7th Mar 2015 - Zenna, Soho, London

Approx 5pm - 5:30pm

Zenna

77 Dean Street, London W1D 3SH

http://www.zenna-bar.co.uk

Beneath a very attractive Indian restaurant on Dean Street is a mysterious-looking cocktail venue, which even at this early hour proved to be well-known and popular.

We had a table booked, and we were seated in a cushioned archway, which, I have to say, was a little on the dark side! It added to the mysterious atmosphere they were obviously aiming for, but it was difficult to even see the menu! Either way, it was still comfortable, and I could have quite easily fallen asleep.

The cocktail menu didn't particularly excite me, but it was quite extensive, and spanned over several pages. I decided to go for the Palace Punch, with its main ingredients being red wine and tequila (two of my absolute favourites). The tequila was a little overpowering, but it was still a relatively nice cocktail.

The cocktails were also reasonably priced. Please also bear in mind that there is no table service, so orders have to be made at the bar - this eliminates the service charge.

I can imagine that once it gets later in the evening, it's packed with people, and the DJ is playing, that the venue really would come to life. 

ThymeTip: Best Cocktail: Alcoholic Salted Caramel Lassi - this was GORGEOUS! A must get if you visit this bar.

Food: N/A

Drink: 6/10

Service: 6/10

Fun-ness: 6/10

7th Mar 2015 - The Cocktail Trading Company, Soho, London

Approx 4pm - 4:45pm
The Cocktail Trading Company

22 Great Marlborough St, London W1F 7HU

http://www.thecocktailtradingco.co.uk

The Cocktail Trading Company is a relatively newly opened cocktail bar in Soho, and like so many cocktails bars around at the moment is clad in dark wood with alcohol filled shelves and kitsch decor. It is dimly lit and cosy, and has a very cool and hip atmosphere.

As we hadn't booked, we (4 of us) were seated at a small table at the back of the room. This was a little cramped, and the stools were a little uncomfortable. To guarantee a good seat, make sure you book before your arrival. Also, we arrived as soon as the bar opened - at 4pm - and it was already starting to get busy, so if you plan on visiting in the evening, be prepared to book, or to queue. 

There were complementary shelled peanuts provided on the tables, which was more than welcome, but not much room to put the discarded shells - we made a bit of a mess, but the staff were happy to help us out with cleaning that up promptly. 

The cocktail menu was extensive and instantly caught my interest. The cocktails were very experimental, and all had their own unique look.

As well as the cocktails looking super crazy, they were also well made and extremely tasty. I went for the For Whom The Bells Bols (which was served in an actual bell, with a side of shortbread), and an Urn Aged Corpse Reviver (which came on a bed of grass with a plastic zombie hand for decoration). My favourite of these two was the bell - it was extremely tangy, and the Golden Syrup which was mixed into the cocktail gave it a sweet twang.

The award for most novel cocktail went to both the Scouts Honour (included a small tin which contained a toffee, a party popper, and a bad joke!), and the Welcome to Kentucky, Have a Nice Day (looked like a take-away noodle box with edible noodles, and straws within the chopstick wrapper!).

Overall, this bar was great fun; it had a great atmosphere, great cocktails, attentive and friendly staff, and I'll definitely be back.

ThymeTip: Want a weird looking cocktail but don't know which to go for? The pictures on the menu are representative of what you'll receive.

Food: N/A

Drink: 9/10

Service: 7/10

Fun-ness: 9/10

7th Mar 2015 - Bar Termini, Soho, London

Approx 3:30pm - 4pm
Bar Termini

7 Old Compton Street, London W1D 5JE

http://www.bar-termini.com 

Bar Termini is an extremely cute little Italian themed bar nestled at one end of Old Compton Street. The bar itself must seat around 20 people, so it is very intimate, and this added to it's already comfortable atmosphere. 

The menu cocktail was focused on their specialities, and wasn't too extensive. Their most popular specialty was the Negroni, so I opted for the Superiore, which is Negroni infused with pink peppercorns. It came in a very sweet, tiny glass, and the peppercorn taste was a great accompaniment to this dry and strong drink - highly recommended! 

We didn't try the coffee, but it smelled wonderful! I'd definitely recommend this place for a quick aperitif with friends on a sunny Saturday afternoon! 

ThymeTip: Best Cocktail: The Negroni Rosato was also a great little drink - infused with rose petals for a more delicate flavour

Food: N/A

Drink: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Fun-ness: 7/10

7th Mar 2015 - Archer Street, Soho, London

Approx 2:30pm - 3pm
Archer Street

3-4 Archer Street, London W1D 7AP

http://archerstreet.co.uk

Archer Street is a very well kept - and lovely smelling - bar within the confines of Soho, and is decorated stylishly and lavishly...

