Oliver heads underground at Moonrays, Soho’s music-led hideaway where excellent cocktails, late-night DJs and a room full of vinyl make a quick drink a dangerous proposition. Naturally, Talking Heads gets a spin.
There are two types of people in a cocktail bar: those who look at the menu, and those who immediately start inspecting the record collection. At Moonrays, tucked away on Denmark Street, I was firmly in the second camp. Sorry to whoever was trying to take my drinks order.
Moonrays has that underground Soho energy that makes you feel you’ve stumbled across somewhere worth keeping to yourself, despite the fact you’ll inevitably tell everyone about it.
Low lighting, moody corners, a lively crowd and music that’s actually worth listening to. It’s less another cocktail bar and more somewhere you could happily lose an evening without having to manufacture a reason to stay.
We arrived after Jason Momoa had been on DJ duties, so the afternoon’s antics were still very much in full swing. The place was buzzing, the drinks were flowing, and the prospect of heading home seemed increasingly theoretical. Soho, naturally, was showing no signs of having anything resembling a sensible bedtime.
Music is the heartbeat of Moonrays. DJ nights bring the party, with selectors digging into sounds that span soul, funk, jazz and rare groove. Then there’s the Listening Room, which takes things in a different direction. Here, the idea is to sit down and properly listen to records, rather than use music as an excuse to shout over a gin and tonic. A radical concept in 2026, apparently.
Naturally, I had to get Talking Heads on the record player. Remain in Light felt like an entirely reasonable contribution to the afternoon’s cultural enrichment. Whether the rest of the room had requested my musical direction is another matter. I maintain that any bar with a decent record collection should expect its guests to have opinions. Mine just happened to arrive before the second round.
Speaking of which, we tried the Talulah and Aurora cocktails. Moonrays gets the balance right between a menu with enough personality to tempt you away from your usual order and one that doesn’t require a bartender to deliver a TED Talk before you can choose a drink. Both gave us another reason to settle in, which was becoming something of a theme.
The food follows the same relaxed approach. We went for the toasted sandwiches, with crisp, golden bread and the sort of satisfying bite that makes you wonder why anyone bothers with a dainty canapé. This isn’t somewhere that needs to dress up a sandwich as a culinary revolution. Sometimes you want something good to eat between cocktails, and sometimes that sandwich is the most important relationship in your life. No judgement here.
What makes Moonrays work is that it doesn’t seem desperate to prove how cool it is. The music isn’t an afterthought, the Listening Room isn’t just a quirky marketing line, and the atmosphere does the heavy lifting without a neon sign telling you how much fun you should be having.
It’s a place for people who like their drinks with a side of discovery, whether that means finding a new favourite cocktail, hearing a DJ pull something unexpected out of the bag or rediscovering a record you haven’t played in years. You can pop in for a quick one, of course. You can also tell yourself you’re only going to listen to one side of the album. We all have our little fantasies.
The verdict: Moonrays has the cocktails, the soundtrack and the sort of atmosphere that makes checking the time feel deeply inconvenient. Go for a drink, stay for the records, and if someone puts Talking Heads on, give them the respect they deserve. Even if it is you.
7 DENMARK STREET LONDON · WC2H 8LZ