• Added: 7th of January 2008
• Area: Holborn
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London WC1V 7EN
020 7829 9888

LondonistHazel said
Plush Hotel Bar For The Posh
I met a friend who was staying here for a few drinks. It was after work on a Friday and having worked from home all week, I had lost the ability to dress myself and apply make-up. So I turn up, expecting the Chancery to be at the nicer end of business hotels that wouldn't mind my scruffy trainers, unwashed jeans and baggy jumper. He had told me rather dismissively it was a place for people in London for business, not hanging out and being elegant - this hotel has good conference facilities. So they wouldn't mind a bit of unkempt freelance chic landing in the bar, right?

Well, I was greeted twice by the extremely smart looking doorman, left discreetly to my own devices in the achingly grand lobby but I knew the cluster of hotel staff were ready to leap to my aid the second I made a signal and when my friend came down to meet me I was relaxed, I felt quite welcome, but my god, I was really not dressed for it.

The bar is lit in the way that suggests a team of lighting specialists worked two months on making everyone who takes a seat look sexy and two or three kilos slimmer. The sofas and chairs are luxurious and well spaced out so every group having drinks and snacks together feels like they have their own space - it was busy but never felt crowded. Table service is swift and efficient, friendly and attentive. The wine list is superb. The complimentary snacks are the kind normal people buy as a treat from Marks and Spencer.

It's odd to recommend a hotel bar when London is so full of interesting independent bars and pubs, but this one is a rather unexpected bit of luxury, a sort of continental chic and sophistication that you can't take for granted in our city. Spend alot and enjoy it.

• Added: 7th of January 2008
• Area: Fitzrovia
• Category: Restaurants

London W1T 2PS
020 7323 0477

LondonistHazel said
A Slice of Tokyo on Goodge Street
This place is... mad. You step off Goodge Street and walk straight into a traditional little Japanese izakaya - not really a restaurant, more a tapas bar and it's clearly a Japanese place for Japanese people.

Not that we were made to feel unwelcome or awkward. Though we were clearly not Japanese, we were invited to sit at the counter where the chef leaned over the hot grills to guide us through the menu and give us subtle tips on how to treat the place. Like a tapas bar. Looking around, it was all about having a few drinks, reading the paper, chatting to your neighbour and ordering a small dish or two then repeating the process until the bar had shut and the tube stations were closed.

I was taken in hand by an extremely polite and friendly chap in London on business who helped me pick a few things from the specials list which was a hand-written slip of paper all in Japanese. My companion was being helped by the waitress who wanted to make sure we got things we would 1) actually eat and 2) despite our adventurous nature, she didn't want us to be totally freaked out or end up ordering too much / ordering too little.

We got just the right amount and were befriended by a rather over-excitable chap who was looking after a flock of extremely good looking female colleagues. Free beers with the chef after the place had officially closed and a sense that the party was only just starting as the bins were being taken out at 1am really sealed this place as somewhere special.

It wouldn't be like this for everyone, and not every trip is going to result in a slightly disorientating "I think I'm in downtown Tokyo, how do I get home?" blurry phonecall from a bus stop in Soho but just knowing something this authentic is in London restores my faith in London's capacity to host the finest food and people.

• Added: 7th of January 2008
• Area: Fulham
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London SW6 2DR
020 7736 1023

LondonistHazel said
The Ideal Lazy Sunday in Summer Pub
I have spent the perfect lazy Sunday summer afternoon here, after a long sunny walk along the river from Pimlico to Chelsea and then into Fulham. It was just perfect to sit down with a long cool drink in the shaded interior, still feeling like I was outside because all the windows had been thrown back and we were sitting on the bit facing the football ground that feels like a porch.

There was chilled out music playing quietly, small groups of relaxed people chatting unobtrusively sitting outside, the road was quiet and all was peaceful and serene. Food is apparently quite good though we didn't dine there that day and the range of drinks and service is excellent. I still think back to that drowsy, ultra-relaxed Sunday in the Pelican as the pub that did everything that I want for my day of rest.

• Added: 17th of July 2007
• Area: Shoreditch
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London E2 7DP
020 7012 1234

LondonistHazel said
Special decor, special service, special prices
This is slightly biased as a review as I was here for a birthday party, in a reserved area... but I'll say the same as all the other reviews here: Lounge Lover is a gorgeous, relaxing but somewhat fancy space to have a cocktail.

The decor is unique, eclectic and all about dressing up; the clientele matches the surroundings! The cocktail list is excellent but expensive - it is not the place for a value for money night out. If you appreciate attentive service and feeling like you're getting special treatment, the prices could make up for this.

Smarten yourself up a bit more than usual and be prepared to spend a little more than usual and brace yourself for a very good-looking evening.

• Added: 17th of July 2007
• Area: South Kensington
• Category: Nightlife

London SW3 5TX
020 7351 6826

LondonistHazel said
Oh Bloody Hell
This is a tiny, overpriced, embarrassing little nightclub full of Sloanes who can't dance or socialise unless they fall on each other in a rugby scrum on the bitterly small dancefloor (the boys) or stand shrieking at one another over 7.00 vodka tonics (the girls).

With the smoking ban in place, Sloaney smokers charge up and down the stairs to get to the surface for a fag and it is quite horrific to press your way through the braying crowd to get to the stairs leading down.

Avoid at all costs!

• Added: 17th of June 2007
• Area: Brompton
• Category: Restaurants

London SW1W 9LX
020 7730 6922

LondonistHazel said

A great bar for whisky: note spelling - the correct way for Scottish firewater! I haven't had the pleasure of dining here but the restaurant area is kept separate with a conservatory at the back providing a third space for this smoky, classy place.

It can feel a little intimidating if you're here to drink - the wine list is huge and the whisky list is the size of a telephone directory. Staff are helpful and enthusiastic and when I was getting befuddled by the variety on offer, the short descriptions of each whisky proved useful but ultimately a little overwhelming. The members' club feel of the decor and surroundings might not be to everyone's taste so be aware of this if you're taking along folks who don't like heavy Chesterfield sofas, cigars, live jazz and whisky snobs. If you're bringing along people who DO like this sort thing, then you're all in for a good time!

• Added: 17th of June 2007
• Area: Lisson Grove
• Category: Restaurants

London NW1 5PG
020 7486 3515

LondonistHazel said
Phoenix Palace
For a good Chinese restaurant experience, don't go to Chinatown, go to Baker Street. The Phoenix Palace is nothing like the cramped and grubby Chinatown regulars - this is comfortable upmarket Cantonese dining without being intimidating.

It's best for evening meals, in medium to large groups; the staff are a shade nicer and friendlier than the gruff types rushed off their feet in Chinatown. The food is not mind-blowing but is good quality and well-presented - good for a special event or celebration that requires a bit of showmanship as well as a hearty feed.

The menu is broad enough to offer the "safe bet" stuff of all Chinese restaurants but Phoenix Palace does particularly well in the more obscure "in the know" items which are lapped up by the keen Chinese diners. If you're feeling adventurous, the staff are sometimes open to enquiries about certain menu items and may make recommendations though this is not consistent - if you're really stuck and / or keen to try something different, just ask and see what kind of waiter you get!

Not recommended for Sunday lunch - the queue is often out of the door and if you do persist and get a table, the experience is guaranteed to be tasty but rushed.

• Added: 17th of June 2007
• Area: Bankside
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London SE1 9RL
020 7378 7776

LondonistHazel said

This place is great for performance art and the more bizarre end of cabaret. Not so great for wine and beer - drinking is incidental to the spooky surroundings and the avant-garde events so the supermarket wine and room temperature beers are just about bearable.