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If ever there was a place for your Patsy Stone moment in London, it would be The Coral Room. The walls gleam a luscious, candy-coloured pink and the chandeliers shine, as do the skins of this hotel bar’s well-preened guests. Plus, there’s a whole menu dedicated to English sparkling wine – consider it Ab Fab post-Brexit.
It’s a part of The Bloomsbury hotel, which is already home to the popular Bloomsbury Club Bar and its twinkly all-weather terrace. But The Coral Room lives on the ground floor rather than in the basement like its secluded sister, which means it sees far more comings and goings. The drawback of its location is that many hotel guests treat it as a glitzy thoroughfare, which made our position up at the bar slightly disrupted.
Smiling, suited staff behind the bar did a great job at getting us settled into the drinking though, offering recommendations based on personal tastes, with one even purring to my companion that she had picked his favourite drink, The Last Word. I was jealous of this classic done exceptionally well until my Midtown Swizzle arrived. When your cocktail comes with a spoon, that’s usually a sign that indulgence lies ahead; this fruity, rum-driven number had pineapple and a passionfruit float (hence the spoon), along with an English sparkling wine top. That sparkle and spoon comes with a price tag – this cocktail and others cost £15, although drinks sans fizz cost a slightly more moderate £12.
While the cocktails are as brilliant as those coral-coloured walls, it’s the sparkling wine menu that’s the star of the show, one of the longest lists in London that breaks bottles out by county. By-the-glass prices start at £9 courtesy of a Brut Reserve from Devon’s Lyme Bay Winery. The bar also has a cigar terrace for the smokers, so it should feel like home for those truly committed to being Absolutely Fabulous.