Oscar Wilde Bar (Bar, Hotel)

Top 10 things you need to know abut the Oscar Wilde bar:

1) “You can never be overdressed or overeducated”. I called ahead to check if jeans were acceptable in the Oscar Wilde bar. The answer was yes, but they had to be smart. Bereft of such an item, I gathered wisdom from the man who the bar was named after and wore a nice jacket.

2) “Illusion is the first of all pleasures”. Alcohol can make you lose a sense of perspective but here you need no excessive imbibing to induce swoony golden wooziness. It’s encrusted with gilt, mirrors and the ornate excess of Louis XVI.

3) “Some things are more precious because they don't last long”. Champagne cocktails are influenced by classics. A Champagne Negroni laced with Campari was an excellent, but sadly short-lived, beginning.

4) “Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary”. After the bubbles were dispensed, our enchanting waitress suggested a glass of Chablis. Solicitous and attentive, the crew at the Oscar Wilde bar are very sweet.

5) “I can resist anything except temptation”. Food choices are either small plates or tasting menus named after a literary luminary. The Virginia Wolfe was the natural choice featuring lobster cocktail and popcorn chicken.

6) “We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities”. Surf and turf stacked on a tea stand was an excessive treat. It was the combination of the ultimate manna of the drunk man: fried chicken and seafood choice of kings.

7) “Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast”. At weekends the bar comes alive with cabaret acts performing to a glamorous crowd in the decadently atmospheric bar; worth staying up late for.

8) “Work is the curse of the drinking classes”. The natural end to a journey that began with the Champagne of the swinging 60’s and travelled on through the fine wines of the Romantics, ended with the industrial strength absinthe of the Impressionists. A true tour of historically artistic tipples.

9) “Everything in moderation, including moderation”. It would’ve been a sensible time to call it a night but the allure of the green fairy was too strong, especially muddled with fresh seasonal blackberries in an off-menu cocktail that tasted like a luxury Blackjack.

10) “Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.” I may never be able to emulate the genius of Wilde, but the hypnotically opulent interior and deliriously excessive cocktails mean that I can, at least, party like him. ...read more