Like its St James’s sister, Mint Leaf Lounge offers Indian fine dining in cool contemporary surroundings. The 50-foot-long pebble-inlaid cocktail bar – part of the building’s dramatic conversion from a palatial former banking hall – is among the City’s most striking. Upstairs, the mezzanine bar (all snakeskin booths) is dedicated to Champagne. A bottle of the house fizz, Gobillard, costs £50 from a broad wine list that has plenty of interest for around £25. As for cocktails, basil and chilli Martini, and mandarin Cosmo, are fruity flirts with a £9 price-tag, while Biarritz and French Attitude are both sophisticated 1930s-style sours. Cachaça-based Peppery Bee and the various Margaritas work well with the bar snacks: lamb seekh kebab and prawn balchao (£8) being two typical choices.