Sometimes plain old drinking isn’t good enough for us, sometimes we want to be entertained too. We want action and drama. We want to be wooed. Well, we came to the right place. Tales & Spirits doesn’t just make damn fine cocktails: each one comes with its own theatrically delivered story. The Splash Splash gets its own song, with Splish Splash by Bobby Darin taking to the stereo as you sip. Naturally, we ordered the Ouwe Hoeren – that’s old whore for anyone wondering. It was pink, strong spirited and wasn’t taking any sh*t from our liver. 

Tales & Spirits is in the heart of the red light district, the last place you would expect to find a bar of this class and calibre. Stepping through its curtained doors, it feels like the last bastion of the civilized drinker in an otherwise sex-saturated street. There are bare brick walls, lots of books and French vintage posters. Both the chandeliers and back bar are antiques, as is the bartending gear in the glass display cabinets. As well as the cocktail bar, they serve a full sit down dinner too – it’s said to be very good. There’s a Bohemian vibe without being over-laboured. Regulars are rewarded with a most wanted poster hung from the ceiling, and we’re pretty sure we could spend enough time here to deserve one.