‘A place to make a mistake’

I’m not sure why I take the turning, which adds minutes to my walk, furthering the possibility of missing the bus. But my senses need refreshing, a change of scene to knock me out of my homeward routine. So I take a wander down Denmark Street.

They call it the ‘West End’ in the tourism leaflets but you wouldn’t know it. When I reach the junction with Unity Street, there’s nothing but apartments housed in an imposing red brick building. Then, out of the darkness emerge the great temple-like doors of the Wah Yan Hong Chinese supermarket. The smell wafting out of the door is familiar, the same one that always seems to surround Far Eastern food stores. Is it the freezers full of seafood or some ubiquitous spice?

Next door is an extravagant Chinese restaurant, decked to the rafters in lanterns and dragon statues.

Across the road the stage doors of the Hippodrome are open. I glean a look inside as an usher welcomes a group into a red curtained room. Articulated lorries block up the kerb, and there’s a stage hand sucking on a roll-up in an unlit doorway.

Blink and I’d miss the steps that lead down to Harvey’s Cellars opposite, blue fairy lights illuminating the old wine racks. It’s the oldest establishment on this stretch by at least a century and still sells the sherry for which it was founded on in 1895. 

I think about wandering in and feigning a party booking just so I can explore, but instead I decide to take a look in the magic bar next door. It’s a fairly unremarkable boozer decked out in traditional fashion, but with a secret theatre in the back just big enough for 50. It’s empty when I look in but the bartender assures me that it comes alive when the table candles are lit and a show is underway.

A downtown side street such as this wouldnt be right without a seedy side and Shadows massage parlour is there to provide. Shadows in the night as far the clientele are concerned or is it the girls who are shadows of their former selves?

The whole facade is mirrored and there’s a handwritten note about a daytime offer stuck to the wall of the entrance way. It’s also right next door to a tattoo removal clinic, which would appear to compliment each other well; a place to make a mistake and another to rectify one.

Up on the wall is a red neon sign advertising Bombay Boulevard, a plain looking Indian restaurant on the ground floor. The red glow reflects in the empty windows above making me wonder if there’s any less conspicuous parlours along this stretch.

The thick scent of pure, unadulterated grease fills the air from a chip shop. Two Middle Eastern men are behind the counter bantering with customers. 

A sickly-lit alleyway adjacent offers the ideal spot for a late-night urinal or something a little more tawdry.

Alex Rankin is a writer of journalism, short stories and non-fiction. Visit his website here.

Read more: No.5 Grill Bar – restaurant review