It takes a pretty intrepid explorer to brave the crowds of Trafalgar Square.
So it’s nice to know that should you find yourself in the area, there’s a sleek, serene oasis that you can retire to: Rockwell.
At the foot of The Trafalgar St. James Hotel, it’s named after a (fictional) fellow explorer, who you’ll find racing through the pages of the menu. Unlike you, he has a shell for head. Thankfully, however, you both share a penchant for low-lit bars with romantic banquette seating, Nikkei-inspired bar snacks and quirky, quality cocktails.
Take a pew in a tangerine leather booth, or the emerald green stools perched beneath the cascading foliage of the bar. The chap heading up proceedings behind it is Marco Ercolano, a mixologist who’s spent years perfecting the art of the exotic, eccentric cocktail at bars like Mr. Fogg’s and the Rivoli Bar at The Ritz, all culminating in the diligently created concoctions that he’s shaking up before your very eyes.
Which is nice.
The result – a neat, intriguing selection of 12 cocktails – is a menu that offers something for everyone in the space of two refined pages. A quarter of those drinks are given over to no-alcohol options, while others range from the Fern’s Elixir, with Americano Bianco, vermouth, watermelon juice, electric bitters and crémant de Limoux; to the False Indigo, with white port, lemongrass and xylitol syrup, citric acid and guava & lime Franklin & Sons. Dotted throughout the menu you’ll spot exotic ingredients and house-made infusions, from cocoa butter-washed rum to palo santo-infused red vermouth.
Better order some of those ceviche tacos.
You’re going to be here a while.
NOTE: Rockwell is open Monday-Saturday, 12pm-12am. You can find out more, and reserve a table, HERE.
Rockwell | The Trafalgar St. James, 2 Spring Gardens, SW1A 2TS
Looking for something a little higher altitude? Head to the bar on the roof of the hotel…