Any bar that has ‘and’ in the middle of its name is always going to have connotations of a big traditional boozer, or one of its modern, trendier incarnations. Rose and Crown, Slug and Lettuce… you get my drift.

So, it was a surprise to find the Shrub and Shutter is none of those things. In fact it was a surprise to find it at all, because it’s all too easy to walk or drive past a couple of times before you realize you’ve arrived at this gem of a bar in the heart of buzzing, bustling Brixton.

Now, I am fast coming to the conclusion that there are two kinds of ‘best’ bars – the glitzy grand hotel bar and the small, personal variety, run with love, attention and humour by owners and fellow bar lovers.

And that’s the Shrub and Shutter for you… small, but perfectly formed with delicious food and drink served by well-informed, friendly staff under the expert ownership of Dave Tregenza and Chris Edwards. All of whom are only too happy to talk you through the varied and creative cocktail menu featuring funny, fresh and frankly quite bizarre ingredients including gunpowder.

At the time we visited a new series of Game of Thrones was about to kick off and the Shrub and Shutter had created some specially themed cocktails to celebrate the occasion. So, more a case of GoT than G&T. Fortunately for me that meant a proper pewter tankard foaming at the top with majestically medieval ingredients.

We also tried a literally smoking, Milk of the Poppy with a Dragon’s Egg. All of this was complemented with plates of delicious bar food prepared in the impossibly tiny, but obviously very competent kitchen.

The bar quickly filled up as the evening wore on, so we were thankful we had arrived early and were warming up to stay late until we realized bedtimes beckoned. We will certainly return to Coldharbour Lane, because despite the address, the warmest of welcomes will be waiting.

336 Coldharbour Lane
Brixton
London
SW9 8QH

www.theshrubandshutter.com

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Trailer Happiness has been winning many happy fans ever since it opened its doors in Portobello Road. You can see easily see why. To start with the staff and owners are so friendly and laid back you feel you’ve stepped into a support group rather than a bar. Albeit one with its own unique decor, vibe and supply of rum based beverages.

Because this is a Tiki bar, a perfectly formed example of a phenomena that somehow originated in the post prohibition California of the 1930s. Apparently, as an ever helpful waitress explained, some bars of the time began adopting a Polynesian vibe with bamboo furniture, exotic masks, kitsch pictures, loud shirts and rum based cocktails featuring the flavours of a variety of exotic fruits. Perhaps it was an attempt to brighten the gloom that the recent ban on alcohol had laid over the whole nation. More likely it was intrepid travellers bringing back and integrating the styles and tastes they had discovered during their sojourns in the South Pacific.

Trailer Happiness has resurrected the Tiki bar and taken it to a new level of tasty trendiness that leaves behind your Trader Vic’s of this world (although we can’t help but have a soft spot for Trader’s based solely on a childhood visit to the Hilton Hotel outpost on Park Lane that was so unbelievably different from 70s London it was like being on another planet)

You descend into its subterranean home to find low lighting and low comfortable seating ideal for a little slouching and supping of strong drinks. Trailer happiness, as a good Tiki bar, should, devotes itself to the finest in Rum based cocktails. The kindly barman, wearing a very fetching Hawaiian shirt that belied the cold wet weather, outside recommended a trailer Colada – literally smoking rum concoction, created with the help of a blow torch and served up in hollowed out coconut husk, adorned with a smouldering incense stick. This went down very well with my companion.

After a hard evening’s toil the previous night reviewing bar after bar in Borough I was feeling a little fragile and was kindly pointed in the direction of a Hemingway Daiquiri, which eschewed the traditional cocktail sweetness and replaced it with a little saltiness – apparently the perfect way to counteract the effects of a hangover. I think it worked. After a couple I certainly felt a lot better.

We arrived early and could have stayed very late. As the bar began to fill up we felt more and more at home, unfortunately duty called and more bars beckoned. But to paraphrase Arnold Schwarzenegger, another fan of loud Hawaiian shirts: “We’ll be back”

177 Portobello Rd
London
W11 2DY

www.trailerhappiness.com

Tags: bars in london, Best Bars London, Best Bars Nottinghill, Best Bars W11, Trailer Happiness, Trailer Happiness review

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They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But they didn’t take into account the poor souls who haven’t managed to drag themselves up in time for it. And that’s quite a lot of us come the weekend.

