Hamish Smith visits a bar with all the trappings of a five-star hotel bar - without the unhappy ending.
Soaring decorative ceilings and Gothic arches, ornate carved stonework, mosaic floors and stained-glass windows – if the role of décor is to frame the hospitality experience, here at Hawksmoor St Pancras it is a masterpiece in its own right.
Of course, barring the seating, very little of it is new. This is one of the giddyingly ornate sites of the Grade II-listed St Pancras London Hotel – the work of Victorian ultra Sir George Gilbert Scott, who seemingly spent the GDP of a small nation on the frontage of a train station (possibly literally). A century and a half later and replacing the Midland Grand Dining Room and Gothic Bar is Hawksmoor – and it’s been quite the journey to get here.
The restaurant-bar started life in a former kebab shop in the shadows of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Christ Church Spitalfields. And now, on the eve of Hawksmoor’s 20th anniversary, it’s hard not to see this kebabs-to-riches story as one of the great British hospitality successes. Its 13-strong group of restaurants now even straddles the Atlantic. And there can be no more delicious feat than showing the Americans how to make a steak and Martini dinner.
Hawksmoor’s bars have always been a second – but not subordinate – fiddle that have drawn a devoted crowd. If you ever wondered why we canned the Restaurant Bar of the Year award at the Class Bar Awards, no small factor was the dominance of Hawksmoor – it started to feel like it had a market monopoly. Its bars often had their own doors and identities. And the drinks? Unimpeachable classics with a few standout signatures aspiring to that title themselves. The Martini Bar at Hawksmoor St Pancras is no different. It is far from a fluffer to the restaurant, it can be – as it was for us – a night out on its own.
Classic iteration
Ding ding – round one. And in a place called the Martini Bar it would be remiss not to start with a brace of bracing Martinis. The House Martini (Fords gin, Dolin Dry vermouth) is dry, crisp and – true to its sub-zero promise – glacially cold. Classical to its bones, it’s what you’d give to a visiting alien by way of explanation. The Ultimate Martini (Hepple gin, Aperitivo Co Dry vermouth, Filicudi lemon oil) meanwhile, is a step up in complexity, fragrant lemon mingling with the citrusy Douglas fir of Hepple. Faultless so far.
They’re joined not by a steak dinner – though there is an affordable option on the bar menu - but some beefy second cousins. The beef dripping hash browns (£9) are little golden stacks of straw, glistening from their medieval dousing, with pillowy centres – bravo potato! The Yorkshire sloppy joes (£12) are another Anglo-American cross – think of an open sandwich with rich minced beef and creamy horseradish smothered over little Yorkies – the puddings. Conceptually, they require a little mental elasticity, but this is more the work of the brain than the palate – all components hit a spot, if not the same one.
From here it’s more cocktails. From the Sacred Six section – Hawksmoor’s very own line-up of GOATs – we opt for the neo-classic Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew (Colonel Fox gin, lemon, ginger syrup, London Pride) and, as ever, it’s zingy, spicy froth that manages to be cool and warming all at once. And from the Ultimate Steakhouse Cocktails list – which boldly claims to offer “argument-ending” renditions of classics – we try the Ultimate Pisco Sour (Singani 63, Campari, fresh-pressed pineapple, passion fruit and lime). The paucity of pisco kind of starts an argument rather than ends one but, philosophically speaking, the Ultimate Warrior wasn’t a warrior either and the drink was rather yummy.
Journalism lecturers, look away now. Here I am dropping the news angle, not at the start, but right at the end. Set against the right context, the Martini Bar at Hawksmoor St Pancras offers industry shattering value for money. It’s as if you’re swanning around in a five-star hotel bar with a menu from 2015. All the drinks are £14-£16. Except for the House Martini, of course. I mean, when hotel bars are charging £25-£30, you couldn’t possibly come in at half that. It does. It’s £12 for the House Martini. And £10 on a Monday.
And don’t tell me Liam Davy, Dan Garnell and the team here can’t make a Martini as well as someone with a fancy name in a smart suit. And also don’t tell me there is anywhere in London more beautiful to drink one.
Hotel bars be warned, the price gap is widening when wallets are tightening. As Hawksmoor St Pancras has emphatically proved, luxury can be affordable.