First Aid Box, Brixton

Unable to score a decent Dry Martini in Brixton in the 90s - although, Jah knows, you could score all other manner of skanky shit in Railton Road's shebeens BITD - so hacked off was my colonial friend Kitty, to London's shame, she upped sticks and fled back to South Africa where the bars were better, she said; opening her own on Jo'burg's Rocky Street, to prove a point. Thankfully, we've come a long long way since the Malibu and milk days (a 'cocktail' I was once offered on Coldharbour Lane) and Kitty's old crib is nowadays awash with great booze ops where the £9 price of a fix would fix you up with a rented flat for a month in Jo'Burg.
Not to be confused with Swedish songbirds First Aid Kit, First Aid Box - a similarly cool, indie outfit - is cocktail consultants Salts of The Earth’s kooky follow-up to Shrub and Shutter. As themes go, clinical (complete with syringes and plasma bags) is not entirely new; Damien Hirst got there first in the 90s. But FAB’s fab remedial rinses should ensure their little white box, unlike Hirst’s laughably hubristic, mercifully short-lived Pharmacy, does not also become a Sainsbury's Local. A selection called ‘Doctors Orders’ angles to offset the evils of alcohol with current health nut freak fave ingredients such as quinoa, royal honey and blueberries. Live dangerously with rococo rum’n’coco’ slurp, Jungle Fever or Campari-based smoking bittersweet sip, Coffee + Cigarettes, safe in the knowledge that classic cure-all, Penicillin is also available on prescription. In-patients’ diet sheet options include ceviche, beef carpaccio, superfood salads, quality charcuterie and artisan cheeses; not your NHS norm at this lovely lounge by Brockwell Park Lido
119 Dulwich Road SE24 0NG http://firstaidbox2015.com

Original review at www.squaremeal.co.uk

The City of Quebec, Marylebone

The Quebec first opened in the run-up to World War II. At the height of The Blitz (so, I'm reliably informed), "Hello sailor!" was a common greeting at this ancient queer beer bar, as one strand of London society cemented the Special Relationship with America - whose off-duty Marines and GIs had more to offer than chewing gum and silk stockings. Back in the day,  'gay' was an adjective restricted to describing the jaunty Jacqmar silk scarf Mrs. Miniver wore to jolly up her make-do-and-mend frock, fashioned from a pair of brown curtains. It looked like curtains too for The Quebec - threatened with a future as another faceless fast food joint - until owners Greene King stepped in and saved the old girl, splashing a six-figure sum on a make over that drags the Quebec's tired decor into the 21st Century (just).
 At a time when gay bars are going down faster than a fluffer on Sean Cody's porn star penis, it's a welcome reprieve for (Nelly) 'the elephant's graveyard' - as I've oft heard the place referred to on account of its core punters' seniority. Marvel, as mouthy slappers such as Lola Lasagne, Baga Chipz or Vanity Von Glow strut their stuff onstage. Still got it? Shake a leg to Dolly, Dusty, Donna and Madonna in the Quebec's downstairs disco, open until 3am at weekends. When I say 'shake a leg', I'm reminded of an evening - circa Kylie, Mel and Kim - when a forlorn Glaswegian pal asked me to escort him there. That's 'escort' as in chaperone; I don't accept Amex. Recently dumped (again), he was out on a bender, hoping to be under one before the night was through. A crinkly screamer hobbled over to chat up chuckee chum who, on a there-but-for-the- grace-of-God basis, decided to humour the poor thing. Motioning downwards, the gummy old queen piped up with “My strap-on is giving me gip. You won't mind if I take it off?” ...and duly does, propping  his prosthetic lower left limb up against our table. Chuckee (mortified): “Nae mair drink for you, hen! You’re fuckin' legless." By the time I took my leave of them, they looked mighty cosy but, to this day, Chuckee swears he did not fuck Legless. 
At the new old Quebec, butch it up with draught TT Landlord or try dolly cocktails shaken by 'Delicious Dave'' (pictured, below) - cheap by West End standards (the drinks, not Dave!)
 "You'll love the Dainty Damsel" (a Sipsmith damson vodka Bellini) maintains a bright-eyed staffer, mistaking me for TOWIE's Bobby Norris or Gok Wan ("Liberace, more like!" - Editor). She also reckons I'll like the "really good Prosecco." At £48 quid a pop, I should hope so. "Show me!" I say. She points to a bottle of Bollinger. OMG! Vada the dizzy polone! That's polari, by the way. "Polari?" you say. Ask Biggins, Barrymore, a retired Romford riah zhoosher, or some other gnarly ol' Nancy!