So, step forward brunch, the most important meal of the weekend. And possibly the whole week. One that combines the very best comforting food with the opportunity to drink restorative libations.

Which is why we found ourselves late on a Sunday morning at Powder Keg Diplomacy, a well loved local bar and restaurant on St Johns Hill near Clapham Junction. Here they have concocted the perfect recipe for a popular local hangout… warm, welcoming and stylish with just the right dash of Victorian colonial eccentricity. We turned up with kids in tow and were all welcomed in by the fun and friendly staff who were dealing with Sunday in a much more positive frame of mind than we were.

The bar is split into three areas, there’s a comfortable lounging around area at the front, a well stocked bar with booths lining the wall opposite, and then beyond the bar towards the back, a Victorian style conservatory area dotted with period tables and chairs. Seated in a comfortable booth we could see local denizens of all ages arrive for a combination of coffees, cocktails, beers, brunches and lunches.

Crispy bacon rolls wee ordered and devoured quickly. The ever-helpful staff. much to the kids delight, were also able to provide a couple of enormous Yorkshire puddings for them. Whilst they gorged themselves we spent our time perusing the many variations on a Bloody Mary that were on offer. If Bloody Mary’s are not to your taste then a wide selection of restorative cocktails were also on offer. The Espresso Martini, made with rum, coffee liqueur and fresh espresso was irresistibly tempting and suitable stimulating.

Brunch turned to lunch, during which large amount of roast beef disappeared, quickly washed down with craft beer. If the younger members of the party hadn’t needed exercising we may have even stayed longer… perhaps for my new invention which merges lunch with tea and which I have christened ‘Lafternoon’.

We left fully restored with firm intentions to return, not just for brunch, but to enjoy an evening of food, cocktails and colonial extravagance.

The Powder Keg Diplomacy is at 
147 St Johns Hill
SW11 1TQ

www.powderkegdiplomacy.co.uk

Tags: bar reviews, bars in Clapham, bars in st Johns hill, bars in SW11, Bars London, Best Bars London

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What do I think of cocktails that are served in Jam Jars? Well, I think they’re worth preserving.

Boom, boom, thank you, I’ll be here all night…

Actually, I could be here all night, because this is just the kind of bar that ticks all the boxes for me as one of the best bars in London. Small, friendly, decadent, eclectic and interesting. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

Down the metal staircase and through the basement entrance you’ll find seductive, secretive and bookable cavern type booths hidden behind red velvet curtains – while elsewhere you’ll find shabby chic sofas and comfy chairs to sink into.

The bar serves up delicious cocktails, craft beers, and some decent pizzas, bar snacks and sharing boards to help soak it all up. You’ll encounter friendly people both behind and in front of the bar and lots of live music to add to the atmosphere. It’s a real contender for one of the best cool and quirky bars in London. Or one of the best party bars in London. And, if you’re in a booth, romance might get a look in too!

When it’s quiet it’s a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, when it’s busy it’s a great place to be at the centre of that hustle and bustle. The night we visited the human jukebox was about to get going… In the shape of talented musician Tony Bowen, who takes tweets of any song you’d like to hear and serves up his own accomplished interpretations.

And that cocktail in a Jam Jar? It was a tantalisingly tasty concoction of rum, bitters, brown sugar and orange, that spread itself warmly through my body and whetted my appetite for more. Many, many more.

Lucky Pig? Lucky us.

The Lucky Pig is at
5 Clipstone Street,
Fitzrovia
W1W 6BB

www.theluckypig.co.uk

Tags: Bars in Fitzrovia, Bars in W1, Best Bars in Fitzrovia, Best Bars London, london bar, london bars, Lucky Pig, The Lucky Pig

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Gilbert Scott sounds like a Victorian expletive in the fine tradition of ‘Gordon Bennett’ and ‘What the Dickens’. Which is particularly apt – because it would be perfectly natural to utter a powerful exclamation of wonder once you enter this stunning bar and restaurant through the heavy revolving doors that mark the entrance.

