There’s nothing better after a long, hot day in the city than sipping on a cool cocktail. Happily, London is obsessed with cocktails and there are more establishments furnishing fruity, off-the-wall concoctions than you can shake a stick at.
Whatever your preference in terms of décor, atmosphere or drinks, London has it. In honour of the fast-approaching summer season, we’ll run down some of the best you can try.
Once the residence of British adventurer and man of daring, Phileas J. Fogg, Mr Fogg’s is the ideal place to take a step back into London’s fog and smog drenched Victorian past.
With two locations in Covent Garden and one in Mayfair, anyone staying in our Finsbury Square London hotels is only a hop away from delicious cocktails. Mr Fogg’s Gin Parlour in Covent Garden, for example, offers, as you might expect, a range of gin-infused cocktails. Try out the ‘First Audition’ – Hendrick’s gin, elderflower cordial, fresh lime juice and Fentimans rose lemonade – for something refreshing and light.
Mr Foggs is also opening a new venue this summer in Fitzrovia – ‘House of Botanicals’ – which will focus on fruity, floral cocktails and bills itself as ‘a cocktail bar for the adventurous’.
Right in Shoreditch, Happiness Forgets is only five minutes from our Finsbury Square London hotels, making it the perfect locale to grab a nightcap before retiring to bed.
The appeal of Happiness Forgets is in its approach. The venue is a low-key, warmly-lit basement, where amazing cocktails come to life. The credo of Happiness Forgets is, ‘Great cocktails, no wallies’, which is nice to hear if you just want a great drink in relaxing environs.
Try out the ‘Imperial Fizz’ – bitter vermouth, fresh lemon, sweet sherry and apricot, shaken with egg white and pale ale – for a taste explosion. In fairness, the cocktail menu is extensive and full of amazing choices, so make sure you come in an adventurous mood.
Housed in the beautiful Montcalm London Marble Arch, The Montcalm Nirvana Bar is an exercise in style, sophistication and amazing cocktails.
The bar sees live jazz every Wednesday, and more live music every Friday and Saturday night, making it a lively place to sit back and sample something nice to drink. The Summer Rum Punch is a great teaming of rum with fruit flavours. It combines light and dark rums, amaretto, pineapple, Cointreau and lemonade – the perfect tonic to a hectic day in the capital.
This venue is all about velvet, mirrors and over-stated, louche class. You’ll be surrounded by glimmering brass and glass as you sup on one of Disrepute’s many cocktail offerings.
The bar holds its cards close to its chest – the website, for example is one page with contact and reservation details – but this is part of the charm. Going to Disrepute feels like finding a place that only movie stars are supposed to know about, and the interiors reflect that. You can easily find yourself sucked into the classically-inspired design and thinking you’re Greta Garbo. Try any of the cocktails, as they’re all amazing, but Disrepute does some transcendent things with gin, so you might want to start there.
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