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Gillrays

Gillrays

Gillrays say:

Gillray’s Bar is the most ‘English of English’ drinking and dining destinations, from the interior design to each cut of beef and extensive cocktail menu. The bar, set overlooking the river thames and some of Londons most historic landmarks, will offer a selection of 33 English gins and a cocktail collection designed by bar manager Karina Elias, ex-Copacabana Palace Hotel, and head bartender, Carlos Santos. The newly created cocktail menu is ordered by historical era, taking the reader on a time-travelling journey from the Georgian era, through Victorian Britain, onto the Edwardian period, through the era of WWII and ending right now in contemporary Britain, with each period offering five or more cocktails.

Social and Cocktail says:

Fancy hotel bars are two a penny in London, and each must work to stand out from the crowd. Some go all art deco on us, others invoke a sense of American glamour, or even high end tropical tiki. Gillray’s, hidden away in the maze of hallways that is the Marriott at County Hall, takes its inspiration from the British political satirist and caricaturist James Gillray. The link of course being the proximity of the Houses of Parliament just across the river. Drinks meanwhile take their inspiration from the more modern trend of molecular mixology, although the deliverance in a satirical theme is hardly successful.

Except I don’t expect satire is the idea behind the delivery of these drinks. Arrival on a quiet Tuesday evening where staffing levels exceed the number of guests should prompt a level of attention bordering on harassment. Instead it is all I can do to see a copy of the menu. So troublesome was it to procure a glass of water that when it arrived sparkling instead of still I wasn’t about to give it up again. As is the commonplace in hospitality, the bartenders were both of Eastern European origin, and there’s ‘nowt` wrong with that. Until it becomes apparent that understanding the English language is not yet something  they’ve mastered. When you’re paying 13 quid plus for a drink, having to ask three times, every time, soon becomes tiresome.

Munching away on the complimentary nibbles scooped from a Kilner jar a third full of the flaky bits that fall off a la local boozer gives time to contemplate the confused cocktail list. Primarily this bar considers itself a gin joint, and the idea of featuring a different gin each month, along with few bespoke drinks is a neat one. Alas this month it was Langley’s, but I guess they cant feature good stuff all the time. Confusingly, the first page of cocktails is then followed by a few of wine/beer. The rest of the cocktails come later, divided into different eras such as “Edwardian” and “Victorian”. These areas relate not to the content or style of the drink, but instead simply to how they are named. A missed opportunity for sure.

You can tell a lot about a bar’s quality of drink by the aforementioned run up to it and Gillray’s alas offers no surprises in serving up a selection of disappointments. The use of ‘molecular’ techniques often misses the point of such science.  Rather than enhancing the experience, too often it feels like an awkward bolt-on that in detracts from it. The “Signature Langley’s” for instance was in fact a serviceable gin sour with a touch of fig, served with a mini spray of something horrendously bitter that the guest is supposed to spray into their mouth to ‘alter the taste of the drink’. It did that alright, a spray of this stuff and a reasonable drink is turned into an awful drink. Similarly, the “At Dusk” should have been delicious with it’s mix of gin, Kamm and Sons, valernum, orange, and lemon; and then some fool popped a glass cloche over the top and pumped in a bunch of smoke. Hey presto a ridiculous jarring of flavours that makes you want to pop a cloche over the head of the bartender and pump in smoke until he says sorry.  The semi-dried sliced-too-long-ago ‘garnish’ of root ginger hardly helped.

Molecular mixology when done well can be a wonderful and theatrical experience.  Gillray’s not only miss the point, but they execute is badly too. In an area a little short on decent bars, this isn’t somewhere to avoid at all costs, but stick to something simpler. They can, it turns out, stir you a perfectly fine Manhattan and sometimes, that’s just what you need.

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Cocktails20+

Cosmo £10.00

Mojito £10.00

Margarita £10.00

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