We’re not too sure about restaurant cum disco cum cocktail bars – option 1: go wanting to actually talk to your friends over dinner, conversation doomed to be blighted by Justin Bieber.

Option 2: go wanting to drink and dance but have to sit around po-faced until Sue from accounts has munched her way through some anaemic shoestring fries (and something else you can’t quite identify under the strobe lights) until the group finally jumps on the dancefloor and you’re too pissed to do your Hotline Bling dance with necessary flair.

But Fu Manchu is a bit different. Tucked away under a railway arch beside Clapham North station, a young, cool crowd filters in early. keen for a few relaxed drinks and stylish bites before it’s time to boogie.

Dark, moody and packed with people past 7.30pm, it’s undoubtedly a cool place for cocktails. No one can accuse the bartenders of not being creative – each concoction is lovingly put together and served in an Instagram-worthy glass, our favourite being the house grog, or ‘Manchu’s Mind Control’, shaken with guava, lime and mango juice, ‘served in the face of Fu’. Ooh.

Today is death, last night was worth it #fumanchu #clapham #dimsum #cocktails

A video posted by Amy Everett (@amyranga) on Sep 25, 2015 at 12:59pm P

Four of those later (each) and the dim sum came calling, towers of steamed, dried and baked dumplings soaking up the Asian-spiced spirits. We went for Honey Barbecue Pork Puffs, Prawn and Chicken Wonton Soup, Steamed Scallop and Spinach Dumplings, Steamed King Prawn Dumplings and a Crispy Duck, Orange and Chinese Leaf Salad.

#dimsum A photo posted by Fu Manchu (@fu_manchu_bar) on May 22, 2015 at 1:02am PDT

The verdict was mixed, the duck salad dry and salty, but the honey barbecue pork puffs were delicious. The soup was piping hot, and the green skin on the scallop dumplings soft and shiny – but throughout, the delicious drinks kept coming. As the night wore on, the music got louder and the lights got lower, we realised we’d found a restaurant cum disco cum cocktail bar we’d be returning to enjoy in all its guises very soon.

Amy @ Fashionbite xx

Website: Fumanchu.co.uk

Address: 15 – 16 Lendal Terrace, Clapham, London, SW4 7UX