As I arrived to the front of the Duke hotel, there was a friendly doorman that greeted me in a very warm fashion, and escorted us to the bar/lounge area. As we waited for the other half of our party to arrive, I ordered the Vesper, Ian Flemming's original cocktail that was created at this bar. For the first time in my libation history, I was served bar style at my table. The server brought out a double crown Beefeater (which is rare and there is only a few bottles left in the world). He brought out the frozen bottle and scraped off the ice, so I could see the brand, and then executed the Vesper. We was given an elegant array of snacks that was very yummy. The cocktail was very very good, it was one of the best Vespers I ever had. I'd enjoyed the twist of this classic version with the utilization of Angostura bitters. Then our friends joined us finally, one of them being the only American I met in my two days in London, and we had a few more libations there, and we decided to leave to go to another cocktail lounge.
Note: The Duke Bar will give you the classics, their signature Duke Martini cocktails, their Dukes selection list, and a wide variety of Spirits, Vintage Ports, Cognac and Armagnac, Calvados, rare malt whiskeys, American, Irish, and Canadian whiskys, and even some interesting non-alcoholic cocktails, and a great selection of champagne, white and red wine by the glass, and bottle. The dining room offers great seasonal dishes using the best British ingredients, and a full a la carte menu, with a pre fixed menu, and the dining room is open seven days a week, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
This bar and lounge is elegantly designed, the atmosphere is very comfortable, the service is top notch, and I would recommend this hotel bar to anyone visiting London, who wants to experience a higher dimension of extremely high end cocktails.
At the end of our libations, we jumped in the vehicles, and sped through Hyde Park, blasting the awesome House music, as my friends pointed out notable places in the park, and when we arrived to the Montgomery Place lounge, there the staff knew all of my friends, except me, and the other American. they treated us like gold, we did not order off the menu, cocktails were created for each and every one of us. My friends ran into all of their other friends coming in, and it was like one big happy family laughing, drinking, and smoking outside- having a lovely time. Spectacular libations- down to the details of infusing their logo of the bar into the blocked ice cubes, and maybe the majority of their drinks, which I hadn't seen anywhere in the United States.
After we left..... we went down the road, to this lovely Italian restaurant which was closing, but they stayed open late for us. I'm assuming for the special people I was with. The food was amazing, the staff was accommodating, the night breeze and warmth was refreshing. As the night flew by, it was time for me to face reality, get to my flat, and pack to get back to Edinburgh.
I got back to the flat, and I was all smiles. I turned the skeleton key in the door, I looked back at the terrace, and looked at the beautiful London night, and said "Wait a minute I have to experience one more dram, and a cigar before I leave." So, I packed, walked to the terrace, and sat there, looking at the sky with that glowing feeling, vibrating all through my body. I even thought to myself for a moment that, "I could really live here." But, I had to snap out of it, and get to reality. So, after my car hire picked me up, I raced to the Gatwick airport, because I overslept, and prayed that I would get to the airport on time.
You should have seen me running through the airport, dashing through the crowds, and to my demise, I saw this huge line at about 5:30 in the morning, thinking to myself, "What the freak is going on? All these people in the morning!" I knew I won't be on time standing in that line, so I had to think fast,I went to head person in charge of the line, and told them my situation, and he rushed me to a special line for last minute ding dongs like myself. I was the first one in line, next thing you know,a bunch of Germans lined up behind me, trying to get to Edinburgh like myself. Well done to the Gatwick airport employees, from the conductors of the line, the attendant, it was efficient... thank you, thank you, and thank you!
I got back to Edinburgh, grabbed my things out of storage, packed everything back up, checked in, and waited for my flight which was on time. As I was sitting in the lobby, I did not want to go home. Reality was hitting me, and the line was getting shorter. And I finally got up, gave my ticket, and walked on the plane. The flight was great on Continental, they did an awesome nonstop flight from Edinburgh (EDI) to Newark airport. By saying that, Continental's american staff is very friendly, efficient, and constantly doing a great job making sure you are hydrated, two meals, a snack, whatever you want to drink, comfy seats, no need for first or business class, large selection of movies, music, and games, and the 7 hours felt like I was flying from Miami to New York.
Unfortunately, going through customs, and the luggage check points was the worst part of my trip on my return. It took me about two hours to get my luggage, get cleared through customs, baggage checks, and out through the shuttle train.
to be continued........
Slainte!!!
Info on the Montgomery Place:
http://montgomeryplace.co.uk/
The Duke Hotel info:
http://www.campbellgrayhotels.com/dukes-london.html?lang=EN#/dukes-london
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