Parker McMillan is a teeming, trendy club and bar in a brick-arched basement near the heart of the city. With good food, great service and exciting new music, this place epitomises cool.

The Venue
A few hundred metres from Barbican Station is a strange place to find Parker McMillan, but you feel that’s the point. Apparently inspired by the dream of its namesake in New York, it’s the venue of choice for all who are cool and want to be seen.

Designed as a venue for live music and long nights with the right, tightly-packed crowd, it’s an exciting and beguiling place to discover, carved out as it is in the bowels of this concrete neck of the woods. Wander into Parker McMillan and downstairs, a long and busy bar opens on to a gaggle of arched side rooms with leather sofas and uplighting. Unfortunately, here the beautiful brick walls are covered with painted wooden boards and the sofas are too stark for the basement atmosphere – they give a slightly souless feel - but around the bar the bricks can breath, the arches are close, it’s dark and the vision of the perfect hangout is a little closer.

The Atmosphere
Crowded is an understatement – it’s almost impossible to move on a weekend evening and, being in a basement, it’s not for the claustrophobic; however, there is something of an early Beatles cavern club feel that can’t be a bad thing. The music at Parker McMillan is worth coming for – if you pick your night, you might catch the next up and coming singer-songwriter strumming on the acoustic. The sounds are piped all over the club through amply loud speakers – useful, because getting to the front by the time anyone starts could be difficult!

The Food
The fusion bar food is extremely tasty and just the ticket with a few drinks – fried prawns, fish cakes, hummus, olives and pita are the tapas staples that you’d hope for.

The Drink
A couple of tasty draught beers can’t compete with delicious, full-bodied and dry house wines along with the sweet, well-mixed cocktails – these are all better than you’d expected for such a heaving bar. Most of the smoky bottled lagers are on offer also, which are a lot safer and more flavoursome than a spillable pint!

The Last Word
Parker McMillan walks a middle ground somewhere between legendary underground club and an upmarket common room. If you enjoy a good scrummage at the bar, cool leather sofas, even cooler people, and some finger-on-the pulse tunes, you’ll have a good night.

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