Brasserie Max (bar) at the Covent Garden Hotel

Bars·
Bronze Award
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SquareMeal Review of Brasserie Max (bar) at the Covent Garden Hotel

Bronze Award

Popular with magazine girls, PRs and shopped-out fashionistas, the bar/brasserie at Firmdale's Covent Garden Hotel exemplifies the owners' singular signature style – imagine Montparnasse belle époque meets Amanda Holden. It's handy for all-day eats and hangover cures, although cocktail hour (and later) is the best time for pukka ‘premium classics': Vesper, sidecar and a Manhattan built on Pappy Van Winkle bourbon come in at £13. The same spend gets various ‘bellinis' including Thai Tom (lychee liqueur, passion fruit, orgéat and fizz), while a blend of Bombay Sapphire gin, crème de fraise, strawberries, ginger, lemon and orange juice is nice enough, but hardly merits the moniker ‘wow'. With salads, sandwiches, dumplings, assorted platters and numerous global grazing plates on offer, it's as well the seats are so accommodating – you may be here for some time.

Good to know

Cuisines
Bars
Ambience
Cosy, Dark and moody, Glamorous
Alfresco And Views
Outside seating, Terrace
Special Features
Wheelchair access
Perfect for
Dates, Romantic

Brasserie Max (bar) at the Covent Garden Hotel is featured in

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Location

Covent Garden Hotel, 10 Monmouth Street, London , London, WC2H 9HB

020 7806 1000 020 7806 1000

Website

Opening Times

Mon-Sat 7am-11pm Sun 8am-10.30pm

Reviews

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2 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

BoatLady

20 January 2014  
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4
Value 4
A Cocktail Tale
I owe a debt of gratitude to the Covent Garden Hotel bar (can't comment on the food I'm afraid). I first visited a couple of years ago on a first date. It had not got off to a very good start. The date in question was traipsing me round Seven Dials trying to find a bar he had been to that served supposedly amazing Espresso Martinis but he couldn't find it. I cannot state emphatically enough just how much I HATE faffing: why can't people check where they are going before they (almost) get there? Cutting his losses he suggested we duck into the bar at Covent Garden Hotel. Good call. We sat up at the silvery bar on a fairly quiet Sunday afternoon and mulled over the long and intriguing list of cocktails which got conversation flowing as the choice is quite mind boggling: Passion and Ginger Caipirinha? Rhubarb Fizz? I would have tried any (and all) of them. The atmosphere was perfect with professional but friendly bar staff, a good view out of the windows, elegant modern/traditional styling, diners and casual bar lingerers hanging out in the same space. I mistook it for part of the Soho House Group as it's got that “we're cool but kind of laid back about it” vibe. As we sipped our delicious concoctions (mine a memorable Lychee and Elderflower Classic) my initial bewilderment/irritation slipped away. To cut a long story short, that first date is now my husband. We went back recently for a pre-dinner drink and can confirm that the atmosphere, buzzing on a Tuesday evening, was still fabulous and the cocktails (a Flying Fig and a Vanilla Pear) still worth every penny (all 1200 of them). There are plenty of places serving up decent cocktails these days but this is, in my biased opinion, one of the best. The bar the first date/husband was trying to find, incidentally, was at Kopapa, a stone's throw away. We have been subsequently and sadly report that the amazing Espresso Martinis are not to my taste. Things could have turned out so differently.

Emyr T

06 May 2010  
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4
Value 3.5
In the heart of Covent Garden, the focal point of the quaint Monmouth Street, the Max bar at the Covent Garden hotel is elegant, intimate and buzzy. Recline, soak up the British charm and feel right at home.
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020 7806 1000 020 7806 1000

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