Viet Lounge - Soho, London

Jeff Tan has been quietly earning a cortege of followers with his fantastic southeast Asian cooking, bringing all of his talents to bear at his restaurants Go Viet in South Ken and Viet Food in Soho. He's now scooped up one of London's best mixologists, a Mr Alex Looi of Park Chinois and The Dorchester, to helm the bar at his newly launched Viet Lounge, tucked away in Viet Food in Chinatown. The Art Deco boîte just happens to be one of our favourite new cocktail hangouts in the hood.

Tucked away on the top storey of the restaurant, the restaurant lets in ribbons of particoloured light in through its stained-glass windows. There's a large central bar circumscribed with tall stools with the walls clad with high leather sofas and brightly-coloured murals. Alex Looi specialises in using gin as well as fresh, natural ingredients such as superfoods and exotic fruits to create his cocktails. Of all the ones sampled, we were particularly in love with the Black Magic (vodka, coffee liqueur, pistachio syrup, homemade coconut milk), Skiddoo (elderflower cordial, limoncello, champagne) and the Gangnam Style (Korean rice wine, kirsch, angostura bitter, plum bitter, nutmeg, egg white, lemon and homemade rosemary syrup).

Mr Tan has created a fantastic menu of snacks to complement. We were won over by the beef brisket most of all - slow cooked to a sumptuous deliquescence with daubes of meat inlaid into beef bone. Grilled fresh water prawns with garlic in a vinegar lemongrass dressing were also worth a shout, as was the Vietnamese five spice softshell crab. Everything was cooked to perfection with reasonable servings to boot. Viet Lounge is definitely a good choice for those in the know who want a chilled-out redoubt.