Bar Rumba offers a dark and dirty space to grind away to a soundtrack of hip hop classics with generously-measured drinks and a friendly atmosphere in the heart of the West End.

The Venue
A few minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square tube stations, Bar Rumba has occupied its Shaftesbury Avenue basement space since 1993. Descend the dark and narrow stairs into an equally dark bar and club area with a dancefloor and long bar against the back wall and plenty of booth areas to sit and relax in when you need a break from dancing.

The space is dark, unimaginative and could do with a facelift to shift the stale smell that hits you on the way in and compete with its more glamorous West End neighbours.

The Atmosphere
The street-level bouncers are rather forboding and unfriendly, but once past them things take a turn for the better as the bar staff are friendly and lively and the crowd, made up mostly of urban and hip hop music enthusiasts, are a happy bunch. The crowd isn’t dressed up, instead cool sportswear, jeans and female flesh is the order of the day. Despite not getting busy until after midnight, the crowd are out for a good time and will happily dance the night away even if the dancefloor isn’t crowded.

The Music
Bar Rumba has an urban music policy with hip hop, jungle, reggae and drum and bass being the mainstays to keep this crowd grinding away. There are soul nights on Tuesdays, the long-established Movement on Thursdays, and expect the place to get packed for the heavyweight RnB party Getdown every Friday.

The Drink
With only Becks on draught, the choices of beers are mainly bottled with Grolsch and Coors being two of the more familiar names on offer. There’s also a small cocktail list, with typical offerings such as a cosmopolitan or mojito, reasonably priced for the Shaftesbury Avenue location at around £5 each.

Worth a try to liven up proceedings is something from the shooters menu – try the powerful mix of blue curacao, Baileys and banana licquer (priced at just £3.60) or stick to the generously-measured spirits and mixers, which work out to around £6 for a double. The prices can often be a pleasant surprise here, as there are drinks promotions every night of the week, which this venue needs to compete with its better turned out neighbours.

The Last Word
Bar Rumba has fairly priced drinks and a music policy that appeals to its fun-loving urban crowd, but it looks tired and needs to offer something special to compete with the Leicester Square big boys who are just footsteps away.