The bar
A short list made properly, a room you can talk in, a trio on Thursdays and a back room for sixteen. Forty seats, so book from Thursday to Saturday; six stools at the bar are always for whoever walks in.
one
Seven drinks that were worked out a century ago and do not need our help. Made to the specification, with the right glass, the right ice and the right garnish, every time, by whoever is behind the bar.
Classics £12, or £8 from 5 to 7 Tuesday to Thursday.
two
Seven drinks Nia and the team have worked out themselves, built on Welsh spirits where there is a good one, changed with the seasons and retired when they stop being interesting. The current seven are on the menu page.
The Still list £13.
three
Four drinks with no alcohol and one low-alcohol spritz that took as long to develop as anything else on the list, made with the same ice, the same glassware and the same care, because the person not drinking is still a guest.
No-alcohol drinks £7, the low-alcohol spritz £8.
four
Every Thursday a trio plays in the corner from eight until eleven: piano, bass and whoever is in town on the third instrument. No ticket, no cover charge, no talking over them, and the best night of the week to book a table.
No cover charge.
five
Two hours behind our bar with one of our bartenders: three classics made by you from the ground up, the ice, the stir and the shake explained, and a sheet to take home. Sunday afternoons, six to ten people, £55 each.
£55 a person including three full-size drinks, snacks and the recipe sheet.
six
The back room seats sixteen behind a curtain with its own bar hatch and no hire fee against a minimum spend; the whole bar is yours on a Monday, when we are otherwise closed, for forty seated or sixty with the stools out.
Back room: no hire fee, minimum spend £600 on Friday and Saturday, £350 Sunday to Thursday.
The ice
A forty-litre block freezes in the cellar overnight, from the top down so the cloudiness is pushed out of the bottom and sawn off. Leo cuts it every afternoon into two-inch cubes for the Old Fashioned, spears for the long drinks and spheres for whatever needs one. Clear ice is denser and colder, melts slower, and does not taste of the freezer. It is a lot of work for a cube, and it is the difference.
Forty seats, so Thursdays to Saturdays need a booking. The back room seats sixteen with no hire fee against a minimum spend; the whole bar is yours on a Monday. Eighteen and over after 5pm.
