LS review – ABQ London

Oct 10, 2018 by

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Editorial rating 3/5

Address: 18 Bohemia Place E81DU, London
T: Hackney Central
Opening Times: Mon-Tue: Closed Wed-Fri: 5pm – 12am Sat: 3pm – 12am Sun: 3pm – 10pm
Price:  £32.50 per person
Website: ABQ London
About:

ABQ is the world’s first immersive molecular cocktail bar where you get to make and infuse your own drinks in an RV (Motorhome) on some banging hip-hop and gangster rap tunes. You will be working with molecular techniques to cook your cocktails and then…ermmm drink em!  Acids, alcohol, load of fun, amazing music and other stuff provided.

 

Our review:

Warning: This review is extremely flammable, please watch Breaking Bad before reading!

 

Tucked in a back alley bar strip in the heart of hackney, the notorious ABQ London aka The Break Bad bar was awaiting us. Upon arrival we were introduced to the iconic Walter White caravan from the Breaking Bad series inside the bar, I could tell we were about to embark on an immersive experience full of gas masks, flasks and blue meth.

 

There were no host/hostess that greets you upon arrival, so you find yourself searching for staff, instead of soaking in the unique layout of the bar. After going back and forth with staff for 10mins about who we were and where we were going to be seated, they kicked a couple from their seats and planted us in between two couples in an awkward fashion. Since the seating plan was intimate you have no choice but to make friends with the people sitting next to you as they can hear everything you say. We were told to wear the iconic yellow scientist overalls, the menus  was full different alcoholic concoction/experiments, my inner Heisenberg (main character of Breaking Bad) was starting to kick in. What we wanted was the most extravagant drinks so we could have the best Breaking Bad experience.

 

The first host arrives and we ask which drink one would look good for our Instagram she responds dismissively without answering our question, we were puzzled but we were not going to allow a moody staff member ruin our night. We ask another staff member who then gave us the top 3 drinks – Wendy Martini, CRT FIX and Blow.

 

They have a dance floor above the caravan with a Dj who was mixing all the best hip hop songs, this was a great way to keep us entertained while waiting for slow the service. After waiting 50 minutes we finally made our order and everything went smoothly from there on. The experience lasted roughly around 1 hour 40 minutes (including waiting) and is filled with challenging and fun experiments, filled with smoke, flasks and candy that looks like drugs. If you are looking for nice cocktails while looking like a mad scientist there is no other place like it.

 

This is best suited for first dates and groups of friends 4-8 people.

 

Reasons for the rating:
For us it’s all about experience and long waiting times did kill the experience for us this particular night. BUT we let them go for this time as it’s a very unique venue, fun and it gets you involved!