Bars & Pubs

Hotel bars | Spirits & cocktails | Real ale & good beer | Historic pubs | Good mixers | Wow factor | Gastropubs

Try a rose petal martini at Lonsdale (© Ming Tang Evans)

Spirits & cocktails

Albannach
Impressively located facing Trafalgar Square, Albannach (as opposed to ‘sassanach’) specialises in Scotch whiskies and cocktails thereof. A map in the menu explains where the Highland and Island malts come from while other pages brim with Glengoynes, Cragganmore and Auchentoshan. The imaginative cocktail list (£7.50-£8) includes a Shetland Pony of Blackwood’s Shetland gin, citrus, peach and passion fruit, and an Islay Punch with Bowmore Darkest, lime and bitters. Among the native dishes are organic Scottish salmon fishcakes, shallow-fried haggis parcels (£4.50) and, improbably, a meat-free scotch egg. Too many loud office groups may detract from the quality on offer, though.
When to go If Trafalgar Square is driving you mad, and the call of the wild tugs at your sporran.
What to have A single malt.
Albannach, 66 Trafalgar Sq, WC2N 5DS (020 7930 0066/www.albannach.co.uk) Charing Cross tube/rail. Feature continues

Cottons
Owner Ian Burrell is to rum what Brazilians are to fancy football and his job title, ‘Global Rum Ambassador’, is the envy of enlightened imbibers the world over. His modest rum shack, down the business end of Chalk Farm road, is shrine to rum – whether it be dark, golden, aged or white – offering 300 varieties. Sip your choice neat, over ice or wrapped in one of Burrell’s sublime cocktails and watch as the happy punters get happier by the minute.
When to go When you’ve seen all the tie-dye Camden has to offer.
What to have A genuine Dark ’n’ Stormy.
Cottons, 55 Chalk Farm Rd, NW1 8AN (020 7485 8388) Chalk Farm tube.

The Establishment
RUNNER-UP, 'BEST BAR', TIME OUT EATING & DRINKING AWARDS 2008
Directly opposite Parsons Green tube, this new bar and dining room is a good place for either a snifter or a spot of nosh. Inside, clean-lined modernity comes with those all-important clever touches: beautiful, giant knobbly glass lampshades; groovy geometric wallpaper; and large canvases unexpectedly depicting classic tough guys from ’60s Caine to ’70s Sweeney. Though there are good bottled beers such as St Peter’s and Doom Bar, the drinks list majors on around 100 different wines, with an admirable 40 or so by the glass. There’s a good spirits range too, and an excellent, inventive bar menu ices the cake.
When to go When you’re tired of Fulham’s wine bars.
What to have Try the cider cocktail for something a bit different.
The Establishment, 45-47 Parsons Green Lane, SW6 4HH (020 7731 8703/www.theestablishment.com) Parsons Green tube.

Floridita
Named after the famous Hemingway haunt in Havana, this glitzy but tasteful basement bar strives to get the drinks and entertainment just right. After your entrance and escorted sashay to table, you negotiate a cocktail menu categorised in Spanish. Most, priced at £8, involve Havana Club Anejo Blanco expertly shaken with fresh mint, fresh lime, sugars and various dashes by a vivacious barman. The Hemingway Special also contains fresh grapefruit and Maraschino; the Presidente sweet vermouth and orange Curaçao; and the Chicago Flip, one of 14 nuevo cubano choices, vintage port shaken with egg yolk. Bar snacks (deep-fried suckling pig with bacon, £3) are reasonable, the mains (grilled swordfish, £18) less so, and live music comes courtesy of Salsa Unica every evening.
When to go When you want to cut some Cuban rug.
What to have Anything but a mojito – the bartenders will thank you for it.
Floridita, 100 Wardour St, W1F 0TN (020 7314 4000/www.floriditalondon.com) Tottenham Court Rd tube.

Green & Red
This Mexican bar-cantina is an absolute triumph, where a lively Latin-American atmosphere is maintained without recourse to silly sombreros and maracas. Drinks are spot on as well (only 100 per cent agave tequila is stocked). You can drop in for a hangover-straightening Michelada (your choice of beer – from Bohemia, Dos Equis, Sol or the imperious Negra Modelo – ‘seasoned and spiced’, around £4) with a ‘brunch’ of Jaliscan bar snacks. With a restaurant that serves great Mexican grazing food, G&R works equally well whether you’re boozing, dancing, eating or just killing time with the papers.
When to go Carnival time.
What to have tequila, straight or mixed.
Green & Red , 51 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6LA (020 7749 9670/www.greenred.co.uk) Liverpool St tube/rail.

