Eat & Drink
Originally published on Tuesday, 25th May 2010
Hot 5 Tables: Bar Dining
Five places we love for bar dining
There’s something very modern and a little bit chic about perching yourself at a counter or bar table and grabbing a few bites to go with your beverage rather than doing a full-blown lunch or dinner. Milanese stylistas do it best at the Principe Savoia where the arancini, succulent olives and other fancies come free with the negronis. London, however, is nurturing its own crop of wine bars, bacari and shady alcoves where the bites are equally as good as the drinks, some of which we’ve already covered (Polpo, Hix, Terroirs), but the following clutch deserve just as much attention.
Paramount
This sky-high former members bar and restaurant has recently opened its doors to one and all, meaning everyone can enjoy the panoramic views and slick Tom Dixon design, not to mention the very decent tuck at one of the tables around the dramatic copper bar. Order Mad Men-style martinis and get your fingers mucky with sticky ribs or razor clams with garlic and parsley butter.
Centre Point, 101–103 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1DD - 020 7420 2900
Bam Bou
I love the opium denlike vibe of this oldie but goodie. One of London’s original South East Asian fusion venues, it is now part of Caprice Holdings which means standards are always up there. Let Alberto Tetrivelli or one of his team mix you a Tik Tok (Tanqueray gin muddled with chili and passion fruit) while you toy with crispy shrimp rolls with nuoc cham and sweet potato and yam croquettes.
1 Percy Street, W1T 1DB – 020 7323 9130 – www.bam-bou.co.uk
Viajante
Nuno Mendes’ Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel restaurant is becoming so popular amongst eager, tasting menu-loving foodies that it’s getting increasingly hard to book a table. Insiders know that the smart alternative is to sidle into the bar where you can sample exotic dishes like tuna cubes, Thai basil, spiced crumbs and smokey granite, washed down with a lemongrass and basil oil martini.
Town Hall Hotel, 140 Patriot Square, E2 9NF – 020 7871 0461 - www.viajante.co.uk
Negozio Classica
This Notting Hill artisan wine shop and bar, that has become an institution to locals, is an Italian lesson in how to enjoy life. Sit at the counter and order zucchini carpaccio and truffley fontina bruschettini to go with your cold glass of Verdicchio or Teo Musso beer, flirt with the infinitely charming staff and wonder why every neighbourhood doesn’t have one of these.
283 Westbourne Grove, W11 2QA - 020 7034 0005 - www.negozioclassica.co.uk
28-50
Early next month the owners of the Michelin-starred Texture will go even further in proving what oenophiles they are when they open this Wine Workshop & Kitchen where you’ll be able to try wines from the ‘private collector’s list’ (ie. their friends’ cellars) and feast on former Ramsay boy Paul Walsh’s French bistro menu which will run the gamut from cheese and charcuterie to rib-eye steak with sauce choron.
140 Fetter Lane, EC4A 1BT – www.28-50.co.uk