London bar hopping

I have been trying to figure out where to have my birthday party this coming Friday and have been VERY indecisive with the whole thing...  this past weekend I was on a mission... I had a list and a willing participant (the Mister) to join me while I visited new bars.

Friday night after dinner at home we hopped on the tube and off we go...

Stop 1: B@1 Soho: it was a bit small, fun, tasty affordable cocktails and the music was all over the place which I liked... but it still wasn't perfect... By the way, It use to be a pub that Karl Marx would frequent while living on nearby Dean Street.


Stop 2: Milk and Honey: A members only club with a 1920's speakeasy vibe, but if you make reservations you can get into one of their rooms/bars... I of course, forgot to make reservations...so we couldn't get in... I did however, make reservations for January 27 and will be back.

Stop 3: The Player: also in Soho, the lighting was dim, the table were low and I honestly felt like I was at a Hugh Hefner party back in the 70's... they pump incense through the hvac system so that was nauseating after a while... we left after one cocktail... it was an ok place though... no windows... its in a basement...

Stop 4: Flute Bar: located just off Oxford Street near Oxford Circus tube... it's a champagne bar (it's a chain...also one in NYC and Paris) and the layout and decor is great. The downside: PLACE WAS EMPTY... it's a big place and the dozen people inside it just wasn't giving this place what it needed to feel cool... so we left without even having a drink. 

Stop 5: The Dononvan Bar at Brown's Hotel: Decor is very nice, the size is decent... the bar was again EMPTY... where are all the people???  I ordered a whiskey sour and it was STRONG and for £15 it should have been.  Winston Churchill was a fan of Browns Hotel, he stayed there often.  While I was reading their cocktail menu I believe that I read that the first transmission of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone was done from Browns Hotel? Next time you are in the bar at Browns Hotel check the cocktail menu to see if I am right about this... I believe that I am...

So out of all the above have I found a place to have my birthday party? Nooooo...