The decor really is breathtaking. Mere words can’t do it justice… the bar which you enter is toweringly tall ceilinged and packed with glorious gold leaf, gilt and fin de siècle glamour. Steps ahead of you lead up to the restaurant, but why go further than the bar? On your left you’ll find comfortable seats to sink into while supping your selected cocktail. On the right stands the bar itself, a beautiful construction of dark metal, gleaming glasses and many hued spirit bottles

The staff are dutiful, the drinks delightful. My pocketful of rye bourbon-based cocktail was very, very moreish, as was the delicious smoked butter and paprika popcorn that kindly accompanied it. But it’s difficult to concentrate on the drinks and nibbles when you’re surrounded by such amazing décor. With an ornate, eastern influenced painted ceiling punctuated at each end with vast golden, bell shaped chandeliers you can’t help but stare in amazed delight and imagine yourself in a bygone era of decadence.

If you’re wondering who Gilbert Scott was, well Sir George Gilbert Scott to give him his full name, was the man who designed Kings Cross Station – and the Albert Memorial – both shining examples of splendid Victorian Gothic revival architecture

St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Euston Rd
London
NW1 2AR

www.thegilbertscott.co.uk

Tags: Bars in Kings Cross, bars in NW1, Bars in St Pancreas, best hotel bars london, cocktail bars london, cocktails, gilbert scott, Hotel bars london, St Pancreas Rennaissance hotel

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No whines about Dandelyan at the Mondrian. –

After a thoroughly enjoyable and educational Nikka whiskey club tasting at Vinopolis I decided to wend my slightly wobbly way along the Southbank towards Waterloo. As I passed the newly refurbished Sea Containers House my eyes were drawn to a beautifully stylish bar basking in full view behind floor to ceiling windows.

It was still early, the bar looked enticing and realising that this was the Dandelyan bar of the new Mondrian Hotel I decided to drop in for a stiffener before my journey home.

I was warmly welcomed by the bar staff, took a seat at the sumptuous, green marble bar and perused the cocktail menu. This offers a range of signatures cocktails carefully crafted to make the most of seasonal and herbal ingredients. The menu kindly guides you through cocktails split into cereal, vegetal, mineral and floral categories – and handily recommends which drinks suit which time of the day.

Award winning mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana, AKA Mr Lyan, was a welcoming figure behind the bar, and along with his very well informed team, gave me chapter and verse on the origins and thinking behind the drinks. It was quite a challenge to choose, so I plumped for the first cocktail on the menu ‘Puffed Grains and Chocolate. This combination of scotch, curaçao, malted grains and pink pepper was at once uplifting, comforting and oddly reminiscent of coco pops.

It was also very moreish, but I resisted the urge to order another and settled for something different for my second drink. After much deliberation and discussion I decided to see if I could lay to rest the memory of two flavours that have not been too kind to me over the years. The first was tequila, the second was pine, which in my experience was associated with cheap retsina and mighty hangovers on backpacking Greek island hopping holidays. To that end I opted for the Elderfir from the vegetal selection, a combination of Douglas fir, Tapatio tequila, Kamm and Sons (a delicious citrusy, bittersweet British aperitif), grapefruit and elderflower.

Served in a small bottle, with the sprig of fir floating in its midst, this was most enjoyable. The tequila undertones were ever present but the influence of the fir was actually quite festive and reminded me that Christmas is coming and this stretch of the Southbank would soon be full of seasonal stalls and sparkly lights.

I would have loved to explore the menu further but the lure of home meant my investigations would have to wait for another day… and there will be another day as the combination of stylish, dark decor, delicious drinks, knowledgeable friendly staff and a great view across the river towards St. Paul’s will surely make Dandelyan a firm favourite for the future.

Dandelyan
The Mondrian Hotel
20 Upper Ground
SE1 9PD

www.morganshotelgroup.com/mondrian/mondrian-london/eat-drink/Dandelyan

Tags: bar reviews, bars in london, Bars in SE1, Bars in the Southbank, Best Bars in London, Best Bars London, dandelyan bar, Mondrian Hotel

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