The Savoy Launches A Theatrical New Bar Menu
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Last Updated 01 August 2019
Beaufort Bar doesn't look like an obvious place to get flamboyant. All that old-school stateliness, all those formal flourishes: between the waistcoated bar staff and the chandeliers, and the piano-player, in his flower-garlanded indoor pergola, it doesn't scream late-nite wild-times.
But that's a bit deceptive (though maybe that shouldn't be a surprise, because the Savoy's thrown some fairly hedonistic parties in its time). Along with a loud, welcoming crowdedness on a weekday evening — every table filled, floor busy with bar staff shuttling out trays heavy with elaborate cocktails, piano-player really knocking out those old-world classics — Beaufort Bar comes with that increasingly-rare 1am weekday licence and the potential for a lingering evening's drinking.
True, the prices are absolutely eye-watering: the new menu's cocktails start — yes, start — at £20-£25 each, so you'd have to be a crypto tycoon to make a truly wild night of it here.
But there's a lot of backstory for your buck, and a lot of high-design to the delivery. The new menu is divided into Music, Magic and Drama sections in a nod to the three founders of The Savoy Theatre: Sirs Gilbert & Sullivan, and hotelier-agent-composer Richard D’Oyly Carte. While they're nailing the simple classics — thoroughly proved by a chilly, dirtyish martini made to spec — the menu concept's all about theatricality and origin stories. Our favourite of the small dent we made in the novella-length menu: Light Bulb Moments, a gin-based flute, gently punchy with electric bitters, and crisper and less saccharine than we're expecting from the rose-and-strawberry kombucha pinkness.
On the bar snack front, things are just as high-luxe (and steeply priced). The 'Ferrero Roche' Praline is the stand-out of our snacks, a plate of oxtail croquettes laced with bone marrow and hazelnut with horseradish mayo. Not noticeably anything like a Ferrero Rocher or a praline, but completely, crunchily, beefily brilliant; we'd be smitten to find a pyramid-pile of these at any of the Ambassador's parties.
The good times at Beaufort Bar come with a towering price tag, but we guess nobody's heading to The Savoy in search of a budget bite. And there definitely are some good times to be had via the Music, Magic and Drama menu, with plenty of in-house alchemy (homemade bitters, mysterious reductions) and complex narrative going into their serves. Plus some less flamboyant but equally welcome touches: endlessly topped-up bowls of nuts and olives, we're looking at you.
Beaufort Bar: one to bookmark for special occasions. Or for when you hit it really big with Bitcoin.
Beaufort Bar at The Savoy, 2 Savoy Court, WC2R 0EZ.
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