The Little Bar (Bar)

The Top 10 things we discovered about The Little Bar when we visited:

1) The Little Bar is small, no surprises there. The space inside can accommodate a couple of dozen guests, so keep your gossip catch-ups to a hush just in case the wrong ears are listening. It’s even a lovely spot for that elusive date night you keep threatening to go on.

2) Or, you could just go on your own, sit at the bar and chat to the owners, Martin and Madeleine, both long-time locals. Before you know it, you’ll feel like you’re one of their closest friends.

3) It’s located in the heart of Tooting, South West London’s most up and coming suburb, famous for its curries and, increasingly, its gastro pubs and drinking holes.

4) The cocktail menu is, like the bar, short and sweet. As well as a heady Negroni, The Little Bar’s signature cocktail is the charmingly named ‘SW17’ cocktail made with Somerset apple brandy, Prosecco, bitters and a lump of sugar.

5) It’s also the only London bar, besides Mark Hix’s own ventures, to serve the Hix Fizz.

6) The wine menu provides real competition for other local bars. Far from little, it is entirely supplied by the Caves de Pyrene, the same company that sources wine for the Terroirs restaurants. With a good range of price points, and even a Tracey Emin labelled vintage, it covers all tastes. Will just one more glass really do any harm?

7) If you are a few drinks in and need a snack to keep you from falling off your barstool, The Little Bar has a simple menu of delicious bar food. The charcuterie board, at only £5, is more than worthy of your hard-earned pennies, as is the terrine.

8) It’ll only take a little (pardon the pun!) coercion, or the promise to buy another round, to get singer-songwriter and self-professed ‘music-whore’ Martin to pick up his guitar and serenade you with a Razorlight cover or two.

9) Venture out to the back of the bar and you’ll discover another miniature space, a walled garden with a handful of tables. Unsurprisingly, you’ll be lucky to bag one if the sun is shining.

10) Word is already spreading like wildfire. We even spotted celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott across the bar, so get there fast before a queue starts forming! ...read more