American classic cocktails at the Hawksmoor (© Michael Franke)

Hawksmoor
This American-inspired steakhouse and cocktail bar is good at the former, excellent at the latter. The bar succeeds despite being stuck at one side of a plain brick room, with no dedicated seating of its own beyond a few barstools. Those stools are among London’s finest ringside seats, however, for Hawksmoor’s laid-back bartenders are cocktail intellectuals. The menu tracks classics such as juleps and ‘aromatic cocktails’ from their inception: Gin and Pine (conceived in 1862) was served in a cold glass of perfect proportion; Scoff Law (1924; whisky, Noilly Prat, pomegranate and lemon) was a smooth, unfussy blend. Purist means neither severe – there are also more frivolous daquiris, tikis and punches – nor expensive, with much at £6.50. American beers (Anchor Steam, Brooklyn Lager) go nicely with their ‘dictionary-thick’ steaks, and well-chosen international wines provide further options.
When to go When your belly and bank balance are feeling brave.
What to have A post-prandrial Tobacco Old Fashioned.
Hawksmoor, 157 Commercial St, E1 6BJ (020 7247 7392/www.thehawksmoor.com) Liverpool St tube/rail.

LAB
This two-floor space enjoys legendary status among mixers and shakers in the mixology world. The considered cocktail list showcases more than two-dozen lovingly crafted libations served with passion and knowledge. The decor is deliberately retro and the tunes are carefully-chosen, but it’s the discerning drinks that you visit for here.
When to go Before a Soho night gets too out of hand.
What to have The Kool Hand Luke refreshes parts other cocktails can’t.
LAB, 12 Old Compton St, W1D 4TQ (020 7437 7820/www.lab-townhouse.com) Leicester Square/Tottenham Court Rd tube.

Lonsdale
This cocktail bar is decorated in a kind of 1970s sci-funk style, complete with brass ‘bubble’ walls and red leather seating. A whole chapter of the 18-page drinks menu pays homage to mixmeister Dick Bradsell classics, such as the rose petal martini or the Bramble (Bombay Sapphire, crème de mure). The menu is a sweeping historical tour of England’s love affair with the mixed drink, from claret cups to sangarees of the Antilles and sours of the 1700s. The bar staff here are proud of this heritage and it shows. The fair prices (around £7-£8) in this W11 gem are a bonus.
When to go Late in the evening but not too late – it gets busy.
What to have Anything from the list of classic London cocktails.
Lonsdale, 44-48 Lonsdale Rd, W11 2DE (020 7727 4080/www.thelonsdale.co.uk) Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill Gate tube.

Lost Society
You probably won't manage to witness all its charms on a single visit – not if you give the cocktail list the level of attention it deserves anyway – but whichever of the six rooms you end up in, you'll find the same sense of stylish decadence. And repeat visits are a given. Like the fantasy country-house party of your dreams, Lost has something of a roaring twenties feel, with aristocratic opulence at every turn, art deco touches, high ceilings, chaises longues and a crystal-bead light shade above the main bar. Drink offerings have suitably glam appeal: a mind-boggling array of bottled beers (from Brahma to Badger), cocktail recipes of yesteryear (juleps, mai tais, pina coladas, £6.50), whole bottles of spirits with free mixers (Mount Gay Extra Old, £95), carefully selected wines galore. The garden out back has a hidden, secret garden feel, DJs spin a crowd-pleasingly eclectic mix and Tuesday night cocktail classes (8pm, £22.50 per person) offer an educational excuse for getting wasted on a 'school' night. No wonder this place is rammed every weekend – there's nowhere else like it for miles.
When to go For a large night out in Battersea, away from the drinking troughs of Northcote Road.
What to have I'll have what she's having.
Lost Society, 697 Wandsworth Rd, SW8 3JF (020 7652 6526/www.lostsociety.co.uk) Clapham Common tube/Wandsworth Road rail/77, 77A bus.

Mandarin Bar
Despite the overly slick decor – the atmosphere is halfway between a nightclub and the business-class lounge at an airport, as you might expect in a five-star Knightsbridge hotel – the drinks here are excellent. As well as catering for whisky aficionados (the 16-year-old Lagavulin is a choice option), the drinks menu offers a fine selection of well-prepared cocktails; our frothy French martini (£12.50) was vast and delicious. Attentive table service and nightly jazz round off a sophisticated but unstuffy experience.
When to go When shopping at Harrods doesn’t feel extravagant enough.
What to have Keep to the classics and you can’t go wrong.
Mandarin Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA (020 7235 2000/www.mandarinoriental.com) Knightsbridge tube.

