If you're trying to find this spot, know that it's the bar below the Antico restaurant. Just walk…read morein and head down the stairs to the cozy little lounge. Better yet, do it on a Sunday where they do a special tiki menu! The tiki menu has interesting, well crafted cocktails and are a serious bargain at £7! 214 is a great stop for a pre or post dinner drink, and a great date night place.

My day job is based between London Bridge and Tower Bridge - so obviously I had to find the nearest…read moregin bar to take my colleagues to, which turned out to be around the corner on Bermondsey Street - 214 Bermondsey to be precise. The bar is tucked under Antico restaurant on Bermondsey street. Not only do they love gin - they make their own tonic water! What I was keen to do is introduce my non gin drinking colleagues to something they might like. This is where a large gin selection comes in handy, tasting flights of gin help too... We started off with a Tour of London gin flight. You get three different gins from around London and a bottle of tonic to top up after trying them neat (naturally! Luckily my colleagues were up for this!) You are meant to try the gins and then guess which is which from the list. When you've made your choice you open the envelope and see if you were right! These are the ones we had in our London flight: Half Hitch, which is made down the road from me (we tried it last year at the Oliver Conquest gin tasting), Little Bird made in Peckham, and Moonshine Kid Dog's Nose made in Bethnal Green. We got the last two the wrong way round, but the Half Hitch was easy to find with its Bergamot notes and tinge of colour from the tea. Next up was Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition, where we fared better with three out of three correct! This included one of my favourites, Gin Mare, from the Costa Dorada made with Mediterranean herbs and olives, Larios 12 from Malaga orange citrus heavy and the secret blend of Xoriguer Mahon from Menorca, which is aged in oak. For those less interested in gin I found out what they liked and ordered accordingly. Sean got a navy strength gin neat (he's a whisky drinker - I would normally suggest an aged gin for them, but the Bathtub Aged was sold out!). Jerome doesn't like tonic, so for him something spicy, Opihr and ginger ale, which went down well. I also got Sangdeep out of his Hendricks comfort zone to try Monkey 47! They make their own tonic here - naturally darker as they soak the quinine in it to flavour, rather than using the extract. For me it's not going to rival the FeverTree range, but it was something different - I can't quite get over the colour though, it made picking the gin from the ginger ale very difficult! We also grabbed some nibbles as responsible drinkers. The meat platter and bread with oil was lovely - all from Antico restaurant upstairs. 214 Bermondsey is definitely worth a visit with a fair selection of gins and lovely staff to help you choose some to try out - think I'll be back here!

The London Cocktail Club totally gets me…read more It realises that: - I want great cocktails to be within easy walking distance of the Tube (and further knows that the Central line is very convenient for me!) - I want snacks with my cocktails and offers me popcorn, crisps and nuts to nibble on. - Love don't cost a thing and employs James to take good care of its patrons (seriously, this dude delivers service with a smile!) - I like my bloody marys spicy. - If you serve my strawberry daiquiri in a jam jar I will be automatically more prone to liking it. - If you reserve a table for me, I will show up on time. I can't wait to come back!

Definitely a place where the counter-culture can be found, which is exactly what I was looking for…read more It's not an exclusively underground scene, but there's definitely a bit of that vibe here. Cool bartenders who are friendly, talkative, and full of energy. Fair prices. It's not a fancy place, nor is it a dive. It's a basement bar in a good location where they play decent music and are 100% non-pretentious. I saw them making some nice looking cocktails but I was drinking beer so I can't comment on the quality of their signature drinks. Would definitely return.

This is THE place for anyone who has ever been curious about different types of drinks, looking for…read moresomething new to try, willing to branch out of your alcohol comfort zone, looking for new twists on old favorites, an elevated take on your favorites, or your go to cocktail served better than you have every had it. Francesco will cater to your every bar need, including needs you didn't know you had. He delivers history, facts, tastes from around the world, suggestions based on your go to liquor that lead you to new worlds, and does it with humility, grace and an unparalleled passion that leaves you with a sense of satisfaction that goes beyond having a good cocktail. Let's not forget about Giorgio. This amazing manager will not only demonstrate that he knows your palate preferences, but trust him and Francesco to find the right Cocktail, aperitif or liquid magic that you thought you would never like and find something new. Absolutely amazing experience and anyone who is liquors curious should trust these amazing gentlemen to guide them to a next level experience.

Great atmosphere, classic old time bar and very comfortable seating with great service.read more

A little Clapham gem that I don't frequent often enough…read more A long, thin bar which is usually packed with people come the weekends. Great music from DJs and the bar staff's iPod alike. Attracts a real mixed crowd - so the place tends to have a different feel to it every time I visit. It's a good spot to hide away for a long boozy Sunday in during the cold, dark winter months. Definitely worth a stop on your next trip to Clapham.

Part of a chain but still a pretty cool cocktail bar with very experienced bartenders and a huge…read morerange of cocktails. Don't go in and order a Mojito because they'll look at you like you think they're crap at their job. Instead, order something you can't pronounce because these guys (and girls) take pride in making awesome drinks. For cocktails the pricing is ok, about seven quid or so per drink but they've got happy hours too. The music was pretty rubbush but the atmostphere and friendly staff (who asked, and remembered, your name as you walk in) made up for it. My only negatives about this place is the small likeness to 'TGI Friday' (it's a bit cheesy) and the positioning of the bar in the middle of the room, thus making it a little claustrophobic.