...as the pictures display. What the pictures also display is how quiet it was. At this time on this Saturday, there were more bar staff than customers. This meant that the service was quick and attentive. All of the tables had reserved signs on for later on in the evening, so it must pick up later on.

The cocktail menu was interesting, but a little pricey. I decided to go for the Zacapa Don't Preach, which is strong in taste, and in alcohol! The absinthe mist was more prominent in the smell than the taste. 

Zacapa Don’t Preach Zacapa rum stirred down with cognac, brown sugar syrup and barrel aged bitters, with an absinthe mist Overall, I liked the decor, but at this early time I felt it lacked atmosphere. I'd like to visit again on another day, but maybe book a table for the evening. ThymeTip: Best Cocktail: Coco in Acapulco Food: N/A Drink: 7/10 Service: 7/10 Fun-ness: 6/10

12

7th March 2015 - Señor Ceviche, Kingly Court, London

Approx 1pm - 2pm
Señor Ceviche

Kingly Court, Kingly Street, London W1B 5PW

http://senor-ceviche.com 

Senor Ceviche is a bright and colourful Peruvian restaurant and cocktail bar on the second floor of Kingly Court. The front of the place has really nice, big windows, which almost makes you feel as though you are sitting in an open front bar on your holidays. The walls and ceiling are covered in day glow posters and colourful light bulbs, and the tiling feels uncoordinated and haphazard in a good way!

We were surprised that at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon in the popular spot that the place was almost

empty, but this was fine for us as it meant that the service was super quick, and the staff were friendly and attentive.

I'll start on cocktails - in summary they were really well done! The menu showed a good variety of flavours to choose from, and the were genuinely well made. The garnishes were also very pretty and well thought out.

We tried pretty much the whole cocktail menu (which can found here: http://senor-ceviche.com/pdf/drinks_menu.pdf), and they were all very nice, but out of all of them I would recommend the...

BARRANCO BABE ............................................................................ 8
1615 Pisco, passion fruit purée, lime juice, vanilla syrup, egg white, basil leaves & burnt Angustura 

The basil was a really nice, simple touch to this drink, and tipped it over the edge of the others. See the image below (it has the dried apple slice and the leaf on the top of it) to see how it looked.

Another good point is that the cocktails were really reasonably priced for the quality produced, which of course means you can sample more of them!

The food, I have to say, was outstanding. Every dish was packed full of flavour, with an amazing mix of different textures.

The Spaniard - Sea Bream and King Prawn ceviche with tomato tiger's milk and crispy chorizo

- My favourite dish. The tomato went really well with the fish (only go for this if raw fish doesn't scare you!), and the crispy chorizo balanced it all out perfectly.

Mr Miyagi - Salmon tiradito with nikkei tiger's milk, pomegranate, purple shiso and crispy salmon skin.

- This dish came a close second. A very nice piece of salmon, and the tangy flavours made this dish pop. Thee crispy salmon skin and crunchy pomegranate seeds set it all off really well.

Smokey Chili Citrus Wings - Chicken wings with aji panca and zesty lemon glaze. 

- I'm normally not one for chicken wings (as I get scared about getting food on my hands!), but these wings were delicate and not too sticky. They tasted great too!

Side Dish: Patatas Fritas with huancaina and tomato fondue - Fries covered in spicy Peruvian cheese sauce and tomato fondue.

- I literally didn't want to stop eating these... ever.

Overall, this is a great place to go for a light lunch, but make sure you try the cocktails whilst you're there!

ThymeTip: Get the fries!

Food: 8/10

Drink: 8/10

Service: 6/10

Fun-ness: 6/10

5th Mar 2015 - Wings Cottage, Farnborough, UK

Approx 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Wings Cottage

32 Alexandra Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 6DA

http://wings-restaurant.co.uk 

Myself and my boyfriend live in a relatively un-developed town, which unfortunately doesn't boast too many restaurants or cool bars to try out. On our local tried-and-tested list however is Wings Cottage - a friendly and well-decorated Chinese restaurant about 15 minutes walk from the town centre. We have been on several occasions if we don't want to travel too far out, and it is always tasty and hassle-free.

We got there at around 6:30pm and we were the first people in - it started to fill up at around 7:00pm though, and enough for the place to be at half capacity.

The decor here is very nice - there are some Eastern influences here and there, with a very clean and modern finish. On some nights, they hire a pianist to play to the guests, which is always entertaining (but that didn't happen tonight - I guess it's more a weekend thing).

We ordered starters of the Crispy Hot Platter, and also Spicy Salt and Chili Squid, which on reflection was a bit too much - the portions here are very generous! Everything we were served was very nice, and was brought out in quick time. The main stand-out on the hot platter was the prawn toast - it is thick with prawns, and the perfect combination of crispy and oily - absolutely delicious! The salt and chili squid comes sprinkled with crispy garlic pieces, which are a great addition - they give off a lovely, strong (but not overpowering), garlic-y flavour and great, crunchy texture.

