The Bloomsbury Club Bar

Choose from two distinct rooms at the Bloomsbury Hotel’s revamped bar: a rustic, cottagey covered terrace (complete with a twinkly grotto) or a wood-panelled art deco private library arranged around a snazzy snare drum-shaped bar. The theme here, unsurprisingly, is ‘The Bloomsbury Set’ – that coterie of flamboyant artists whose decadent ways and lurid love lives might be the prequel to Made in Chelsea, albeit featuring a more fascinating, literate cast. Author EM Forster inspires High Society (a sloe gin Martini), dandy designer Duncan Grant is the inspiration for On a Toot (a Chivas Regal and Byrrh Manhattan), while Virginia Woolf chips in with a Clover Club. There are also a dozen wines by the glass to go with well-presented snacks ranging from potted shrimps on toast, or chorizo and chicken mini-burgers, to addictive salt and pepper squid with a teriyaki dip.

The Bloomsbury Club Bar takes inspiration from the Bloomsbury Set, a group of English writers, artists and intellectuals from the early 20th century known for their hedonistic ideas and practices. This theme of luxury and pleasure extends to the décor of the bar, which is replete with vast mahogany columns, plush teal seating and a back lit bar stocked high with premium spirits. The seductive design continues outside, with the bar boasting a twinkling alfresco terrace ensconced in weaving branches, trailing foliage, lanterns and cushion-clad benches. This transportive bar can be found inside The Bloomsbury Hotel, part of the Doyle Collection, which also owns Dalloway Terrace and The Coral Garden.  

The cocktail menu takes inspiration from a deck of Tarot Cards, specifically a deck designed by the bohemian occultist Pamela ‘Pixie’ Colman Smith in 1910. There are 14 cocktails on the list, each one reminiscent of a particular mood. Persian Mist, for example, is designed to counter melancholia, a twist on a White Russian that mixes a vibrant combination of vodka, cognac, East India cream sherry, Indonesian coffee, Persian Damask rose blossom and golden double cream. Can’t decide what you want from the list? Let the Cocktail Diviner come to your table to reveal your emotional state and suggest exactly the right drink to suit. 

If you’re after a slightly more straight-forward beverage, the main drinks list offers a staggering array of spirits, sparkling wine, Champagne, wine, beer and cider. There is also a selection of classic cocktails for those who know what they like.  

If you’re feeling peckish, the bar offers a bar bites menu comprised of small plates and sandwiches. Examples of dishes include corn tostadas with whipped hummus, black olives and crumbled feta, potted salmon and Guinness bread, courgette fritti with citrus mayonnaise and a prawn, dill and mayo brioche roll with crispy shallots. Vegan and vegetarian options are available.