Dirty Martini

I went here last night during happy hour and it was fairly busy for a Thursday evening, standing room only.

I opted for a chocolate, tropical and finally an apricot martini. The martinis tasted nice, the chocolate is as good as the reviews say, the others were ok, though the fruit peel that was put in my apricot drink was more of a wad then a peel. The service was instant, the staff were friendly and the drinks were made very quickly compared to a lot of other cocktail bars.

I found the drinks themselves to be weak. My tolerance of alcohol is pretty normal and after three martinis one should be feeling a little buzz but I was completely sober. I ordered a martini in another bar later on and the strength difference in a proper martini was quite noticeable.

The place itself was  too hot and stuffy inside. The air-conditioning should have been on in this place. We moved on to another bar in the end to get away from the heat.

If the heating was perfect I'd give this place another star.
If the drinks were as strong as they're supposed to be I'd give this place another star.
So five stars are indeed in reach, so step up your game Dirty Martini.

Fun place for a cocktail! Go early enough on a Sat night to get a seat, or space at the bar, otherwise fills up pretty quickly, as quite a small place! Great martinis, try the chocolate martini (amazing) or chili cocktail, great place for a drink at the beginning of the night

I love this place, might take a bit long to get served but you are in the middle of covent garden. It has a great atmosphere, friendly staff and the cocktails are great. The prices aren’t bad and is a great place to go mid-week or before going on to clubs/music bars etc.

During a hen do at the weekend, I sent a tweet out to see where people would recommend for a cocktail in Covent Garden. The overwhelming response was Dirty Martini.

We descended on the bar, just on the outskirts of the Covent Garden Square, at around 4.45pm, but had to wait for it to open at 5pm. It was chilly outside, but the wait was worth it though.

We managed to grab a booth, and one of the bar staff cheerfully served out table, in super-quick time. We all had our cocktails within five minutes of sitting down – impressive.

I went for the chocolate martini, and it was gorgeous. Like a boozy chocolate milkshake. Several of my friends went safe with a peach bellini, but a couple tried a chilli cocktail that gave an amazing kick.

We went at Happy Hour, so the prices were fairly good (around £4 a cocktail), and the atmosphere was buzzy and friendly. Slightly pretentious, but then I tend to find that in most cocktail bars. I’d happily go there again.

I’ve only been to Dirty Martini on a Sunday afternoon, as it’s one of my mum’s favourite places when she comes to visit me in London.
The cocktails and wine are half price I think it is all day Sunday, and to branch out, we usually go for cocktails. The list is diverse and interesting and for £4/4.50 per cocktail, it’s pretty reasonable.
The staff are always friendly, and make recommendations if you’re torn. The cocktails are made with care and attention, look like a work of art and taste yummy!
On a Sunday afternoon, this place is usually quiet- and I’m talking a handful of people, probably 10 at most in the whole place. So you’d expect service to be pretty efficient. But I would say that i’m not suprised that you can be queueing for aaaaaages here at a weekend. The cocktails are well made and presented, but I guess this is time consuming and the price you pay for going to a proper cocktail bar.
The place is nicely fitted out, with a mixture of bar stools (at the bar obviously), tables and booths, which makes for an intimate setting. I’m not sure what the capacity for this place is, but I think anymore than about 75 people would be a bit overwhelming, as it is quite a small space.
Not sure i’d venture to Dirty Martini at the weekend, as the prices are a bit steep when it’s not happy hour, and the wait time and potential for the place to get very overcrowded and hot very quickly all culminates to put me off.
However, on a Sunday afternoon, it’s a nice little oasis to escape from the Covent Garden tourists.

Classy glamourous place with nice staff and very friendly waitress...Went to happy hour and got one Park Lane Martini cocktail, first time for me, and it was simply amazing. I'd definitely go on evenings if it was not that pricey, but it's in Covent Garden, so it's understandable :)

Well made drinks, pricey but they do have lots of offers on.
Its worth reserving a booth, as it getts rammed!

Avoid at all costs-I had a lovely meal in the main part upstairs at Tuttons. But then went to start my hen night thinking it was a classy cool cocktail bar but oh my good god.

We arrived having reserved a booth, to which each person had to spend a minimum amount on drinks etc, this would have been fine-if we had been served! We walked in to what could only be described as a health and safety hazard waiting to happen-a tiny room down some stairs with a bar, jammed with people- we had to ask for a certain waiter -we were told by the security guy upstairs-in order to get our booth as others had occupied it-so my friend asked for this person was greeted with a dirty look from the head barman. Nice!

Anyway we got the booth sorted in the end, and the 1st thing that hits you is the smell, seriously Dirty Martini-I am telling you this for your own good, clear up your act-it smells of either sick or stail urine-and trust me you don't even get used to it no matter how long you are there!

The booth only fit 6 people and there were 12 of us so half were left standing-and you cant dance as there is no dance floor?? I have no idea why they play the music so loud if you can't dance?

Ok so we thought lets try out a drink-40 mins later and the people who had arrived after us had been served b4 us-we waited and waited and they said they had lost the order, fantastic! So not only were we sat in a place smelling of sick, there was no air con so we were roasting, and we couldnt have a dance or a drink-very dissapointing so we left and moved on to a bar down the road-which was far far better made up for it all!

This basement bar in the heart of Covent Garden is a great place to start the night with their 2 for 1 Martinis and drinks offer. They are well made, yummy and there are lots of options to choose from. The DJs play a great set of music too!

