Detroit, Michigan: famous for being the home of RoboCop, churning out Fords and Chevys and being a bit depressing. Detroit bar in Covent Garden is thankfully nothing like its namesake, in fact it’s actually pretty enjoyable.

The Venue
Located in the more urbane part of Covent Garden, Detroit quietly nestles in a basement bar footsteps from the Seven Dials. Because of this, the clientele resemble the well-to-do twenty to thirty-somethings from the pages of American Psycho. Thankfully for the rest of us, they’re there to relax, commiserate and celebrate their weeks, not to exercise their sociopathic homicidal tendencies.

The Atmosphere
Detroit is stylish and trendy, which is not exactly uncommon in London. But what sets it out from other places is that it fuses many adjectives: it’s cool, warm, modern, intimate, accessible. It has a long, slightly clinical bar section along with a cosy cavern area with private booths.

The staff go about their jobs politely and attentively, even if you're the most awkward customers. Whilst music is a little loud in the bar area, and of the obscure or easily forgotten variety, it's generally a very well judged and executed atmosphere.

The Food and Drink
Food is from the attached restaurant so it’s Modern British; you’ll find suckling pig rubbing its shoulders with pasta dishes and an aubergine casserole.

Drinks are good, but firmly entrenched in the cocktail bar philosophy: beer lovers should look elsewhere. Prices hover around standard London bar prices, so will be inexplicably expensive to out-of-towners and run-of-the-mill for everyone else.

The Last Word
If it weren’t for the steep prices and the anaemic bottled beer selection Detroit would be the type of bar which would have you raving about it to all your buddies. As it stands, Detroit still manages to tick some pretty good boxes: it’s trendy, sophisticated, warm, and most importantly, unpretentious.

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