Mash, Mayfair

Even if you’re not intent on sinking your gnashers into half a dead cow MASH (the Modern American Steakhouse...only, via Denmark in this case) is a good spot for a drink. Bag a high stool and lock lips with well-made cocktails at its stand-alone bar whose old Yankee Art Deco grand hotel pose suggests a fantasy lounge Jack Nicholson’s character discovers in The Shining. Here's Johnnie Walker!  What to try? I'll go with Gottlieb’s favourite (rye, cherry wine, maple syrup, chocolate bitters and Anchor Steam ale, £9.75) if not popcorn alco-milkshakes. Try on a Caracas blazer for size (Diplomatico Reserva, apple liqueur, Galliano, caramelised pineapple and bitters) or enjoy MASH’s interpretation of the all-American (vodka) martini served with blue cheese-stuffed olives. Fine drinks, and the bar’s wide range of bourbon and whiskeys - many, such as opinion-dividing Buffalo Trace Experimental Oat Bourbon, unusual, controversial or rare - make it tempting to settle in for a session. Word up! The theme tune to 1970s TV sitcom M*A*S*H  may have held that suicide is painless; but rein in on killer New York sours. MASHed in Mayfair is a lousy look.

77 Brewer Street W1F 9ZN 7734 2608 www.mashsteak.dk

Based on my review from Square Meal. For more like it, visit www.squaremeal.co.uk