There’s no such thing as the best cocktail bar in London. The matter is simply too subjective.
Some people favour grimy basement dives, lit by a naked bulb, where the drinks are served stronger than silverback gorilla and the bartender is rumoured to have killed someone.
Others prefer those sleek secular shrines where every drink has forty two ingredients, painstakingly calibrated in a secret laboratory off the Irish coast, and the menu is treated like holy writ – ask for extra ice at your peril.
Nope, I would never dream to nominate London’s best cocktail bar. London’s most elegant cocktail bar? That’s easy. That would be Le Magritte at the Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair.
The place is positively swoonsome, a gorgeous medley of 1920s splendour with just enough playful touches to avoid any sense of stuffiness. So you have rich wooden panels, furniture made exclusively from various shades of red leather, a bar so shiny you could powder your nose in it. The checkerboard floor and hanging lights are very Art Deco; the literal art is a mixture of jaunty sketches and monochrome luminaries who fit the vibe – the Rat Pack are inevitably present.
"Positively swoonsome."
The aesthetes among you will know René Magritte as a Belgian surrealist painter of the 20th century. I recognised him from The Thomas Crown Affair, a great little heist movie starring Pierce Brosnan in which Magritte’s painting The Son of Man plays a pivotal role. You’ll probably know the painting, if not the name – it’s the one with a man in a bowler hat whose face is obscured by an apple.
Naturally, Le Magritte has a Magritte painting of its own at the centrepiece of the bar, framed by racks of gleaming bottles. It’s called The School Master and depicts a man in a bowler hat standing beneath a crescent moon. He’s looking away from the viewer so we only see the back of his head. Like all great artists, Magritte had his themes.
Likewise the cocktail menu at his wonderful bar. The themes change fairly often: the current one is The Great American Songbook, featuring a number of bespoke creations from head bartender Giovanni Dellaglio and bar director Benoit Provost that hark back to America’s musical heyday. The result is incredibly fun and even a little educational.
Stormy Weather
Each cocktail is named after a famous song, and includes a photo and brief biography of the singer primarily associated with it. Order Summertime, and you will not only enjoy a delightfully pink creation of tequila, vermouth and grapefruit juice. You will also learn Ella Fitzgerald won 13 Grammys and sold more than 40 million albums. I suspect many patrons may ignore the ingredients and simply opt for their crooner of choice.
It’s far more than gimmickry, of course – there are some seriously good drinks here. I particularly liked Stormy Weather, a spicy little thing made with mezcal, agave and tabasco. (Ethel Walters, in case you were wondering.) Frank Sinatra favoured whisky over gin but even Ol’ Blue Eyes might have enjoyed Summer Wind (gin, lemon juice, cucumber foam), wonderfully light and refreshing.
Mr Bojangles
Fellow Rat Packer Sammy Davies Jr gets the swaggering Mr Bojangles. Bourbon, port, Laphroaig – you can almost feel the hairs growing on your chest. If that isn’t enough, the drink is served in a glass shaped like a pipe that can be attacked from either bowl or stem. It even smokes! Terrific stuff.
There's food, too. Snacks include four enjoyably decadent slices of prawn toast, cheeseburger sliders (when in the USA, etc), and some of the most succulent lamb skewers I've ever tasted. More substantial plates are also available. (Club sandwich, anyone?) You come for the drinks, and the overall vibe, but there is no need to leave here hungry.
Some bars just make you feel good. This is one of them. Like the artist who shares its name, and songs that inspire its latest menu, Le Magritte is essentially timeless – and yet you'll have the time of your life here.
For more information, see Le Magritte
