I know the owner, he was one of my 3 favourite barmen in Barney's years ago. The Place is very small & he is to be commended, for what he has managed to do, with such a limited amount of space (Compact & bijou) is definitely the word to describe Mokoko. They do make good cocktails & the doormen have always been charming to me. The only downfall is the size, because unless you are waiting outside the door, at opening time, you are very unlikely to get a seat & manoeuvring through all the crammed in drinkers, to find yourself a spot to stand, with your drink, can result in most of it knocked down you.
There is a small outside patio area with 2 or 3 tables, but with our rubbish summers, if you do get one you are normally sat there shivering!! One of the more silly drawbacks of the place, is their habit of reserving tables, so you are often crammed in, while tables sit empty for 20 30mins, when you could of come in had a drink, there then go.
I went there recently on my birthday, in June, I went there with a girlfriend for a drink or two, and a group of 4 girls, got up from a reserved table & left. So my friend & I sat down with our tasty Cosmopolitan's, thinking the reserved crowd had just left. I popped to the ladies just before finishing off my drink & ordering the next. The ladies (Another downfall, only one small toilet, so you often have to queue outside it) placed at an awkward spot by the bar.
When I came back, my friend passed me my jacket & said We are going I went to finish my drink, but it had gone. She said the barman had come over & rudely told her to get up, the table was reserved, she hadn't noticed, that my Cosmopolitan wasn't finished, when he took it. She said he had given her no chance to say, she had assumed the reserved sign had been for the 4 girls who'd got up from the table earlier & had been very rude & abrupt in his manner too her.
She said Lets find someone else to take our money that, at least acts like they appreciate our custom so we went to The Peahen, where we bumped into a couple who had been on the table next to us, who had been leaving as I came back from the ladies, they were sitting there annoyed & indignant, talking about how rude the barman had just been to them (Apparently the same scenario my friend had experienced!!)
To be honest I think the reserved tables bit, in such a minute venue, is daft, they should scrap that, but close it to the public, for a set fee, for people who want to hire Mokoko for private cocktail based partys! If you like a well made cocktail that doesn't come cheap, and don't mind feeling crammed like on the underground, it could be the bar for you, if not maybe save it for a special lunch time drink, when you may have some room & a free table. read more