Serious London reccomendations sought

Discuss travel, watches, gastronomy, wines, boats and all other aspects of the Elegant life
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alden
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Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:38 pm

Gents,

Its nice to know where to sleep but one can sleep almost anywhere.

Let's get on to important themes: where does one imbibe the best martini in London?

M Alden
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DD MacDonald
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Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:47 pm

Michael, try The American Bar at the Stafford. Ben Provost has run the bar for the past decade - he is French, the bar is his domain and the Martinis are spot on.

Other than the location and the welsh blankets on the beds, the two reasons to stay at the Stafford are the concierge and the bar.

DDM
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couch
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Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:17 pm

How do the dry martinis at the Stafford's American Bar compare to those at Dukes Hotel bar? I found those excellent, if showily made tableside. Chilled Plymouth gin, atomized vermouth, well shaken, good quality olives and fruit for twists. Apparently they pride themselves on a reputation for martinis.

Haven't tried martinis at Browns Hotel, but in their newly (as of last summer) furbished bar (not an improvement, alas) their "Modern Vesper" completely convinced me.

Martinis at the Lobby Bar at the Aldwych are no more than competent, and they didn't have Plymouth.

I was a little disappointed at the martinis at the Ritz bar, given high expectations, but the Lempicka painting two feet from me made up for a lot. I suspect she must have bartered it for service back in the day.

I'm a big fan of The Wolseley's drop-in area, and while their martinis are a bit informal, they're quite satisfying as a prelude to a savory and quite reasonably priced confit duck . . . .
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Scot
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Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:23 pm

Very good Martinis at Browns Hotel and the Connaught recently.
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Luca
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Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:20 pm

couch wrote: Martinis at the Lobby Bar at the Aldwych are no more than competent, and they didn't have Plymouth.
.
Agree.

On the other hand the atmostphere is about 100 times better than most hotel bars.
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whittaker
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Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:45 pm

DD MacDonald wrote:Michael, try The American Bar at the Stafford. Ben Provost has run the bar for the past decade - he is French, the bar is his domain and the Martinis are spot on.
Exactly what my reply was going to say. The Stafford has yet to be beat for Martinis.
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