Oxo Tower Bar, SE1

Located on the eight floor of the famous Oxo Tower on the South Bank of the Thames, this is certainly not a pub in the usual sense with no draught drinks being available, but is instead more of an upmarket cocktail bar, although there is also a small range of bottled beers. An unusual feature that I’ve not seen elsewhere was a row of padded coats ready for patrons to borrow if they were popping out for a smoke and had left their own attire at the cloakroom by the entrance. They certainly make the most of the views which the entire front wall of the pub consisting of a sloped plate glass window giving great views across the river and towards St Pauls. There looks to also be some sort of outside terrace, although being cold and dark when we visited we did not investigate this. Décor wise it’s very modern, with much glass as noted as well as steel and some sort of curved blinds on the ceiling. Flooring was pale wood strip and as well as the tables and chairs there were also a few stools along the bar counter. A complimentary bowl of nuts was provided whilst we perused the extensive cocktail menu. As noted, there were no beers, or anything else on tap, although there were a few bottles available including Oxford Session IPA, Five Points Pale, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Five Points Railway Porter and the local Hiver. However, with many of these coming it at £7 for a 330ml bottle, that works out at an eye watering £14.45 per pint by the time you’ve added the 12½% service charge. We opted for cocktails since that seems to be their speciality, and my From Dusk Till Dawn with Patrón Silver Tequila and cassis liqueur built with ginger syrup, fresh orange and lime juice and topped with OXO Brut champagne was very good and a most enjoyable drink. It’s just a shame that it was my round, and with four drinks topping £60 I left considerably poorer than when I arrived.

Official site of Oxo Tower Bar - www.harveynichols.com

Official site of Oxo Tower Bar - www.harveynichols.com

As described below, this slightly trendy but also very pleasant bar is not for the faint-of-wallet. Bar snacks start at around £7.00 and include traditional pub food such as crispy octopus and Oxo-burger and chips (chips work out at 73p each). It's somewhere to go if you want to impress or enjoy a spectacular view of the City lights reflected in the Thames, but it really doesn't work for a crawl.