Oxo Tower Bar

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Quinno _ left this review about Oxo Tower Bar

A swish, urbane bar located on floor 8 of the iconic Oxo Tower on the South Bank of the River Thames, owned by fashion retailer Harvey Nichols. The tower was rebuilt in 1929 in an Art Deco style for the manufacturers of OXO, who, to get round an advertising ban on the tower, built it with four sets of three vertically-aligned windows - each of which ‘coincidentally’ happened to be in the shapes of a circle, a cross and a circle.

The large semi-circular bar is split into two sections - a drinking area on the left (south facing) and a brasserie (north facing) which both afford panoramic views of the capital from the large plate glass windows. There’s a baby grand piano that gets tinkled as part of the live jazz music that takes place most nights.

Drinks-wise, there's a fair selection. Beer comes in bottles (Meantime and Adnams both spotted – over £5 each) along with a comprehensive wines and spirits list, a lot of which are eye-wateringly expensive. Better value are the cocktails (retailing for around a tenner) as most contain 2-3 shots of higher-end spirits (for example, mine had Laphroaig in) and are a cut above what you might get in a normal bar. Beware to order drinks from the barman, as table service incurs a surcharge. Whilst a dress code isn’t advertised (and our group got in looking less than suave) I suspect that tracksuits and builders garb may be politely refused at the door. Food is available and there’s light background muzak on the go.

All in all, it’s worth a visit to say you’ve done it. If you have a hot date or an anniversary to celebrate, you could do worse than bring the recipient of your generosity here.

On 20^th September 2010 - rating: 6
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