12 Old Quebec Street W1H 7AF  www.facebook.com/CityOfQuebec

Photo: Greene King / Louise Jolley

Libare Bar, Mayfair

Given the increasingly astronomical price of gent's tailoring, you'll need a stiff drink after a Savile Row suit fitting. Unless you are among the Kanye Wests of this world, in which case, the KarKrashian bling that nowadays infests once classy Bond Street (hello, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Dolce et al!) is more your style. Libare fits the bill. Part of D and D London’s major autumn 2015 refurbishment of Sartoria, the restaurant’s rebooted destination bar is as sharp as an Anderson and Sheppard whistle; albeit, its cut more Via Montenapoleane Milano than traditionally tweedy Mayfair. Park up on copper leather high stools at the marble-topped bar where Fellini-esque signori, sharp in Chartreuse velvet tuxedos, dispense aperitivo hour spritzes, seasonal Bellinis, twisted Negronis and liqueurs created by chef patron Francesco Mazzei. New room, new ideas: I like fennel-infused gin martini; a Mediterranean Mojito that adds basil and cherry tomato to the classic formula, and a deviant Smoked Bloody Mary that prefers Lagavulin 16 and Don Julio Blanco tequila to vodka, all good at £12. Order one of over a dozen by-the-glass wines from £5 with thinly sliced Italian hams and salumi. Bar food includes minestrone, veal in tuna sauce, anchovy and panzanella salad, Puglian barley bread with grilled vegetables plus sorbets, ices and pastries. ‘Libare’ translates as ‘to sip’. Sounds about right in such elegant surroundings.
Sartoria, 20 Savile Row W1S 3PR 7534 7000 http://www.sartoria-restaurant.co.uk

Original review appears at www.squaremeal.co.uk

Oriole, Smithfield

Oriole brings to mind a Beverley Hills supper club circa 1957. Set in a converted pub, deep under Smithfield meat market, here's the sort of rakish lounge wherein womanising louse Sinatra - as Pal Joey - would eye up his next piece of prime rump, all the while declaring unswerving commitment to his current filly mignonne. Raffish decor gets racy drinks to match…if you can discern the small print on Oriole’s fiddly, floridly descriptive, picture album menu: cue a Flashlight frenzy as phones are whipped out in unison at a table of my (ahem) peers. Inspired by the 7 Continents, served in quaint cups, strange bowls, potty pots, sea shells and glass toadstools, Oriole's out-there recipes rope in rogue ingredients. Iced Gouda, purple corn, shimeji crowns, damiana foam, green coffee dust and cork smoke? Good luck ordering that lot at Ocado, if you're keen to recreate 'em at home! Never less than intriguing, not all the bar's recherché rinses universally appeal to my picky posse. For every two hits - Cortez The Killer, a reposado tequila, balsamic vermouth and agave tonka syrup Manhattan, or tart gin job, Roman Holiday, (apricot and blood orange liqueurs, limoncello, tarragon, resin aperitif, plus ‘bamboo forest aroma’) - there’s Prairie Horn, a not-so-horny confusion of bourbon, Buffalo popcorn tea, prekese (a Ghanaian sweet medicinal syrup) and mustard foam. Served in a mental metal column (colon?) rimmed in hundreds and thousands, it’s a drinks blogger’s Instagram wet dream but, like another fix served in a cup daubed with sticky emulsion, it’s also a bastard to drink without resorting to a sooo not Sinatra straw! Asian-slanted bar food scores across-the-board high marks; top tuna tartare, sea bass and seared beef all good. Minor gripes aside - a LOUD blues combo more suited to a Camden boozer circa The Pogues, where an Earth Kitt-y cat would better suit the desired vibe - this follow-up to Edmund Weil and Rosie Stimpson’s award-winning Old Street speakeasy, Nightjar, by-and large lives up to pre-launch expectations. But rein in the trying-too-hard Lady Gaga garnishes, guys! As Coco Chanel said, "When accessorising, always take off the last thing you put on!" As the effortlessly stylish Sinatra demonstrated to perfection, "Nice and easy does it every time."
East Poultry Avenue EC1A 9LH www.oriolebar.com 

