London Mojito

The ArchAngel - Kensington High St, W8 5NP.
www.archangelw8.com

The ArchAngel is a few minutes walk from Kensington High St. tube station. It's a chic, comfortable, funky bar which produced a passable mojito. Expensive, but what do you expect in Kensington?

The ArchAngel offers a rather sweet mojito. They use gomme rather than sugar, which oversweetens the drink a little. Lime juice rather than fresh limes is no crime, but detracts from the presentation, and bitters on top is a take-it-or-leave-it thing which I'd rather leave. Appleton Estate gold rum rescues the drink though and, while the presentation leaves a fair bit to desire, the end product is eminently drinkable. Sharp and sweet in fair measure, bottled fizzy water to finish is a nice touch.

The venue is sofas and cushions up top, and small tables with stools round the bar. Neat and clean, aged but much more "lived in" than "worn out" at 18:00 on a Saturday over easter, they were playing nice funk/dance with plenty of room for conversation. The bar was quiet but I'm told that's not usual. Even so, because the upstairs area (where the toilets are) was booked, we were forced to march all the way downstairs and across the club to heed the call of nature! The Club downstairs is open till 2 Fridays and Saturdays for those who want to stay out late. They do food, but I wasn't hungry. My partner, however, tells me it's "pricey but worth the money."

The Mojito: 7
The Venue: 6
The Value: 4 (£7.80!)
Overall: 6