Courtesan in Brixton has a hot new look for Autumn.
So, are you in south London and after a few tasty plates to share – and a few smokin’ cocktails to go with it? You could do a whole lot worst than Courtesan, which quietly excels at both.
It’s recently had a bit of a makeover, and now boasts a smokingly retro 1920’s Shanghai look.
(At least that’s what they tell me – I personally forgot to visit Shanghai in the 1920s.)
Let’s have a drink, shall we?
Their drinks list has serious girl power, as it includes only spirits and wines that are the product of female distillers and winemakers. So the ‘Courtier’ combines Lapsang Souchong tea and fig liqueur with Naked Grouse whisky and Famous Grouse Smoky Black, the whisky distillery where Kirsteen Campbell holds the title of Master Blender. And so on, and so forth.
When the dim sum arrives from head chef Fengjuan Xue it’s right on point. There’s nothing too challenging here, just brilliant baskets of steaming buns and dumplings (forgive me, reader, but I may have just ordered five kinds of pork-thing?)
Cocktail and dim sum and repeat as needed. There’s one final treat though.
Although the restaurant and bar is on the ground floor, under no circumstances miss the extremely sick staircase.
You’d be a fool not to nip in for a cheeky ‘gram. (As it were.) Head downstairs to find a small basement bar with low, mirrored ceilings in the final stages of an upgrade – it’s likely to be available to hire for private parties quite soon.
Anyway, the Courtesan. I liked it! Nice surroundings, chill atmosphere, good drinks, great dim sum, AMAZING stairs. Would be good for a date, I reckon. Total price: £35-ish for five dishes to share, £35-ish for two cocktails each. Total damage: about £70.
Get along to the Courtesan’s website for more.
Also published on Medium.