The Gibson, Clerkenwell

Based on his wife and her equally comely sisters, published in Life magazine from the late 1890s onwards, artist Charles Dana Gibson’s iconic sketches of ‘The Gibson Girl’ defined America’s idealised vision of Belle Époque beauty. Around the same time - possibly in response to a challenge from the artist to improve on the traditional Dry Martini recipe - a New York barman substituted a pickled onion for the customary olive and The Gibson cocktail was born. You’ll find it (made with a selection of bespoke-pickled onions and pickles, no less!) and various classy twists on the same theme (such as legendary Scots-born barkeep Harry McElhone’s 1922 absinthe-laced Some Moth Cocktail) behind frosted glass windows, in the candlelit gloaming of this cute conversion of a Victorian corner tap-house from Marian Beke (previously at Nightjar) and Rusty Cerven (ditto The Connaught). An adventurous list has plenty of interest for gin refuseniks: Voodoo Rye, a pepper-infused Bulleit, Cajun BBQ syrup, melon puree, lemon and sweet basil, root beer mule, for instance. Monkey Kong (roast edamame-infused Monkey Shoulder whisky with mangosteen, rambutan and various sweet and sour flavourings is one of several complex and intriguing experiments that look to Asia now - as opposed to America, then - at this new Clerkenwell sweet spot, as good a gaff as any, hereabouts, in which to get nicely pickled.

44 Old Street EC1V 9AQ 7608 2774 www.thegibsonbar.london

Review first published on www.squaremeal.co.uk

Knowles, West Norwood

If comfortably upholstered, throaty bellower Adele fancies furnishing her swanky Surrey mansion at This, That And The Other, the ‘sarf’ London discount megastore she previously lodged above, she’s in for a shock. Quirky pub operators Antic have nabbed the old place for their latest venue, tricking it out in rag and bone man chic, Edwardian hardware store gubbins, vintage wallpapers, workbenches and banquette. A grateful West Norwood’s punters have been rolling in, 21 deep at its bar, for pints from the London likes of Gipsy Hill, Brixton Brewery and Sambrook’s. In the spirit of the old place, wines start at a bargain £15 a bottle while a taste of the global megastar lifestyle is yours for £42 (for Haton champagne). Pending the opening of its kitchens - whose mainstays will be seasonal modern British pub grub, trad homemade bar snacks and Sunday roasts - there are franks and hot dogs to be had. Rumour Has It, Adele’s (one-time) Hometown Glory is presently to add a conservatory dining room and a landscaped family-friendly garden. West Norwood has arrived, clearly.
294 - 296 Norwood Road SE27 9AF 8670 0436 knowlesofnorwood.com

Review also appears online at www.squaremeal.co.uk

Threadneedle, The City

The first floor gallery hush bar - away from the hubbub of the Grand Cafe below - at imposing Victorian former City bourse, The Royal Exchange, has been rebranded, cosmetically retouched and relaunched by owners D&D as a discreet ‘new’ cocktail bar. The emphasis is on drinks inspired by the father of modern American mixology Jerry Thomas in his indispensable 1862 tome, Bar-tenders Guide. Savvy £12 signatures include a refreshing eucalyptus and kaffir lime Collins; Mexican Couperee ( a tart light vanilla foamed Patrón Añejo, Citronge and Falernum sour), and smoky brass teapot serve, Sauterelle - a vanilla-infused port and cherry liqueur Gin Mare Martini inspired by the Martinez rather than the crème de menthe-based Grasshopper its French name implies. Champagne (from £69 a bottle) and wine by the glass (from £5) are what to order with open sandwiches and small plates such as velvety tuna tartare (£9.50) and juicy Aberdeen Angus beef sliders that work well, where insipid frazzled fried squid (buried under a mound of toasted flakey pointlessness) fails when we visit during Threadneedle's soft launch.   

Royal Exchange, EC3V 3LR 7618 2480   http://www.royalexchange-grandcafe.co.uk 

My original review at www.squaremeal.co.uk