Basement Sate, Soho

Who wouldn’t love a menu entirely made up of desserts and cocktails? It is every woman’s calorie-infested dream.

Dorian Picard, Maze’s ex-pastry chef brings the amazing dessert menu to life, uniting flavours from the cocktails and matching them with the subtle undertones of the desserts. The cocktail menu designed by ‘Blyly Tran’, brings house classics with an innovative twist, combining signature cocktails with premium spirits.

The beautifully polished interior with dark wooden panels, exposed brick, dim lighting and rich furnishing gives the venue and intimate yet luxurious feel. With the DJ spinning the latest songs, Basement Date is a good choice for an intimate date or a group birthday booking. The atmosphere is like a secret club that you wish you could be invited to.

Let’s get down to business. The ‘Sound of the mango’ cheesecake is by far the best thing on the menu. The passion fruit jelly and lime meringue pairs perfectly with the mango cheesecake and decorative coconut tuile. It was insanely delicious. I had two. I decided to have this with their take on a porn-star Martini, ‘Not a porn-star’. Passion fruit, bourbon, aperol and egg whites. One of these and I was out for the night: clearly they do not skimp on the alcohol. I then opted for a toffee bum: coffee infused dark rum, salted caramel, milk and sherry. Let’s just say I needed a taxi home after this second drink. The slow inebriation led me to another dessert ‘Cocoa Lova’, a decadent chocolate fondant with vanilla and white chocolate cream. I felt the calories with every bite. It was rich and moreish.

After two cocktails and two desserts I was well and truly drunk. Lightweight or not, these drinks pack a hell of a punch. I was worried the mix of egg whites and alcohol was going to be an unpleasant surprise the next morning. The more alcohol you drink the more desserts you want, I opted for one more. ‘The snowing mountain’. This is a strawberry and vanilla yoghurt Baked Alaska, kaffir lime meringue and lime sponge. This is not the chalk tasting, crumbling meringue you get from the supermarket. With a texture like cloud and air, it was perfect.

In all honesty, the desserts are the main act and the cocktails are a fabulous tasting understudy. It’s a great idea, and I recommend everyone should give this place a go.

Basement Sate