Laki Kane, London, United Kingdom (bar)

Name:Laki Kane
Type:bar
Street:144-145 Upper St, Islington,
City:London
State:
Zip:N1 1QY
country:United Kingdom
Phone:20 7607 0766
Status:operational

Description:
I was a little surprised there wasn't an entry for this place yet. Laki Kane is a small place on a major street on the NE side of London, not far from Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. Right in-between the Angel and Highbury & Islington tube stops on Upper St. you wouldn't necessarily expect a classy modern tiki bar in among the more standard retail in the area.

Inside the bar is long and narrow with about 15 tables and the bar itself. Reservations are highly recommended as even at 5:30 on Thursday when we showed up most tables already had reserved signs on them, including ours. Each table is named after a South Pacific or Caribbean island with a old map of that island on the surface of the table. They start you off with a complimentary drink/large shot of their in-house rum mixed with tropical juices as a refresher. They've got a large selection of drinks including all the standards and their own twists on them. I started with the Southern Lights, "A potion of Bombay gin, carambola juice, acacia honey water, bergamot liqueur and fresh lemon." while my wife had the Fatal Attraction, a "Bimber London vodka shaken with lychee, aloe vera, homemade grenadine and fresh lime." Later I had their signature Laki Kane, a "Bacardi Añejo Cuatro rum shaken with cupuaçu, sapodilla, coconut water, sugar cane juice, and fresh passionfruit. ". All the drinks were great though the size of the Southern Lights was a bit small for the price, very heavy on the ice. I think they know that as they include a necklace with their tiki logo as a ceramic juju with the drink for you to keep, so that makes up a bit for the cost.

They have 5 custom mugs that they sell. Their signature Laki Kane tiki, a mermaid (Fatal Attraction), a pretty typical pineapple (Tropicolada) and shell (Jewel of the Sea) and the one I found most distinctive a Pin-Up Zombie. Think of a bust of a pretty woman who's starting to rot on one side. We brought home a mermaid and a zombie. Mugs were 25 pounds each.

One unique feature is that their upper floor is a rum distillery classroom. You can book a session to crate your own rum with the help of one of their rum experts. We were offered a look around once the session that was up there would finish but we couldn't wait around so I don't know exactly what the setup was but it sounded interesting.

Not surprisingly given that its a nice tiki bar in an expensive city prices weren't cheap. Our drinks were 12-13 pounds each and our bar snacks were 8-9 pounds.

[ Edited by: jasonma 2019-05-15 07:24 ]

Got these pictures form their IG account.

My husband and I visited Laki Kane during a visit to London in January 2019. We also had a really good time. We arrived shortly after they opened and had the place almost to ourselves. It started to fill up later in the evening. I chatted with the bartender while deciding which of their mugs to purchase as a souvenir (we only had room in our luggage to safely transport one). He told me they had their mugs custom designed and produced by an artisan in Bulgaria. I chose the mermaid (it's just so pretty). The decor throughout is subtle and high-end tropical. Even the ladies' room is elegant, with tropical accents. Since we booked our table through their website, I am still on their email list. They are still open post-pandemic, and they now have a pan-Asian food menu. It's definitely worth a visit.