Hush Bar

Images of Tamara Beckwith & Posh Spice on Hush’s website speak volumes about its target clientele: It girls & shopaholics with rich husbands. The restaurant & first-floor cocktail bar opt for safe international chic with a Buddha Bar-lite nod to New Age spirituality. It could be LA, Sydney or Paris, but an attractive courtyard setting gives it a London edge. Taittinger cocktails such as Elder Bubble (with cucumber vodka & elderflower) are a refreshingly honest £8.95, while a bottle of ‘sans annee’ (polite speak for non-vintage) costs £42.50. A list of spirit-based cocktails using fresh fruits, exotic spices & modish garnishes is worth exploring. Bar food has a predictable eastern flavour & if you want a bit of hush, reserve the ‘boudoir’, a hidey-hole where you & up to 15 friends can order Cristal at £250 & bitch in private about the Beckhams’ crass tastes.