LOUNGE LOVER

All you lounge lizards should look your finest when you head to Loungelover, as you’ll want to live up to your surroundings. A contender for London’s most divine-looking bar, Loungelover feels like a setting for a surreal and magical dream sequence. If a mad attic had a ménage a trois with Alice in Wonderland and the Magic Round-about it might look something like this.

The brother bar of high-camp restaurant Les Trois Garcons around the corner, it’s likewise owned and designed by Abdul Hassan and full of beautiful extraordinariness. A former meat-packing factory, it’s eclectic but uncluttered. Fernlike chandeliers and oriental lanterns dangle from the ceiling, and seating ranges from sculptural barstools to antique armchairs. There are doll’s houses, huge Chinese urns, anatomical studies and wooden fairground horses. There are distressed wooden sideboards, tables ornate and wood or low and glass-topped, and lights shaped like ships. There are flowers galore, a VIP area caged off with wrought-iron, a huge battered tapestry, and taxidermy (a roaring hippo). A cocktail of things equals a great place to drink cocktails.

What would you eat in a place like this? Japanese tapas, of course! Hear? Lounge, of course. Drink? Cocktails, darling, cocktails. These are original and giddily good; try Butterfly Wings, strawberries, basil and lychee liqueur shaken with Sputnik basil flavoured Russian vodka, or Loungelover, a tantalising combination of Loungelover fig liqueur, sweet vanilla and zesty lemon oil finished with Prosecco. There are wines and champagnes too, but note no beer. It’s not cheap, but this isn’t the kind of place you pop by for a swift drink after work, unless you’re the kind of person who likes to make every moment an occasion. You’ll need to book ahead though, as entry is by reservation only.