Kremlin: Best Soviet Themed Paris Cocktail Bar

Kremlin
6 rue andre Antoine
75018 Paris

Pigalle’s seediness attracts a slew of curious tourists and looky-loos who giggle at sex shop windows and dodge propositions from sketchy clubs. What other neighborhood’s more questionable side is celebrated by an eponymous vodka with a red light on the label? But, this little pocket of Paris is going through a gradual change.  Hipster bars are replacing hostess clubs and it’s taking on trendy abbreviated monikers.  Now it even has its own brand of champagne.  Is Pigalle slowly cleaning up its act?!

Maybe. Recently the team behind UFO and l’Orange Mecanique set their sites on NoPi and turned a girlie club into Paris’ newest communist era themed bar, the Kremlin.  Gone are the ladies in short skirts lingering by the door.  They’ve been replaced by a lively lot of locals looking for a different kind of good time. Now, bar hoppers sink into flea-market furniture or play foosball while sipping drinks bearing soviet-inspired names.

The chalkboard menu offers fifteen cocktails. I started with a Stalin’s Final Word, which is a riff on a Final Ward made with Rittenhouse Rye and curiously topped with cinnamon.  Proportions were good, ingredients were top shelf and execution was correct.  Not only is a Final Ward an easy cocktail to enjoy, but the inclusion of its variation on the menu indicates some cocktail cognizance. It’s a drink more likely to be discussed on cocktail blogs and less likely to be found on your basic bobo bar menu.

I was less impressed with the martini: Broker’s gin shaken with a bit of Lillet resulting in a sweeter rather than dry drink. Notwithstanding, I appreciate the fact that their menu is reaching beyond the basics at reasonable prices of 8 to 11 Euros with choices that are more inspired than many spots in the area. For example, the Red Star is a mix of mescal, fresh beetroot and Carpano Antica Formula.  Again, not the stuff of standard menus in the city.  Only five of the fifteen drinks are vodka-based, which I think is a reasonable number for a bar that channels Mother Russia.

 

And, while vodka comprises the largest range of brands, the other spirits provide some nice options given their small shelf space. The gins include Beefeater, Brokers and the limited edition Botanist.  And once again, not what you would find on many Paris menus.

While, the Kremlin can’t compete with Paris’ upper echelon of cocktail bars, they don’t have to.  They are a step above the average, turning out nice drinks, avoiding bottom shelf booze and bringing in a fun and lively crowd. This new nightspot is a good example of two things: The gentrification of Pigalle and the spread of better cocktail options and ingredients turning up in unexpected places as a result of the now full-blown Paris cocktail craze.  Just as Pigalle straddles the seedy and scenester worlds, the Kremlin’s cocktail approach straddles the craft and the casual.

11 thoughts on “Kremlin: Best Soviet Themed Paris Cocktail Bar

  1. So stalins final word yes, is based off the last word but I switched the gin for RYE, green for yellow chartreuse, and lemon juice for lime. and its not nuttmeg its flamed cannelle. so to answer your question Yes I know what im doing. there martinis Im not sure but come check me at UFO anytime and lets drink.
    cheers,
    SCOTTY
    PS. I made the cocktail list.

  2. oh, Scotty – don’t get all touchy! 😉 I actually wondered if you had something to do with the choices & I know you know what you’re doing. My point is – someone who knows what they are doing made the list. But, the bartenders aren’t you. And, i said your Final Word is based off the Final Ward (a riff of the last word which IS rye based) I’m not knocking the place & you know I respect you and your cocktail cred & I think the fact that you just fessed up to making the menu pretty much sums up what I mean with the place – it’s a fun place, with someone who knows what they are doing making the menu . So don’t take that personally. I’m talking about the bar & not you. Thanks for the correction on the nutmet/cinnamon. I thought it was nutmeg – but i went a few weeks ago & I”m only human and sometimes forget a detail. I’ll correct it on the blog later today – am in a rush at the moment.

  3. Right around the corner and I didn’t even know it existed!! Happy to know it’s there as options for a fun place to hang and have a drink with friends do not abound in NoPi.

  4. Yes … the design is clearly needed to be changed 🙂
    What would be brighter , nebudu (

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