Friend of a friend reserved a table here for her birthday on a Saturday night. Happy hour of £5…read morecocktails til 9pm. Cocktail menu was heavy on fruity tropical drinks. The surfers paradise frozen cocktail, laden with passion fruit, mango, and pineapple, made me feel like I'd been transported to the islands. Didn't try the food here but the menu looked like standard pub fare, nothing gastro about it. Beer pong table was put away around 8pm to make room for the slowly infiltrating dance party ready crowds. All Bar One next door seemed to be more populated in comparison. Don't know what was going on because (based on my friends commentary, not from experience), the place is usually packed by this hour. Maybe just an off night or maybe everyone was busy watching the bonfire weekend fireworks display. Bartenders were free pouring it up, which is a welcome change from the precise measuring they're all about in this country. My bartender opted to go hard with the theatrical aspect of bartending, including plenty of cheesy jokes and fun glasses in the air moves. They brought us over a round of free shots to end the night, which was a nice gesture, but not an overly generous one given our group had cumulatively ordered at least 30 drinks. Cell signal and wifi signal were both weak, which was a slight annoyance. Decent mix of new and old tunes, but they definitely had their playlist on repeat. After hearing every song about 3 times over, we called it a night and headed out.

Cocktails for £5 Thursday - Sunday until midnight?! That's a happy hour (or several) if I ever did…read moresee one! Kinda kitschy but cool decor inside, nice atmosphere when we went for after work drinks. There was a beer pong table set up in the middle of the bar...a little weird for a Wednesday night but whatever floats your boat Adventure Bar! They also have this cool separate area which would be so great for a party. It's not 100% private but it's off to the side. I imagine it gets pretty busy on a weekend. Great little area in Clapham Junction. A few other nice pubs/bars nearby.

This review pertains to the hotel restaurant below the bar, not the bar itself. We had a superb…read moredinner, enjoying sumptuous food in an elegant dining room. This restaurant is a luxury experience, and worth fully what one spends. We dined pre-Prom and made known time and dietary constraints, all of which were observed perfectly. Wonderful corgette, vol au vent, lamb, and beef. Find wine selection. An excellent choice for a special occasion.

For what's around this area, bar 190 is amazing!!! Very cozy, could be slightly warmer, espresso…read moremartini's are fantastic, cauliflower soup is good but not outstanding.... Fair for the price. Service was good.

Colour me impressed -- you guys were working your tails off behind those boarded up windows!…read more Three visits and approximately six cocktails later (it got fuzzy after that), it's fair to say that you've masterfully kept enough of your street art charm of the old locale, but you've upped the maturity level with the intimate new brick adorned space. I'm not sure if your license to rock was revoked, but I did see a great event space below ... granted, it was adorned with some type of antler action, but hell, Moose can rock, right? Look at you -- you're all growns' up!

Newly opened, and from what I can tell, newly revamped, the Dragon Bar remains an important fixture…read morein the everything that is the Shoreditch scene. Okay, that's probably not true, but it did offer a damn fine time to a little gaggle of girls looking to get their drink on in the early evening hours. We stumbled (literally) in here after throwing a few back at a little hole in the wall down the street and this was the perfect little place to continue the fun. Nice and dark, exposed brick (my fave!) and a nice bartender who suggested a nice glass of white. The prices seemed decent with 3 drinks for 10.30 and we definitely enjoyed our time here. They also have a downstairs room that would be fantastic for a larger party or birthday. Didn't try the food, but when you have booze, why bother with the other food groups, hehe. Enjoy!

What an adventure and what a place. There are really 2 distinct sections in Connaught Bar. The Bar…read morearea, duh, where it's active, people are moving, standing around, the martini cart is navigating through traffic, and the theatrics from the bartenders are on full display. And then there's the seats, which are more comfortable, and you can order food, but imo is less interesting. The drinks are expensive, for sure. But the unique, vast menu, and their focus on making a super detailed and complete martini experience, is great. Not only do you get to choose your aromatics, but you get to craft your preferences! Martinis are one of those acquired taste drinks, some of us will never like it (me included), so having the option to customize and make it tasty for your liking is great. And on the theatrics. Some bars put props or make fire and it's whatever. But the theatrics here are legit. They'll cut the ice in a certain way for a reason, or dispense via a different mechanism than a straight pour, or will aerate the cocktail before serving, etc. So many detail oriented techniques that make the drink special, entertaining, and tasty! As a bonus you get to take home the recipes for the cocktails you drank, but let's be honest, the magic stays at Connaught.

WOw. Best martini ive ever had (came from the American Bar earlier in the day and still wow). It…read moreeven convinced my dining company that a gin martini can be just as good as a vodka one. Crisp and oh so refreshing. 150$ for a drink is crazy, that was pretty popular here. people watching is great, the hotel is cool too. Service was excellent.