Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar Guides & Reviews
Hamish Smith on Sweeties: 'Two hits and four misses – and misses ballooned over the crossbar.'
Hamish Smith visits one of the big London launches of 2022, Sweeties at The Standard hotel, to see if the 1970s can ever be grounds for (good) cocktail inspiration.
—03 January, 2023
Bar Guides & Reviews
The bartender's guide to Birmingham
The UK’s second-largest city has much to offer in terms of cultural history – and it’s hard to beat for fine dining too. But it’s the drinks that Samuel Boulton is on the trail of.
—14 November, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: Lost Property Office at Brewdog Waterloo
A speakeasy in the UK's largest pub? Hamish Smith stops by one of this year's big launches, Brewdog and Rich Woods' Lost Property Office.
—20 October, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
The bartenders’ guide to Bournemouth
Gemma Terry of Ojo Rojo takes us on a local’s tour of south coast town Bournemouth.
—21 July, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
Review: Booking Office 1869
What happens when a railway bar becomes the destination? Hamish Smith reviews Booking Office 1869 at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
—15 June, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
The bartender's staycation: Your guide to Newcastle
Neil Donachie of Mother Mercy offers up his top picks of the finest from the growing crop of bars and restaurants that the ‘Toon’ has to offer.
—29 April, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: Silverleaf at Pan Pacific
Silverleaf has probably been the most talked about London launch of 2022. Hamish Smith makes the Pan Pacific bar his latest in-depth review.
—21 March, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
The bartender's staycation: Ben Alcock's guide to Bristol bars
Ben Alcock, of HMSS and Filthy XIII, steers us through the drinking highlights of the gateway to the south west.
—06 January, 2022
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: Junior Jackson's
Does the idea of an American dive bar work outside of its homeland? Hamish Smith reviews Junior Jackson’s in Manchester
—23 November, 2021
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: Skylight Peckham
After an 18-month absence, Class' reviews are back. First up, Hamish Smith charts the rise - and democratisation - of the high-rise bar.
—27 September, 2021
Bar Guides & Reviews
London's pandemic bar openings
With our reveiw section on compassionate leave, CLASS rounds up the new and nearly-new bars opening and re-opening up this spring.
—24 May, 2021
Bar Guides & Reviews
The bartender's staycation: your guide to Leeds
When things start to return to normal, why not visit that UK cocktail scene you’d always meant to? The Watermark’s Dariush Haghighi writes our guide to Leeds
—14 January, 2021
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: 40 Elephants at The Great Scotland Yard Hotel
Ello ello ello, what's all this then? Class reviewer Hamish Smith investigates one of 2020's big launches: 40 Elephants at The Great Scotland Yard Hotel.
—01 April, 2020
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: Amazónico
A rainforest-themed bar in Mayfair? The eyes are rolling, but actually, it pays to keep an open mind, says Hamish Smith.
—12 December, 2019
Bar Guides & Reviews
Bar review: Rockwell
Few London hotels don't aspire to have 'destination bars'. Hamish Smith reviews one of the latest hospitality venues with grand ambitions.
—10 November, 2019