The Arch Bar Review: The Shape That Holds Up the World
The Arch Bar Review: The Shape That Holds Up the World | The arch is one of humanity’s greatest inventions – the shape that let us build big, from Roman aqueducts to railway stations
Tag: Chelsea bar
The Hari Review: The Hotel Bar That Belgravia Actually Uses
The Hari Review: The Hotel Bar That Belgravia Actually Uses | A 4.5 from over a thousand people, which for a hotel bar is a genuinely large and genuinely earned number
Cubanista Review: Rum, Revolution, and the Cuba Libre
Cubanista Review: Rum, Revolution, and the Cuba Libre | Cuba gave the world rum cocktails, the mojito, the daiquiri, and a revolution. The name carries all of it.
Kosmopol Review: A Name Built From the Word for Citizen of the World
Kosmopol Review: A Name Built From the Word for Citizen of the World | Cosmopolitan means citizen of the cosmos, of the whole world. It is also, of course, a very famous cocktail.
Sloane Street Auctions Review: Drinks Among the Lots
Sloane Street Auctions Review: Drinks Among the Lots | A bar and cafe inside an auction house, where drinking and bidding meet – a genuinely old and dangerous combination
The Beauchamp Review: A French Name the English Refuse to Pronounce
The Beauchamp Review: A French Name the English Refuse to Pronounce | It is spelled Beauchamp and said ‘Beecham’, because England imported the Normans’ words and then flattened them
1871 Bar Review: Named After a Year, and a Very Specific One
1871 Bar Review: Named After a Year, and a Very Specific One | 1871 gave us the FA Cup, the bank holiday, and Stanley finding Livingstone. A bar has chosen it as a name.
Revery Bar Review: A Beautiful Old Word for Daydreaming
Revery Bar Review: A Beautiful Old Word for Daydreaming | Revery is an archaic spelling of reverie – a state of pleasant, drifting daydream. It is a lovely name for a bar.
North Circle Bar Review: A Name That Sounds Like a Ring Road
North Circle Bar Review: A Name That Sounds Like a Ring Road | The North Circular is one of London’s great orbital roads. A bar has borrowed a very similar name, for reasons unclear
Reunion Bar Review: The Warm Idea of Coming Together Again
Reunion Bar Review: The Warm Idea of Coming Together Again | A reunion is a coming-together-again – one of the warmest ideas there is, and a lovely thing to name a bar after
Leopard Bar Review: The Spots That Never Change
Leopard Bar Review: The Spots That Never Change | The leopard is beauty, danger and the proverb about spots that cannot change – a glamorous, dangerous name for a bar
Nolita Social Review: A New York Neighbourhood, Imported to Chelsea
Nolita Social Review: A New York Neighbourhood, Imported to Chelsea | Nolita means ‘North of Little Italy’ – a New York district invented by estate agents. Now it names a Chelsea bar.
Bar Flor Review: A Perfect Score From Four People
Bar Flor Review: A Perfect Score From Four People | Bar Flor holds a flawless 5.0, and it holds it on the strength of exactly four reviews, which is no strength at all
Eastside Review: A Name Pointing in a Direction
Eastside Review: A Name Pointing in a Direction | Eastside tells you which side of something it is on, which is either useful or meaningless depending on where you start
Purgatory Bar Review: The Waiting Room Between Heaven and Hell
Purgatory Bar Review: The Waiting Room Between Heaven and Hell | Purgatory is where souls are cleansed before heaven. A bar named after it has a 4.8, which is closer to paradise than the name suggests
Bar at Sloane Review: The Man Whose Name Is Everywhere Here
Bar at Sloane Review: The Man Whose Name Is Everywhere Here | Sir Hans Sloane’s collection founded the British Museum, and his name is on the square, the street, the ranger, and this bar
Brompton Cross Review: Named After a Junction
Brompton Cross Review: Named After a Junction | Brompton Cross is where three streets meet. There is no cross. There is a very famous building shaped like a ship.
The Soak Review: A Name That Cheerfully Admits What It Is
The Soak Review: A Name That Cheerfully Admits What It Is | A ‘soak’ is old slang for a heavy drinker. Naming a bar The Soak is a rare and refreshing act of honesty.
FiveSixEight Review: A Bar Named After a Dance Count
FiveSixEight Review: A Bar Named After a Dance Count | Five, six, seven, eight is the count that starts a dance. A bar at a performing arts college has borrowed it, minus the seven.
ESQ Bar Review: An Abbreviation Nobody Uses Anymore
ESQ Bar Review: An Abbreviation Nobody Uses Anymore | Esq. once followed the name of every gentleman. Now it survives mainly on junk mail and, apparently, a Chelsea bar.
Lobby Bar Review: The Threshold, and the Last Word on Chelsea
Lobby Bar Review: The Threshold, and the Last Word on Chelsea | The lobby bar is the most transitional space of all – and a fitting place to end this long survey of Chelsea’s bars
Old Speckled Hen Review: The Beer Named After a Car
Old Speckled Hen Review: The Beer Named After a Car | Old Speckled Hen sounds like a farmyard bird. It is actually named after a strange old MG motor car covered in specks of paint.
Muse Lounge Review: The Goddesses of Inspiration, One More Time
Muse Lounge Review: The Goddesses of Inspiration, One More Time | The Muses were nine goddesses who inspired all art and knowledge. Their name now sells bars, and it always will.
The Back Room Review: The Secret Space Behind the Bar
The Back Room Review: The Secret Space Behind the Bar | The back room is where the real business happens – the hidden, private space that has always carried a whiff of the illicit
Crystal Bar Review: Four Reviews and a Word Full of Glamour
Crystal Bar Review: Four Reviews and a Word Full of Glamour | Crystal means clarity, light and luxury – from cut glass to champagne to the palace that gave a suburb its name
109 Bar Review: A Door Number, and No Reviews to Judge It By
109 Bar Review: A Door Number, and No Reviews to Judge It By | Named after its address like Bar 190 before it, 109 Bar arrives in this survey with a clean slate and no ratings at all
Wild Corner Review: A Name Promising Something Chelsea Rarely Is
Wild Corner Review: A Name Promising Something Chelsea Rarely Is | Seventy-six reviews, a 4.3, and a name promising wildness in one of the tamest, most manicured districts in London