All posts tagged: bar

Aquum, Clapham

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What Aquum has re-launched as a late night drinking, dining and dancing destination. Where 68-70 Clapham High St, London SW4 7UL Experience It was my first visit to Aquum which has been completely refurbished into a modern, vibrant restaurant – turned late night bar. It was the type of place you could imagine ordering shots and dancing until the early hours. I was joined by an old friend Lucinda who within minutes was speaking to a handsome man at the bar. I left her to it while I pondered over the menu. My first drink of the evening was a Greek Negroni. A thirst quenching blend of Campari, Bombay Sapphire, sweet vermouth, and made Greek by the addition of Skinos Mastic liqueur. The liqueur made the usually bitter cocktail sweet enough to be palatable for the rest of the evening, so I ordered another. The food menu offered contemporary Greek dishes which features sharing plates, fresh salads and grilled meats. Lucinda and I sampled a few sharing dips with sourdough bread. If you are familiar …

Cleaning up at Wringer + Mangle, Hackney

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What Dinner at Wringer + Mangle, HackneyWhere 13-18 Sidworth Street London E8 3SD Experience I didn’t realise it at the time of booking the dinner, but Wringer + Mangle was the first venue I visited after landing back in the UK following a year and a half hiatus from my beloved London. I turned up to my friend’s surprise birthday party horrendously jetlagged and struggled to sip on delicious cocktails from ridiculously big jugs. It’s all a bit hazy, but I remember hoping I would return when I was settled back to UK time. I had far less of a foggy head during my second attempt and last night was joined by a couple of good friends for dinner and drinks. As soon as I arrived, I recognised the outside seating area immediately and plodded past to enter the huge loft style dining room, which stretched as far as the eye could see. The space felt quiet for 7pm on a Thursday night and I hoped it would get busier as we walked towards our …

Rev JW Simpson Spirited Sermons: Best of British Gin

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What A night of gin tasting and cocktail making with Tarquin’s gin of North Cornwall Where Reverend JW Simpson, 32 Goodge Street, W1T 2QJ Experience Tonight was a special night because it was the first time I had seen Sarah (Food for Think leader) since she left us for a much sunnier Australian climate, almost a year and a half ago! And what better way to celebrate her returning exactly the same shade of pale as when she left, than by drinking loads of straight Cornish gin. We got to Rev JW Simpson, a super stylish basement bar on Goodge Street (and one of my favourites), at around 7pm and were greeted by very affable staff who seated us in a cosy corner and walked us through the itinerary for the evening. Southwestern distillery, made famous by Tarquin’s gin and pastis, had pitched up to allow a group of gin enthusiasts to indulge in an array of cocktails, attempt some mixology and learn about the history of what is undoubtedly one of the more intriguing alcohol …

The Art of Japanese Whisky with Suntory Whisky

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What A night of Japanese whisky tasting and ice carving Where The Hollywood Arms in Chelsea Experience  The prospect of trying some Japanese whiskies on top of learning some traditional ice carving skills was too much for me to pass over. What a party trick! I imagined that this would be an absolute game changer for my social life. We turned up at the Hollywood Arms a bit late as I’d had to take Joe to the pub next door for some warm up drinks. He hates whisky so needed a few beers before he could even consider drinking it straight. He was purely in it for the ice carving and, I suspect, has dreams of us going pro. The tasting was held in the upstairs room, where our host was ready and waiting with a couple of high balls and a Power Point. Just my kind of thing. Our charming teacher explained, and demonstrated with pictures, how, in 1923, the founder of the Suntory distillery began his journey to create a Japanese whisky that, …

5CC Exmouth Cocktail Crate

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Where 5CC Club, Exmouth Arms, Exmouth Market What Food and drink hotspot Exmouth Market welcomes 5CC’s latest cocktail innovation, hidden above the recently renovated Exmouth Arms. Experience Summer is here and with it brings welcome sunshine to Londoners. The Exmouth Arms is a rare gem of a central London boozer – it offers outdoor seating to soak up all that vitamin D and a bespoke cocktail crate to wind down handcrafted cocktails from the 5CC bar upstairs to sun seekers below. Bar Manager Charles Montanaro told Food for Think “The aim of our designed crate is that we bring the cocktails to you”. I stood outside gazing up at the window eagerly awaiting my Chai Whiskey Sour.  “Number 8”, the cocktail waiter hollered from the window above while winding down the crate using the set-up pulley system. I made my way to the dropping station to pick up my spicy, refreshing cocktail. This is what summer is for. Sip your way through the menu and when the sun goes down head in to 5CC’s sexy …