Milk & Honey
Milk & Honey maintains the pretence of being a members-only bar (which it is after 11pm), but well-behaved non-members are welcome before then – as long as you book in advance – for a maximum of two hours only. Not the best place for a spontaneous drink, then, but we think that the cocktails alone are worth the trouble. Staff know their business, and drinks (a long list includes sours, swizzles, punches and fizzes) are first rate and not greedily priced (most cost £7.50). The admirable restraint continues in the low-key speakeasy-style decor that seems to have come straight out of the Prohibition era, where the lighting’s so dim that you may have trouble reading the menu. But who cares, everyone looks fantastic. The new Shoreditch branch, East Room, is also worth a try if you can get in (the door policy is even trickier).
When to go Before 11pm if you’re not a member. Phone to reserve a table.
What to have Ask the bartenders. They really do know best.
Milk & Honey, 61 Poland St, W1F 7NU (020 7292 9949/www.mlkhny.com) Oxford Circus tube.

Montgomery Place
A dark, slinky bar, with low lighting, black leather banquettes and glam staff. Any bar that takes its inspiration from the likes of the Rat Pack and Hemingway (with a soundtrack to match) is setting the standard pretty high, but the cocktails here pass with flying colours. A watermelon fizz was a fabulously long and refreshing non-alcoholic option, while a Rio Bravo (fresh ginger mashed with almond syrup and shaken with lime and Sagatiba Pura cachaça, plus a lick of orange, £8) sorted the men from the boys. Substantial snacks are also worth ordering. Staff may look trendier-than-thou but are friendly and professional. A class act.
When to go After a wander around Portobello.
What to have The Montgomery martini, made with 15:1 parts gin to vermouth – just the way Field Marshall Montogomery liked to outnumber his battlefield opponents.
Montgomery Place, 31 Kensington Park Rd, W11 2EU (020 7792 3921/www.montgomeryplace.co.uk) Ladbroke Grove tube.

Shochu Lounge
Beneath contemporary Japanese restaurant Roka, slap-bang in media central, is this buzzy, evening-only basement lounge bar whose approach is part twenty-first-century cosmopolitan, part feudal Japan. Shochu bases many of its concoctions on the titular vodka-like spirit made from grains such as rice, barley and buckwheat. Saké is served hot or cold by the flask or by the bottle (£16-£120), and cocktails can be playful as well as serious – the case in point being the Hello Kitty (shochu, rosewater, raspberries, lemon and sparkling water).
When to go When you yearn for something a bit different.
What to have The Hello Kitty is a house punch that hits you with a velvet glove.
Shochu Lounge, Basement, Roka, 37 Charlotte St, W1T 1RR (020 7580 9666/www.shochulounge.com) Goodge St/Tottenham Court Rd tube.

Sosho
While disconcertingly quiet from the outside, Sosho is a lively DJ bar with fine cocktails. The floor is clear to leave space for throwing some shapes, but there’s a surrounding raised area for lounging, with chocolate-coloured booth seating and clubbing photos. Being part of the Match bar empire, you can expect experienced bartenders and quality drinks: perhaps a neat and pretty Japon cocktail (Gran Centenario Reposado tequila with cassis, saké, pink grapefruit juice and cucumber) or a clean, classic gin martini, both a snip at £6.50.
When to go When the City is too prim, but Shoreditch too declassé.
What to have One of the excellent cocktails.
Sosho, 2 Tabernacle St, EC2A 4LU (020 7920 0701/www.sosho3am.com) Moorgate or Old St tube/rail.

Trailer Happiness
A silly attitude to decor but a serious attitude to booze sums up this west London bar. Savvy staff mix Tikis and other rum cocktails, plus a number of house favourites such as the luscious grapefruit julep (Wyborowa vodka shaken with pink grapefruit, lime and pomegranate juices and a drizzle of honey over crushed ice) and the zingy Stone Pole (Zubrówka bison grass vodka with fresh lime, apple and ginger juices, plus ginger beer). Cocktails start at £6.50 and can be accompanied by snacks (‘TV dinners’) such as Thai squid salad and jerk chicken sandwich.
When to go When you want to unwind. And unwind fast.
What to have Keep it Tiki.
Trailer Happiness, 177 Portobello Rd, W11 2DY (020 7727 2700/www.trailerhappiness.com) Ladbroke Grove or Notting Hill Gate tube.

Hotel bars | Spirits & cocktails | Real ale & good beer | Historic pubs | Good mixers | Wow factor | Gastropubs