Rotunda Lounge

Despite its ‘truly amazing outlook’ over picture-postcard riverside London, the mausoleum-like building that was once home to the GLC’s pen pushers doesn’t set the spirits soaring. Stanley Baldwin-era, civic-chamber mufti is the setting for savoury Brit grub & cocktails – so go classic or try seasonal ‘with a twist’, as in Yuletide-themed chocolate gingerbread (essentially a brandy & chocolate pudding in liquid form). A mix of Tanqueray, elderflower syrup, orange & chamomile tea (aka the Georgian) has wider appeal at £9.50, while 2512 (a gin sparkler) ‘brings molecular mixology to County Hall’, according to the blurb. Otherwise, meander down one of the interminable corridors & hole up in the tweedy-hued Leaders Bar, where vintage Glenfarclas, Ardbeg, Laphroaig & similarly suave single malts might appeal to whisky fan Maggie Thatcher – should she ever set foot in nemesis Ken Livingstone’s one-time court.