| TUESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2008 |
| Top 5 Bars 2008 |
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It's
been a pretty good year for the bar scene here in the
Big Smoke. Members' joints have been blossoming city-wide;
cocktails have been flowing freer than ever before;
bars have been changing hands and snapping up facelifts
faster than a Mafia informant. But as the last grains
of 2008 slip through our fingers, we figure this is
a perfect time to take a longing look back at our favourite
new drinking holes from the past 12 months.
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Bureau
Standing on the long-cold ashes of the infamous
drinking hole that was Tatty Bogle, Bureau is
a well-hidden members' bar (perhaps a little too
well-hidden, some might argue) of sleek, kitsch-tinged,
late night cocktail elegance, featuring a sexy
personalized menu system and some of the city's
finest cocktailians at the alcoholic helm.
Bureau,
13 Kingly Court, W1B 5PW
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here to read the entire feature |
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Callooh
Callay
Whilst it might be the titular Jabberwockie reference
that first wooed us, it is the lounge tucked behind
the wardrobe that keeps us coming back. That and
the top-notch drinks, the mono-bartendered mezzanine
for hire, and of course the flock wallpaper. Co-founded
by top barkeep Richard Wynne, Callooh is our tipped
successor to the ever-fickle Shoreditch crown.
Callooh Callay, 65 Rivington Street, EC2A
3AY
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here to read the entire feature |
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| The
East Room
Jonathan (Match/Milk & Honey) Downey's first eastwards
expansion (rumour has it, his second will be a
forthcoming mini members' bar on Brick Lane),
The East Room is an oenophilic wet dream. Opening
earlier this year, its swipe-card oenomatic wine
dispensers, stunning Armagnac collection, sterling
food menu and gorgeous dining terrace have made
this an instant UJ City favourite.
The
East Room, 2a Tabernacle Street, EC2A 4LU
- 07000 847876
Click
here to read the entire feature |
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| Paramount
Far above the New Oxford Street junction, this
thoroughly exclusive, impeccably designed, literally
multi-faceted bar and restaurant in Centre Point
is hardly a haven for the vertiginously inclined.
But when you're reclining in your Tom Dixon chair,
cocktail in hand, soaking up the incredible views
of the city from the 31st-33rd floors, let's see
you try complaining about anything.
Paramount,
Centre Point, 101-103 New Oxford St, WC1A 1DD
- 020 7379 5484
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here to read the entire feature |
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Slim
Jim's
Perfect for when you fancy a break from all that
fancy cocktailery, Slim Jim's is like a no-frills
slice of neon-lit Lower East Side dive bar heaven,
right on Upper Street. Some nights it's filled
with open-collared suits, some nights with a younger
asymmetrically-cropped crowd - but with a booth
full of friends, a few brews, bourbons, and a
glass full of peanuts, you could be sharing it
with the devil himself and you wouldn't care.
Slim
Jim's, 112 Upper St, N1 1QN
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here to read the entire feature
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