Mandarin Oriental Bar

Darting between the casinos and prestigious nightclubs of Knightsbridge we make our way up the stairs of the globally recognised mandarin oriental. Inside the venue feels a little maze like with signposts pointing to various locations like a turn of the century train station. The casino was in the opposite direction to the bar so we scurry into the bar, led by a small Chinese hostess. Inside middle aged, well dressed men and women will the room at different heights and lean towards the square bar in the middle of the room. The bar had a strange backdrop to it of a thin blond, behind which a light seems to be flooding photons at the bottles behind the bar. The effect is a dramatic animation of the bar and its unlabelled bottle silhouettes dominating the room. We are led to a small table beside a large wine cellar cage and served milky martinis with table service. The atmosphere is pleasant and light but the crowding means we were lucky to get a seat.

Overall a wonderfully enchanting bar, very much on the pricey exclusive end of London’s bar spectrum but absolutely worth a visit - 9/10