K Bar at the Kensington Hotel ★★★★★ review

Walk in the K Bar at the Kensington Hotel, and you might be forgiven for thinking you'd stepped below deck of a 1920s ocean-liner. The oak-panelled room, dimmed lights and racing green leather seats are pure F. Scott Fitzgerald. The grand door comes from a post office in Dublin, only just rescued from the bullets of the Easter uprising in 1916 (you can still see where the lead once shaved the portal).

The K Bar’s drink menu lives up to the high standards of the surroundings. It's the cocktail equivalent of fine dining and staff have a genuine passion for their concoctions and the stories that come with them. Previously employed at Hotel du Vin in Brighton, bar manager Ben Manchester explains how he seeks to create drinks that develop in flavour as you drink. Indeed the Kensington Champagne, a blend of Calvados apple brandy, Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut and Rhubarb bitters is at first sharp and intimidating but mellows down as the sugar lump dissolves.

Spirits are served in copper cups, in a playful reflection of Prohibition era America where people drank alcohol covertly in opaque teacups. We particularly recommend the King of Queen’s Gate, a Jameson’s select reserve whisked with King’s Ginger liqueur, lemon, rose syrup, orange marmalade and chilli flakes that tingle with the whiskey’s warmth. The Rye Sling Star deftly puts together cherry heering, applejack, chartreuse, cherry bitters, apple juice and lemon to produce a coconuty flavour, topped with bitter notes.

The pink-tainted, fizzy cocktails could have easily turned out as luxurious versions of Babycham, but there's pleasing substance to the sparkle. The Rose Petal, for example, balances Cointreau with rose syrup, lemon notes and champagne in a drink which will appeal to both sexes.

Canapés and light bites include fresh Scottish scallops and delicately perfumed cubes of foie gras. And the stellar dessert cocktails which include Creme Brûlée Martini and Jerry's Chocolate Orange will satisfy your sweet-tooth.