Little Bat, N1

Pub SignMan left this review about Little Bat

Located just a short walk from Highbury and Islington station, this is a smart, well presented cocktail bar with a two room layout. You enter into the front, main bar area - a room almost entirely decorated with dark wood fittings and a complimentary paint scheme, giving it a dark, dimly lit, dive bar feel. The servery is to the right and has a smart dark wood counter with an impressive, high matching bar back with decorative pillars and the sort of vast array of spirit bottles you might expect of a cocktail bar. There's a small front seating area under the windows, but space is otherwise limited by the servery, with a drinking ledge on the opposite wall offering a few high stools before the room opens out a bit towards the rear. From here, you can move on through to a rear room, similarly decorated, but with lots of pictures on the walls and a large skylight above, making it a brighter space during daylight hours. Comfy padded banquettes run around the right-hand walls, with a couple of small tables and chairs to the left. On arrival we were greeted by a waiter who showed us to a table and brought our drinks over, at a price of course.
It goes without saying, that there's no cask ale here - in fact the only draught beer option is a house lager of unknown provenance. We'd visited to try the cocktails, which were prohibitively expensive, even if they were very good quality. The staff seemed a bit sniffy having to deal with customers who hadn't booked ahead, and I was surprised at how many people were eating on our late evening visit.
I can't deny that this is a very classy looking place that would probably make a good impression if you took friends who enjoy cocktails. However, it can't really be classified as a pub and with cocktails priced so high, it's hard to imagine staying here for more that one, so as much as it was nice to try something very different for a change, I can't see me ever returning.

Date of visit - 24th May 2024

On 29^th September 2024 - rating: 3
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