Nordic Bar (Bar, Restaurant)

Top 10 things to know about Nordic Bar:

1)  If you’re as confused as a Swedish elk about the difference between Nordic and Scandinavian, help is at hand. For the latter, think Sweden, Norway and Denmark, whilst Nordic embraces more countries like Finland and Iceland.

2)  On entering Nordic, one of the many bars in Fitzrovia, you would expect to be greeted by gregarious, blonde staff members. It's unlikely you’ll be disappointed, although they’re more likely to be from London rather than Stockholm.

3)  Furniture here is almost IKEA-esque in its simplicity: wooden table tops and benches but with quirky decorative touches throughout the rooms.

4)  Ken and Barbie lookalike dolls sit with their 2-for-1 cocktail offer postcards. Walls are plastered with images of polar bears, wintry scenery, Swedish cheerleaders and Nordic flags.

5)  If you are with mundane company, the bathrooms are a great hiding place. The Vikings version has endless posters of Scandinavian models on the walls and there’s DC Comics wallpaper in the cubicles.

6)  What about the cuisine? The Swedish meatballs are rather tepid, like the weather in that part of the world: five small ping pong-sized balls supported by a mountain of mash and weak gravy. Thankfully, the lingonberry sauce saves the day.

7)  Ultimately, this is a drinking den from the country that brought us Absolut vodka, so the cocktails are never going to disappoint. With glacial names like ski breeze, snow cone and lemon icicle, the cocktails are refreshing and enjoyable. If life gives you lemons, just ask the bar to make more lemon icicles.

8)  Compulsory to any visit would an order of their Finnish-style bellinis. They use traditional Finnish lapponia liqueurs that contain native cloudberries, lingonberries or polar blueberries which have been harvested by hand in the Arctic regions of Finland.

9)  If you want to work off all the mash and alcohol in your system, there’s a ping pong table for you to play on.

10) There might be shortcomings with the food, but when you’re blonde, beautiful and make brilliant cocktails, it would take a cold-hearted Viking not to give this bar a visit....read more