Molly T.
Yelp
What a find! I'm not sure when or why I bookmarked this bar, but it was there when I needed it. South Soho Bar is located in a particular area -- not an area I'd typically go out in -- but I guess technically it is in south SoHo, as the name suggests. I found myself in south Soho after seeing a show at SoHo Rep theater which, if we're talking location, is actually not in Soho but in Tribeca. Regardless, when I looked up bars in the area, we were a five minute walk from South Soho Bar and figured we'd try it out. It was everything we could've hoped for, offering a healthy list of classic cocktails, delicious bar bites and a vibe that strikes a perfect balance between chic/trendy and down to earth.
We came here at around 9:30 on a Friday night as a party of three. Though there's not a lot of seating here, there was magically one booth open that was ideal for three people. As I mentioned, the ambiance here is excellent. It's a bit of upscale, a bit intimate, and a bit relaxed. Aesthetically, the largest part of the decor here is a floor-to-ceiling bar that is lit of magnificently. Display the goods, display them proudly. All good by me.
My husband was hungry so we ordered the shrimp cocktail and the sliders. I had a bite of the shrimp cocktail and it was better than most! I would pay good money for a jar of whatever that dipping sauce was. A very elevated take on your average cocktail sauce.
Though I tend to opt for the fancier, more pretentious drinks, there's something about the classics that's so completely satisfying. Maybe it's because all of those fancy, pretentious drinks, when it comes down to it, all boil down to the specs of these classics. South SoHo Bar obviously has your typical classics (Old Fashioned, Margarita, Martini, Daiquiri, Sour, etc.), but they also offer some of the lesser known classics -- some that most bartenders know how to make, yet casual drinkers don't know of. We started with a round of old faithfuls (a Boulevardier, a Gimlet, a Gibson), and then each of us ventured to drinks we had never tried before. My dad told me what I was in the mood for and I told him to try the Vesper, which he loved but had never heard of. My husband got an Amaretto Sour, which he was initially wary of but I assured him that it was very much his kind of drink (it was). I got the Black Manhattan, which is basically a Manhattan made with Amaro Averna. I've almost made it myself on several occasions but never went through with it. It was excellent here, and very much what I was in the mood for.
There's a reason why people go to their classic drink at the end of the night. The familiarity and comfort can't be denied. I thought I'd be bored with the menu here, and I'm thrilled that I was wrong.