Lots of folk have been reaching out to me after sharing some photos and videos of my midweek visit to the newly opened cigar terrace Upstairs at Langan’s in Mayfair, London, across my social media, curious about my experience. So here’s the lowdown on what happened and what I experienced.
Background
Created in 1976 as a joint venture between Sir Michael Caine, Peter Langan, and Michelin-starred chef Richard Shepherd, Langan’s burst onto the global restaurant scene, attracting guests from Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John to Princess Margaret and Mick Jagger. It became one of the most talked about venues in London.
Langan’s is now re-born with a new private members club on the first floor. It’s known as ‘Upstairs at Langan’s’, and just last week, they opened a brand new cigar terrace there.
The venue is a couple of minutes walk from Green Park tube station, just around the corner from what I like to call the ‘cigar mile’ of St James, ala JJ Fox, Davidoff of London, CGars Ltd, and The Stafford.
The venue describes itself as ‘Mayfair’s most exclusive members only club, discreetly located above Langan’s Brasserie’. ‘Upstairs will transport you to a world of sophistication, character and fun. Akin to the members clubs of old, Upstairs is a spot to enjoy after-work cocktails or dinner with friends, before taking to the dance floor until the early hours to the sounds of London’s most captivating DJs and live bands.’
Unlike most membership clubs, they do not seek a joining fee or a subscription.
My experience
On Tuesday night, I was searching for ‘new cigar lounges in London’ on Google, as you do (I’m obviously quite obsessed with visiting as many of London’s cigar sampling lounges and terraces at the moment) and stumbled across a post about a launch party at London’s Langan’s on their new cigar terrace. The launch party looked great and was held on April 24th 2024, although it was a shame only to spot one cigar smoker in the mix!
I then checked out their website at langansbrasserie.com/upstairs, and the interiors look amazing! Sadly, there weren’t many photos of the actual cigar terrace. I quickly added a link to the venue on my newly opened and upcoming cigar bars, terraces, sampling lounges page and, not long after, went to bed. Little did I know I’d end up there the night after.
On Wednesday, I started the evening at OM Cigars London, a wonderful little cigar shop and sampling lounge in Primrose Hill. You may be familiar with it as I visited there a couple of months back, and blogged about which you can read here. I met up with a fellow cigar smoker that follows this blog from Kuwait, and we had a fantastic evening with great cigars and great conversation with the shops other customers.
We were also checking out some of the cigar lighters on sale in the shop, including this S.T. Dupoint Picasso lighter.
However, the night was only just getting started. Mansur, the cigar lounge owner, mentioned trying out the new cigar terrace at Langan’s. First, I couldn’t believe those words slipped out of his mouth! Considering I’d been looking it up the night before – hell yeah – let’s do this!
So after grabbing a quick bit to eat at the wonderful Michael Nadra Primrose Hill Brasserie & Bar — a spot frequently chosen by OM Cigars London for hosting cigar events, including their upcoming Trinidad 55th Anniversary event as part of Habanos World Days
— several of us from the lounge took an Uber to Mayfair to explore the newly opened cigar terrace.
I haven’t had much experience with private members clubs, so this is a completely new experience for me. I’m still trying to understand more about private member clubs that have cigar lounges inside. It’s a concept I’m eager to learn more about, and it’s really fascinating to me. A couple of years ago, I was smoking cigars by myself on my balcony and nervously on my own in cigar lounges, not talking to anyone. Now I’m hanging out in London’s Mayfair’s elite members clubs. My mind is well and truly blown 🤯.
Upon arrival and checking in, we ascended to Langan’s upstairs area, where the first thing that caught our attention was the interior of the bar and lounge—rich red décor, plush seating, and elegant tables—an impressive sight indeed. The atmosphere was buzzing!
On the night we visited, a soul singer was performing. Consequently, we had to pay £25 to access the cigar terrace, but we understood that this charge was due to the special event taking place. Nonetheless, we were eager to pay as our main aim was to experience the cigar terrace and enjoy some fine cigars. Nothing could stop us now — we were determined for cigar time!
After walking through the bar area,
we checked out the cigar humidor, a cabinet with lots of mainly Cuban cigars. I recall seeing Cohiba Behike’s (I can’t remember if they were the 52, 54, or 56) and Ramon Allones Private Stock 230, which immediately stood out amongst some of the other bigger-hitter Cuban cigars.
The beauty about this place is that you can ‘bring your own’—a question I often get asked when I post about the many cigar lounges and terraces I visit. We had a handful of cigars ready to enjoy and relax with.
At that point, we headed out to the cigar terrace, and it was busy! The soul singer Mica Paris, who was performing at the venue, was on a break, so folk went outside to relax on the terrace. It was a super buzzy atmosphere—a great vibe—although there were not many other cigar smokers about.
The terrace itself really reminded me of the one at Bosidales of Belgravia—possibly a bit smaller than that. The roof was open, but you would have never guessed you were outside—the outdoor heaters were doing an incredible job.
We were led to some seats at the back of the cigar terrace, a great little spot.
The bar manager Valerio handed us cigar and cocktail menus – a few of us went for the old fashioned – something I’m ordering quite a lot lately.
You can view a digital copy of this cigar menu right here.
Once our drinks came over, we all lit our cigars – I smoked the Vegas Robaina cigar which Ahmed from Kuwait kindly gave me as a gift – if you’re reading this – thank you so much! 🙏
We all sat back and relaxed with our cigars and had great conversation.
Once the singer was back on stage, the terrace got a bit quieter, which was good – as when it’s busy, it’s a little hard to hear everyone speak – jeez, I must sound old! 😆
But wow, what a lovely experience! The staff were super friendly and welcoming. They told us a little about the history of the restaurant, including the Michael Caine—’ My Name is Michael Caine’ connection to the venue—he was one of the owners. Whilst the venue started out as a restaurant in 1976, for the past two years, it’s had this fab little terrace—and just last week was its opening night as a cigar terrace.
How do you become a member of this private club? You have to know someone who is already a member to get a chance to become a member, which is pretty standard with some of these private clubs. But once you’re in, you can smoke as many of your own cigars as you want on the terrace area.
After a couple of hours – it was hometime – I missed my last train back – so I had to grab an Uber home – but wow, what an unexpected evening out with the most amazing folks!!! Big shout out to Mansur, Ahmed, Oliver – who smoked his first Cohiba Behike cigar!!!, Bardia and, of course, Reza – who we also bumped into at the venue 🙏
My rating…
is 9 out of 10 for the wow factor bar; the cigar terrace itself is probably a 7 out of 10 as it’s not as wow factor as the iconic bar area indoors. My dream would be to smoke inside that bar!
The staff go above and beyond to ensure you have the best time. My assumption about private members clubs – would have been way too posh – but they were incredibly accommodating – I felt so at ease – too at ease that I could get used to this kind of lifestyle 😁.
Here are more details about the venue at –
Upstairs at the Langan’s
Stratton Street
Mayfair
London
W1J 8LB
Telephone: 020 7491 8822
Email: info@langansbrasserie.com
Website: langansbrasserie.com/upstairs/
Social media: Facebook and Instagram.
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