Going to Latin bar chain Barrio’s new Friday night cabaret is akin to going on a cruise, albeit on its shaky maiden voyage. All the staff – from waiters to the entertainers – are very friendly, but there’s still a sense that no one quite knows what they are doing.
A bellboy meets you at the door; he’s cheeky but many of his words get lost in his American accent. He tells you to go upstairs and find a room. He even gives you a Do Not Disturb sign to hang on your door. You go upstairs and find a restaurant instead, a speakeasy-style surprise.
However, that’s the last of the good surprises. Dinner service while charming is erratic with the wait staff not entirely knowledgeable about the food they are serving. It isn’t the restaurant’s first night, but it feels like it. The food itself is pleasant enough; chicken and chorizo stew and hot smoked salmon and fennel salad are standard fare, but the calamari starter comes out like a mini steak rather than in the expected rings. Perhaps the restaurant is busier than normal explaining the hectic energy and the long delays.
The Barrio website suggests that attending its cabaret night is like checking into the Hotel California and that we will never want to leave. Unfortunately, the acts aren’t inspiring enough to make you want to stay for too long. We are promised some sexy Latin dancing but the couple’s routine won’t steam up your glasses. A strongman balances on one arm, and a woman dressed in overalls extinguishes cigarettes on her tongue. A drag-queen seaside sketch starts strongly but ends in a slump while the burlesque artist begins her routine naked and ends it fully clothed draining the energy from the reveal.
The second half is undeniably stronger with all the cast getting involved in a stirring version of the song Tainted Love, but the acts don’t hang together coherently and sometimes they verge towards the smutty rather than the sexy. Still, many of the diners are enthralled with the show and seem keen to film every part of it on their mobile phones.
With a three-course dinner, half a bottle of champagne and a table in the middle of the action priced at £79 per person an evening at Cabaret of Sin is very affordable, but on the other hand, you get what you pay for.
Every Friday until the end of the year
