Just last night, I was invited by a very good friend of mine to a new live music bar Studio 88 and WOW was it awesome! Maybe one of the best venues I’ve found in like... forever! Amazing cocktails and food, as well as some exceptional musicians performing any song we requested. Can't remember the last time I've been somewhere like this before! It was a fantastic experience from the moment you enter this incredible establishment. What a real breath of fresh air the West End can be at times...
Studio 88 is located in the heart of London near busy Leicester Square. If you happen to live in London, you're probably familiar with "The Piano Works" which is a very popular venue for non-stop live music. So Studio 88 was opened by the same team behind that successful brand.
The minute we stepped inside the premises, describing it would be akin to entering a completely different planet! The venue is sleek, featuring moody lighting with a distinctive slant towards the colour “red”, lol!
Down the stairs, we arrived at the the main area where a group of six to thirty people can easily fit. There are also a few "blue-themed" rooms that are available for private bookings. And finishing off proceedings is a center stage where two piano playing vocalists conjoin with a band to provide the audience with live music until well into the early hours.
Something else that really impressed me was the interactive theme. I was so impressed with the light-up, LED fixtures responding according to the melodies in the background. A perfect combination of lighting effects and music. The end result was just so super cool!
We got there quite early on so got to enjoy the House Signature Cocktails with Happy Hour discounts, lol! The cocktails themselves were aptly diverse and inventive. Porn Star Martini is my personal favourite, which is vanilla infused vodka with fresh passion fruit, served with a shot of prosecco. The perfect start for a fantastic evening!
As I mentioned, one of the main attractions making this place so popular is the fact that every night, there are two piano vocalists accompanied by the house band playing non-stop music for the audience. Perched upon each table, a set of cocktail napkins can be found. Write the song of your choice on these napkins and the musicians will perform your selections on the night!
The live "Jukebox" music concept is simply great too! We heard so many of the greats from the 70s & 80s, one night only! The band and piano vocalists were amazing and hugely talented. In fact, I have to admit some of them sounded even better than originals!
We tried another cocktail called Zombie, which is rum mixed with apricot brandy, fresh pineapple juice and orange juice! It was quite refreshing, however the rum was not too much to my liking, so I would mark this one down as average.
Though here in Studio 88, it is all about the music! With more and more people arriving in their droves, the place was certainly heating up with some awesome music tracks! We decided to have another round of Prosecco, as it seems you can never go wrong with that, lol!
The food menu is well suited for a fun night out, as everything from crab fritters to coconut chicken curry are served in easy-to-hold bamboo cones. We really loved their unique selection of Asian inspired food and are all wonderfully delicious. Out of the six different dishes we tried, my personal favourite was the Miso Glazed Chicken and Coconut Chicken Curry.
The service there was great, including a warm welcoming greeting from a smiley and friendly host. The impeccable and attentive staff, we honestly could not fault. Perhaps one small thing I would mention was that the food didn’t come all at once, being approx. 20 minutes apart from each other. Though the waitress did apologise to us as we soon found out it was actually the second day of their official opening after all!
We had an absolutely fabulous night at Studio 88. The music was outstandingly good, as was the excellent food and tasty cocktails! I would thoroughly recommend Studio 88 for a great and memorable night out. Maybe we might even bump into one another as I will definitely be coming back very soon!
周五晚上我受好友相邀一起去看看伦敦中心新开的一家现场音乐酒吧“Studio 88”！真是不去不知道，这里不但有杰出的音乐家现场表演观众点唱的歌，还有美美的鸡尾酒和小吃，现场气氛超棒！这家酒吧就像伦敦中心的一股清新空气，难怪人气十足，呵呵！
Sutdio 88位于伦敦市中心，离莱斯特广场很近。住在伦敦的朋友可能对“The Piano Work“挺熟悉的吧？它是一家非常受欢迎的现场音乐酒吧。而 Sutdio 88就是同一个老板开的。
踏入酒吧的一刻，我仿如进入了霓虹灯世界。酒吧装修得很有现代感，满眼看去都是霓虹颜色，呵呵！顺着楼梯走下去，我们进入了酒吧主要区域。这里地方宽敞，大大小小的桌子可容纳从2个人到30人大团体！还有私人房间可预订哦。中间部分是舞台，摆放了两台钢琴，音响和各种乐器！每天晚上这里会有两名钢琴音乐艺人以及乐队为观众们现场表演直到凌晨时分！
酒吧灯光效果非常棒，可以根据歌曲旋律而变换颜色。灯与光的完美结合，效果十分炫酷！
我们来得早，可以享受这里鸡尾酒欢乐时光的折扣价，呵呵！酒吧的鸡尾酒款式蛮多，而且造型也特别好看。艳星马蒂尼通常是我的最爱，成分是百香果，伏加特，香草酱再配上香槟，好喝！
Sutdio 88的其中一个亮点是大家可以根据自己喜好点歌，而酒吧的音乐艺人会配合着乐队现场表演！每张吧台上都由一套特制的餐巾纸。大家可以在这上面写下心仪的歌曲，然后交给舞台艺人现场演绎。
听现场音乐的感觉真的很不错！我听到好多70和80年代的经典名曲，心情激动得不由自已地跳起舞来，哈哈！乐队和歌手都棒棒哒，有些歌演绎得比原唱更好听，营造了相当活跃欢快的现场气氛！
我们品尝了另一种鸡尾酒名叫“僵尸”，是由朗姆酒，白兰地，新鲜的菠萝汁和橙汁混合而成！这个鸡尾酒味道一般般，不太适合我口味。
酒吧气氛非常热烈，在这里大家完全置身于仿如梦幻般的音乐世界里，我感觉到自己身体里的每个细胞都在跳跃！再来一杯香槟酒吧，呵呵！
这里的亚洲风味小吃也十分有特色，从炸螃蟹肉条到椰子味鸡肉咖喱，都用竹子叶包裹成甜筒形状，拿着吃最方便！我们每人尝了六种不同的小吃，都挺不错的。 我个人最喜欢味噌鸡肉和椰子鸡肉咖喱！
酒吧服务也不可挑剔，从进门笑脸相迎到点饮品，侍应生都是彬彬有礼，服务到位！有一点遗憾的是，食物上桌的速度稍慢，不过侍应生很诚恳地向我们道歉，并解释当天是酒吧正式开业的第二天，由于顾客人太多，厨房忙不过来！
Studio 88 食物相当不错，鸡尾酒也好喝，但现场音乐和气氛是最棒的！我和朋友在这里度过了一个非常难忘的夜晚！我会向大家强烈推荐，呵呵。