Crispy Hot Platter Sesame Prawn on toast, BBQ pork Ribs, Spring Rolls and Chicken in Paradise.	£10.45

Spicy salt and Chili Squid

£7.15

For our mains we ordered a nice mixture of dishes (and once agan, went a bit mad, and ordered way too much for 2 people!):

Stir fried Squids in Sun Dried Chili and Soy Sauce	£9.50

Deep-fried Chili Beef	£8.25

Singapore Fried Rice-Noodle Hot and Spicy	£6.95

Special Fried Rice with Roast Pork and Prawn	£5.50

The squid dish was a little disappointing - there was lots of squid, and it was nicely cooked, but the sauce was bland, and lacked seasoning. 

The chili beef was tasty and very crispy, and was a very generous portion. On a personal note, I always get a little bored of chili beef half way through the dish due to the flavour consistency throughout, but, it was still enjoyable. 

I really enjoyed the noodles - they were spicy, but may have been a bit heavy on the curry flavouring. The rice was cooked well and had a good amount of prawn and pork.

We didn't really explore the drinks menu here (it is mainly wines and beers), and we just decided to go with a house red, which was pleasant and drinkable. 

Overall, this place does very nice Chinese food within the area. My main problem with this one is that it is quite expensive, but the quality of the food and the prompt service makes that not so painful.

ThymeTip: Try the prawn toast and the chili squid! Also, if you're feeling adventurous, why not go for one of their frogs legs specials? (I tried them on a previous visit and they were very tasty!)

Food: 6/10

Drink: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Fun-ness: 6/10

28th Feb 2015: Basement Sate, Soho, London UK

Approx 7pm - 8pm
Basement Sate

8 Broadwick Street, London W1F

http://www.basementsate.com

After visiting Milk and Honey and failing to get in (if you wish to visit there, be sure to book before 6pm on the day), the bouncer advised us that there is 'a cocktail bar on the next street, number 8, with a red door'. I asked what the name was, and he said that it doesn't have a sign - sounds like my kinda sneaky-secret-speakeasy kinda place!

We made our way there, and came across the red door on number 8 Broadwick Street. The door was open, and we went in, down the stairs, and into the dimly lit cocktail bar. 

The bar area was very nice - it has the typical wooden theme that is seen so much at the moment, with a wide variety of alcohols on the wall. The bar at this early hour was quite empty, so we had the pick of seats. We chose a Chesterfield style couch with its own table which looked out over pretty much the whole place, and it was very comfortable.

The cocktail menu was good, with a decent range of flavours. The one thing it was missing was the weird and wonderful ingredients that I am so fond of, but there were still plenty of other flavours to experiment with. 

We had 4 cocktails between us, and they were all quite nice, if not a bit fruity for my palette. If you are a fan of a mojito, or a daiquiri then these cocktails will be up your alley. My favourite cocktail of the night was the Timeless Crusta, and if you're one for a more unusual tasting drink then this is the one to go for. The list of cocktails we had are:

Don't Acte: Sichuan pepper infused gin, Bubonnet, Lemon Juice (not as spicy as it sounds, but very fruity)

Workinonit: Vodka, Moscato D'Asti syrup, cucumber, Yellow Chartreuse (refreshing)

Shikoku Calling: Gin, Yuzu, Fino Sherry (my second favourite of the evening)

Timeless Crusta: Cognac, Green Chartreuse, Triple Sec, Luxardo Maraschino (Best cocktail of the night - bitter and woody and super tasty!)

If you've been for a meal out and fancy eating dessert elsewhere, this is a good place to go. The  dessert menu was extensive, and everything on there sounded delicious. As I lack the sweet tooth I didn't go for one, but my boyfriend couldn't resist the Orangette, which looked a bit like a crumble and consisted of orange and caramel cream, black trumpet crumble, chocolate and lavender foam, and a honey crisp. He loved it, and wants to try the rest of the dessert menu.

Whilst I was sitting there I felt like there was something missing from the whole experience, and after a while it came to me... on the walls there were zero pictures, images, figurines, weird deer heads... anything! It looked quite sparse, and that made it feel a little chain-pub-y. The wallpaper also could have been put up a little better, but a few pics here and there would hide that!

This would be a good place to go with friends, but from what I hear it does get quite busy in the evenings and booking is recommended (booking can only be done by email - the address being on their website).

The service is fast and friendly, and they seemed very willing to help.

I'd definitely go again, and it was a nice place, but I think they need to step up a gear in the cocktail variety and decor department to match up to some of the most established cocktail bars in the London area.

ThymeTip: Save room for pudding!

Food: 7/10

Drink: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Fun-ness: 7/10