Browsing Tag

Cosmopolitan

Top 10 Cosmo’s of 2018…so far

Anyone who knows me knows that the Cosmopolitan is unashamedly my favourite cocktail. As we’re coming to the halfway point of the year, I’ve rounded up the best Cosmo’s from 2018 – so far. Conveniently, it makes a nice neat list of 10 – though these are in no particular order, they’re all great 🙂

Forever linked with the 90’s and Sex and the City, the Cosmo dates back much further, with its roots in a 1930’s confection featuring gin, instead of vodka. There are mentions of it in the 1970’s in America, before it was popularised by SJP and the gang. The International Bartenders Association quotes the recipe as:

4 cl Citron Vodka
1.5 cl Cointreau
3 cl Cranberry juice
1.5 cl Fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a large cocktail glass, garnish with lime slice…and voila. They also very sensibly catagorise it as an ‘All Day Cocktail‘. I’m not arguing with that!

Hakkasan, London W1

The Cosmopolitan at Hakkasan was stop-you-in-your-tracks-knock-your-socks-off-good. More than good, it was the best Cosmo I’ve had in years. A stand-out cocktail and a lovely bar to drink it at. Followed by some Michelin Starred Chinese nibbles.

Trocadero Playa, Marbella

Cocktail on the beach at sunset, perfect. Nicely balanced and a good size. Usual routine is to drop the bags off and head out for one of these on arrival.

Artesian Bar, the Langham Hotel, London W1

Well earned cocktail after a busy days shopping in London. Lovely unusual glasses. Quite red in colour but perfectly balanced.

Purobeach, Marbella

Beach club perfection – and huge too! Perfect to sip while listening to some Balearic beats and chilling out. Look at that for a holiday cocktail 🙂

Chilli Pickle, Brighton

Ordered off-menu and this wonderful restaurant made me my favourite cocktail. Lovely as a pre-curser to an Indian feast.

Charlotte St Hotel, London W1

One of London’s classic hotel bars, as expected they do an excellent Cosmo (and a great Old Fashioned too).

Mayfair Hotel, London W1

Again, excellent hotel cocktail bar – great place for meeting friends. In fact, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take a picture, so here’s one I obviously took from their website!

Nobu, London W1

These slip down incredibly well with a selection of Japanese food. Had a few more in the bar downstairs after too.

Malmaison, LondonEC1

Much better in the upstairs bar than the downstairs one, but still a good shout for a cocktail in EC1.

Iberica, London EC1

Cocktails and tapas…yum.

Any must-drink Cosmo recommendations for me?

14th May 2018

Eat

Dinner at Foxlow, Clerkenwell

We stayed in London on Wednesday night and decided to try Foxlow in St John Street. I didn’t know anything about it other than its owned by the same people that own Hawksmoor, and was attracted by the fact they serve cocktails!

We had a quick drink at the bar (disappointingly stand-up only) while we waited for a table and were soon seated at a high bench, which felt a bit bar-like, so that was good.

The restaurant feels really comfortable, with a bustle-y atomosphere and an open kitchen, bare wood tables and white tiles. It was busy and pretty lively and there was a lot on the menu to tempt us.

I chose the beef short-rib, with a side of oh-so-bad-it’s-good macaroni cheese and @madgie had fried chicken with chicken salt fries. The fries were astonishingly good – apparently the chicken ‘salt’ is crushed chicken skin. All washed down with a few Cosmopolitans. Somewhere to go if you want something substantial to eat – though you have to order all side dishes separately.

I’d go back, though wouldn’t necessarily rush and if you drink cocktails all night it can get a bit pricey. It’s such a shame I don’t drink beer ☺

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30th July 2015

Eat

Burger and Lobster…and of course, cocktails

Two days off work, so the only thing to do was to kick start it with a few drinks with friends, followed by dinner and cocktails. We went to Burger and Lobster in Farringdon because it was easy and not too expensive. It’s on the site of the legendary old Vic Naylor’s, though there’s very little left that’s reminiscent of Vics – even the stair rope has gone.

Burger and Lobster is a chain but it’s really a very simple concept, there’s 3 things on the menu – burger, grilled lobster and lobster roll. In fact, there isn’t even a menu, and everything is exactly the same price, it’s that simple.

We had the grilled lobster, with garlic butter, which comes with fries and salad. Whatever you order is £20.00 – and the lobster always seems the better deal for that price.

I had Cosmo’s and @madgie had Old Fashioned’s, both of which were lovely, and we got to sit at the bar and eat (favourite thing, as you know). Good service, good drinks and good, simple food. It works.

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26th June 2015

Eat

60th Birthday celebrations at Cafe Murano

The crazy week didn’t show any signs of slowing down come the weekend. We had a family dinner planned at Cafe Maurano in St James’ on Saturday evening, with cocktails first at Coya, a peruvian basement bar and restaurant on Picadilly. Both venues had been chosen by Madge’s mum, and we’d not been to either so were looking forward to it.

The Cosmo at Coya was lovely, if a bit sweeter than I prefer, but it took forever for the drinks to come, and when they did our round arrived without two of them. The bar is very lively, with a good atmosphere, but you probably need to order two drinks at a time, especially as the first one usually goes down quite quickly!

From Coya we headed to Cafe Maurano. I’ve been to the main Maurano restaurant in Mayfair before for lunch, so was really happy to know we were going to try this less formal sister restaurant.

It didn’t disapoint. The dining room has a lovely long bar along one side of the first half of the room, with chairs at the bar (fave thing!). The noise level and decor was perfect – informally classy – enough to know you are somewhere nice, without feeling stuffy or formal.

The menu starts with a selection of nibbles and runs to 5 courses if you want it to. I tried some of the anchovies as a nibble (lovely) but saved myself for the 3-course spectacular, starting with the dish of the night, which was succulent sweet roasted peppers with homemade ricotta. I followed this with squid ink tagliolini, crab and radicchio – which was also awesome. The main course was a chicken milanese with salad – which was lovely, though I couldn’t finish it, which was a shame. I was waaaay too stuffed to even consider a dessert.

The restaurant was very, very good and I would definitely go back. It was also really good value, not too expensive at all, and the staff were great – attentive without being overbearing. The ideal place for a family celebration – in our case a 60th Birthday.

Like an utter idiot I didn’t take any pictures of the whole evening – so you’ll have to imagine how lovely it was 🙂

8th June 2015