With Chelsea Flower Show on the horizon the South Place Hotel have recently conjured up a clever way of promoting their city terrace or ‘Secret Garden bar’ by teaming up with Butterfly and the Bee, an artisan food company based in Central London. Bees and honey are the answer here with their Bee’s Knees event served with honey inspired cocktails at the hotel’s brightly coloured terrace bar.
Adjacent to this bar is their ‘installation’ which although no offence on the eyes, is not something that stands its ground as an attraction and reminded more of an Easter tree – slightly puzzling. For a Monday evening the small terrace had a live acoustic set and a healthy crowd and with palms trees and brightly coloured lighting, it made this otherwise dull space rather more interesting.
Looking up all we could see was concrete, a real shame although the soft, floral sofa seats accompanied us with our cocktails, and the helpful waiter who kept offering us thoughtfully designed and floral canapés. These cocktails are described to ‘send taste buds into a blooming frenzy’ maybe this would have been the case although we were not made aware that the honey on the bar was to be mixed in.
The cocktail menu of the evening was inclusive of their ‘Sweet Spritz’ – a blend of rhubarb liqueur with rum, lemon and honey, garnished with grapefruit zest and mint, the ‘Honeycomb Old Fashioned’, a sweet hand-blended honey and camomile syrup, with zingy orange bitters and rum. Another and my favourite the ‘Bee Sting’, a creamy and fruity punch with a rum, mango, lime and honey blend. Lastly the brandy-based ‘Honeydew’ combines lemon, honey and rhubarb notes with muskmelon-flavoured liqueur – unfortunately this had little kick and was predominantly ice.
South Place Hotel, around 3 minutes from Liverpool Street Station, is an 80-bedroom hotel. It is the first hotel from restaurateurs D&D London, with Conran-designed interiors, 2 restaurants, 3 bars and 5 private dining and meeting rooms, which from a glance, outshine the modest terrace bar. They describe themselves as ‘a slice of London’s energy and culture’ and maintain strong links to the surrounding neighbourhoods including Silicon Roundabout at Old Street; the art, fashion and nightlife of Spitalfield’s, as well as Shoreditch and Hoxton.
A boutique, contemporary and urban hotel though and through, this recent seasonal installation at the South Place Housel is small but draws attention away from the obvious and probably most popular indoor families for the upcoming summer months. Their limited-edition ‘Bee’s Knees’ cocktail menu will be available in the Secret Garden bar on the first floor from 10th-28th May; just remember to add honey!
South Place Hotel: 3 South Pl, London EC2M 2AF, 020 3503 0000, www.southplacehotel.com