The downside is the wait, I have never gotten a drink in less than 30 minutes which is a shocking wait. They need more staff behind the bar very badly.

It's been a while, but I visited Dirty Martini on a quiet Sunday night. They had 9 martinis on their list that were half price. At a usual £8 per martini, this was a significant savings.

I admit my date and I were pushing it, but we ended up trying all 9, 4 each and 1 to share. It was fun. ;)

Update Alright, they can have an extra because I didn't have to wait even a second to get served. When you get served straight away, this place does yummy yummy cocktails. So arrive early and leave... well, early. Update

i had an amaaaazing chocolate martini in here. It was like ice cream and cake in a glass. Brilliant. Best I've ever had. And the place is quite nice.

And yes, it was busy. But I'm just not happy with waiting for almost half an hour to get a drink. I don't care how nice it is!

really like dirty martini, it's a very cool looking place. In the summer a basement bar is probably not where you want to be but on cold winter nights it's the perfect place to go! If you go during happy hour it tends to be less crowded so it's a good place to start your night. The chocolate martinis are divine!

Went to Dirty Martini’s last night as part of a Hen Do. (Don’t ask). All in all a very enjoyable night. We were very fortunate that we had reserved an area. It’s not a big place and it was full but we had one of the alcove areas. We had a dedicated server for the night so didn’t have to go to the bar. Service wasn’t amazingly quick, but there were 12 of us ordering cocktails so can’t complain and the server advised us to order the next one as soon as we’d got a cocktail. Good music but a bit loud if you’re wanting to talk. One moan is that we ordered food which took over an hour to arrive even though I didn’t see anyone else ordering food. We complained and got a bottle of champagne. When the food did come tho it was delicious. It was probably 85% women in there but it was a nice crowd. No stupid people.

Dirty Martini is located underneath Tutton’s on the corner of Covent Garden piazza. I went here as part of a crowd to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a table booked and ended up being pushed about in this crowded bar. Most of us agreed that we wouldn’t normally have come here, but that it was actually a lot more bearable than many other West End places on a Friday night.
OK, just don’t bother if you are not into cocktails. The bar staff are fairly efficient, but it takes an absolute age to be served. The choice of beers is limited to three or four bottled varieties. Wine list seemed OK, and the Sauvignon Blanc was rather nice.
Overall the place had quite a friendly vibe, even though it was far too loud for a decent conversation. The crowd seemed to have been made up of larger groups celebrating birthdays, etc and couples on their first date.

Have to say this has got to be one of my favourite bars in London. The atmosphere is excellent whether you come nearer the weekend when it is packed or the quieter times during the week. Service is always excellent and the cocktails are superb. Some of the best cocktails I have ever tasted. Don’t believe me? Try their chocolate and breakfast martinis. Great happy hours give excellent value for money. Service always good with friendly bar staff, excellent table service and human bouncers. Would highly advocate a trip to Dirty Martini and would not hesitate to bring friends / dates / clients here. Superb

Happy hour is until 9pm and that’s when I advise you to go! Cocktails are all around £7-8 which can really get expensive but until 9pm it’s half price. It’s hard to get a table as it’s tiny and people can reserve them but it’s a cool, classy bar with great martinis!

I would recommend the Lychee martini :) 10/10

The Dirty Martini is a pretty good find in Covent Garden. Its a cosy spot in a basement location and if you want a seat its best to get there for before 5.30pm and all the business people come in.

The happy hour prices (until 9pm!) of half price martini is a bargain and the martini choices are fab (gotta go the Chocolate Martini … weakness!)

The Dirty Martini gets very crowded though and the bar is very small so you’ll have to exercise some patience to get your yummy martinis! Don’t worry - its worth it! It’s a favourite of my friends as its in a nice central location and often they can get there in time to get a table and a few drinks in before the masses arrive.

In summary this is a good place, you get what you expect. Which based on the menu should be an excellent choice of drinks (seriously, best cocktail menu at this price so far in London…)

So, basically as the other reviewers have mentioned it’s in Covent Garden, quite well hidden down some stairs near the market. The bar itself is really nicely decorated (and the lighting helps) with the whole place having an intimate atmosphere. It does get cramped, but that’s hardly the fault of the bar, the customer chooses whether to use the place afterall.

My friends and I did get a table (reservation didn’t show) and we went through quite a bit of their menu between us. It’s all very good, all were as expected although service was a bit slow (to the table). We did however get used to this and order topups before we finished!

As noted, the liquer selection is wide and very good. Chocoltini (or whatever it is called) is fun… However there are some wicked Sake based drinks as well.

Finally the price is good, when we went before 7pm was half price cocktails, which meant £4 a go. Sweet and just an excuse to get off early from work :D

After reading good reviews about Dirty Martini I was very disappointed. It was in a good location although the steps to the entrance were quite steep esp when you’re drinking!

The staff were ok, not particularly friendly with the exception of the doorman who was nice.

On entering the bar area however, it was very cramped and the atmosphere was bad. The bar staff were quite rude, pushing past people who had drinks in their hands and did not manage the bar very well. The seating/standing areas were not well thought out in terms of practicality and it was basically just a place for posers!!

Good happy hour with half price cocktails until 7pm. My friends and I turned up early but all the seats were reserved so we initially couldn’ sit down, even though the bar says that if you do not turn up for a booking you lose your seat in ten minutes. The cockails are well made and the chocolate martini is fab!