocket and parmesan shavings, chicken and Wiltshire ham pie with grain mustard mash and smoked haddock with tiger prawn fish pie. It may be cheap and convenient, but the food isn’t the venue’s strongest point. The vegetarian sharing
platter is generous in size, but the potato wedges are under cooked and a bit hard. Additionally, the risotto cooks the rice and mushroom separately and dishes them up this way so you have to assemble them on your plate, with unsatisfactory
results.
The Drink
Cocktails are a big part of Opal’s business. They’re divided into classics (£6.40), signature (£6.40-£6.50) and a handful of Champagne cocktails (£6.65). The classics include Woo Woo, Sex On the Beach and a decent Cosmopolitan. The signature
cocktails allow you to opt for fruity concoctions like the Passionate (vodka, mandarino vodka, passion fruit puree and orange juice) or the Strawberry Cloud (strawberry schnapps, Amaretto, strawberry puree and lemonade). Shooters (£5-£6.40) include the
devastating Jagerbomb and expect to see these being consumed at an alarming rate. Overall, the quality is good, and the prices represent decent value, especially if you take advantage of their discounts between 5pm-8pm.
Wine lovers can choose from a dozen whites (£14-£26 per bottle) and just as many reds (priced the same if not cheaper). Sparkling wine and Champagne is essential to Opal and they are even better priced, with bottles ranging from £25 for cava to
£33.50 for Heidsieck Monopole Brut, to £90 for Moet et Chandon Vintage and Laurent Perrier Rose Brut. If you really want to splash, you can order Dom Perignon Brut (£145) or Krug (£200), but with more than a dozen bottles to choose from, you don’t
have to be so extravagant.
The Music
Party music is the first commandment of Opal’s music policy. The DJ spins famous tracks form the 70s, 80s, 90s and noughties to get people singing-along and dancing. Chart-toppers are not shunned either so expect to hear music you know and
probably like. Even if you don’t you’ll probably be dancing after a few cocktails. Uncomplicated fun is the idea behind it and Opal does a great job in this respect.
The Last Word
Opal promises to be massively popular amongst groups looking for a big night out in the centre of London. This often means tourists or those travelling in from satellite towns, but it will also include large office parties and Londoners who are sure to
frequent this space, given its good looks, cheap drinks and fun atmosphere.
Opal has been reviewed by 10 users