Words by: Ian Cameron
Pictures by: Alys Tomlinson

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Opium Cocktail & Dim Sum Parlour

Address: 15-16 Gerrard Street, London W1D 6JA, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 7276
Type: Cocktail bar

A small name plate and rather larger bouncer tends to mark the entrance to this otherwise hidden venue that takes up two floors high above the Chinese restaurants of Gerrard Street. The sweet smell of incense guides you up the many stairs (no lift) to two bar areas, the focus of which is the second floor. Here you'll find a dark (so dark you'll need your iPhone to read the menu) and characterful opium den-style lounge with Asian furniture and decor. Activity is focused on a large apothecary table where drinkers sit amid the bartending action, ingredients and equipment.

A great sound system with a supper club soundtrack (loud but not invasive) provides an atmospheric backdrop to eastern-influenced cocktails, served with a variety of Asian flourishes, from grated ginseng garnishes to cocktails containing tapioca balls, distinguishing a list which already boasts Asian liquids from sake to shochu. Slick service and tasty steamed dumplings add up to a great night out. There's a real buzz around the venue which has really upped the ante after a shaky start, though prices are five star hotel-high (some drinks at £14 each). 4/5

The Luggage Room

Address: On the Corner, Grosvenor Square, London W1K 6JP
Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 1679
Hours: Mon-Sat 5pm-2am
Type: Cocktail bar

The speakeasy concept has reached the lofty heights of the five-star hotel. The Luggage Room is reached either through a barely marked (a stoneworked sign is unlit) door to the left of the main hotel reception, which requires you to knock and be assessed through a spy hole before you can enter. There's a totally unmarked door from the hotel reception. Whether you think the speakeasy conceit is unnecessary, past its prime or contrary to good business sense and the idea of enticing customers over your threshold, what awaits you inside is a luxurious low-lit, marble, leather and dark wood little jewel box of a bar - the hotel's former left luggage room - with a 1920s soundtrack.

Welcome drinks on arrival, a high ratio of staff to customers, smartly turned out bartenders, an imaginative drinks list (and well-made cocktails) and some tasty small plates make for a fantastic combination even if the prices are high (£13-14 per cocktail and around £12 for most small plates). Drinks style is classic with whimsy relatively restrained, though flavour combinations tend to flavourful complexity, embodied by a house cocktail list that combines vodka, Campari, rose syrup and basil leaves in the menu-leading Luggage Cocktail and tequila, Green Chartreuse, maraschino and Talisker in the Penultimate Word. 4/5