I’d never really had a night out at Cafe de Paris before, I saw the Black Cat Cabaret there a couple of years ago, but hadn’t had a proper dancing night there as I’d heard very mixed things about it, mostly bad. However last weekend after Henley Regatta, we had a VIP night out there for my friend Catherine’s birthday, and it was bloody brilliant.
I honestly don’t know what all those people were talking about, because the magnums of champagne flowed, the music was amazing, and the crowd was pretty good too. Not to mention the venue, which makes you feel as though you’re dancing in an old theatre. Also my Nanny and great-grandparents have been there, so, ya know, that’s pretty cool too.
The club has a long history, opened in 1924, the Charleston dance was first danced in London in Cafe de Paris, and it was very popular with Royals; back then it was like the modern day Boujis or Bodos, I guess. The club was bombed badly during WW2, and as such didn’t reopen until 1948, but when it did reopen it played host to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Noel Coward, as well as Marlene Dietrich.
Anyway, history lesson aside, I want to start at the beginning of the evening, as before heading to Cafe de Paris we went for drinks and food (and birthday cake!) at The Century Club first. They have a gorgeous roof terrace with a beautiful view over Soho, and the burger was probably one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my life. They were also very accommodating with my ‘no alcohol I’m driving’ policy, and made me a really delicious non-alcoholic cocktails.
We left Century Club around 10pm to go to Cafe de Paris, and after a short walk across the road and round the corner we arrived in the tourist hub of Leicester Square.
We had a table on the Mezzanine level, and a couple of Magnums of Champagne were brought to us complete with sparklers. Catherine tried to blow them out…awkward…
We loved having so much space upstairs to dance away from the crowds, however we did get a little annoyed as Catherine was dancing quite wildly to Beyonce, and one of the security guards told her to go outside…he escorted her outside and she wasn’t allowed to come back in for ten minutes as he thought she was too drunk! Err, hello, it’s her birthday and Beyonce was on…what do you expect! Obviously wild dancing is going to ensue! She wasn’t hurting anyone so I really don’t see what the issue was.
I allowed myself one small sip of champagne from the bottle, and after that was on coca-cola all night (oh the joys of driving!). We did go downstairs for a dance after a while, sometimes you just want the atmosphere of dancing in a big crowd! It was awesome.
Puja and I had a bit of ballroom dancing practice…complete with spins and all (no photos of that sadly)!
My resting bitch face below. My mum always says I look really angry…I can’t help it! I’m not just gonna go around smiling all the time?! Anyway, I’m pretty sure Catherine had an amazing night, I certainly did anyway! Lesson learned – ignore everyone who tells you a club is crap, sometimes it might just surprise you and not live up to it’s reputation.
It’s one of those rare clubs in London that stays open. So many of the clubs nowadays close after a year or two, you fall in love with a place and go regularly, only for it to suddenly close down with no wanring. All of a sudden you need a new favourite place to go, and so the hunt begins. My favourite clubs in London that have lasted over the years are Raffles (opened in 1967!), Boujis, and Roof Gardens. You’re guaranteed a good night out at all three. And you know what? Despite it’s very central (aka, touristy) London location, I think Cafe de Paris could join that list.
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Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Looks fun night, not sure I could ever go back to Cafe De Paris… Too many underage trips from school for me to want to go back, but Boujis & Raffles wins every time for me! Debsx
Haha, ahh you must have some good memories from those! 😉 I do love Boujis and Raffles, they're two of my 'go-to' clubs.
C x
I think you really have to try a club out for yourself to judge it – lots of people want lots of different things from clubs! Glad to hear you had a fab night even whilst sober
Steph – http://nourishmeclean.blogspot.com
Yep, so true!
C x
Such a great classic hot spot!
Yeh, I really loved it!
C x
Looks fun!
Katie Loves ~ Fashion Blog | Bloglovin' | Instagram
that sounds like a very fancy night!! magnums of champers?!
Yeh, it was awesome! Love a good magnum or two or champagne!
C x