Volupte

The small bar specialises in cocktails, features swirly wallpaper which on closer examination is patterned with naked women and is easily filled to bursting with office workers. Downstairs offers a restaurant with some form of live entertainment - from cabaret to poetry - every night. I was keen to check out Volupte as I love the idea of a nicer dinner to the accompaniment of live music, but few places in London seem to do this well (with the notable exception of Quecumbar in the depths of hard-to-reach Battersea). On our visit Volupte did music very well, with a very slick five piece band belting out jazz-bluesy numbers. However the nice dinner part of the equation failed to materialise. The leather bound, short menu is both pricey and uninspiring. My gazpacho was lukewarm and flavoursome - only rendered edible by the addition of some ice cubes from the water jug and copious sprinklings of salt and pepper (which we had to ask for). At £7 this was a shocking rip off. The chicken terrine (£7.50) was also flavourless, bordering on the unpleasant. For mains the sawed fish (sic) and sea bass were both OK, but certainly not good enough to justify the £15-ish price tags for the small portions with few accompaniments. The wine list is equally profitably priced, starting at £16. Out bottle of the cheapest rose (£18) compared unfavourably with many £3 supermarket bottles. Add on the service charge and may be some coffees and you would have very little change out of £100 for a very mediocre meal for two - and that's without the entertainment cover charge that applies on many nights (though not when we went). Which is a shame, because I wanted to like this place, and I still want to see some of their shows. But I probably won't unless I can figure a way of doing it while not feeling utterly ripped off.

Volupte Lounge, 7-9 Norwich Street, EC4A 1EJ; Tel. 020 7831 1622; Tube: Chancery Lane; www.volupte-lounge.com