Formerly Prism, this new creation in the old Bank of New York building is certainly interesting. Steam and Rye is large, impressive and dark, with red lighting and 80-90’s music. A 1940’s themed American experience bar with eating area best describes this place. There is an extensive cocktail list from £9 – £60 with funky names and ingredients. Saloon girls, waiters with facial hair and American accents and a rodeo bull await you if you dare.
The place is owned by Kelly Brook and the man behind Mahiki. And like that Polynesian hangout, there are lots of ‘famous’ reality tv celebs hanging out here at the weekend (which is weird as the city is pretty dead after Friday night). It is not often that someone braves opening a themed bar in the city, where most people are happy with a pint at the pub or a cocktail with a view. To turn the former Bank of New York building into a ‘40’s American bar with a mechanical rodeo bull takes guts. But does it work?
Scantily clad saloon girls welcome you. The bar has huge ceilings and the booths are made of railway carriages. There is kitsch and US themed paraphernalia everywhere. It’s a Monday night and I can’t hear anything but very loud MJ and TLC – was that around in the 1940s?
Cocktails start at £8.95 and run into the typical £50 group ‘treasure chests’. They do sound cool, ‘Dead Man’s Boots’ or ‘Mount Rushmore’, I am intrigued. The descriptions are all too clever; popcorn syrup here, chilli chocolate there. I ask the waitress for a recommendation and actually her choice was pretty good (although perhaps a smidgen light on the alcohol content). And we enjoyed the jaws music and special effects when a group ordered a cocktail that comes in a giant sharks head!
A waitress in demin cut-offs decides to ride the bull – as she struggles to stay on all I can say is ‘what cheek!’ (you get the picture..!). Maybe a bit early in the night but we commend the effort! The menu focuses heavily on US meat and soul food with burgers, surf n turf and mac n cheese. Mrs Jonas and I fancy a light bite, so we share the King Prawn Salad and Mushroom Mac n Cheese; the salad is good and the mac is not bad, but its clear we are not meant to focus on the food with all the entertainment around us!
The toilets are on the lower level, where there is a long dimly lit bar and booth setup which looks much more authentic than the vaudeville theatre upstairs. Think this might make for a more serious future drinking spot. Upstairs is another area with more oddities but all three are quite difference spaces which is a nice surprise for a city venue.
So what’s the verdict..? Because of its location I will undoubtedly end up here again one merry night! If you are looking for a quality drink or dinner experience this might not be it, but, if you want a bit of raucous madness and good times, step right in folks!
