Cocktails at Dandelyan Bar at the Mondrian Hotel

When a bar is awarded with the title 'Best New International Cocktail Bar in London' you just have to go and see it for yourself, right?

So we did.

And we agreed.

To start off, it has the best views; wall to wall sweeping vistas of our beloved Thames against a backdrop of an ever higher skyline. The bar is right on the Southbank, so awesome sessions of people watching guaranteed.

Then there is the casual atmosphere. Natural colours, lots of plushy sofas and cosy corners. Great location for a date, or in our case, s boozy Sunday afternoon with friends.

The nature bit is also heavily present on the drinks menu, which almost reads like the inventory list of Kew Gardens. All cocktails have botanical sounding names and the ingredients come straight from the forest as well.

I tried a lovely fruity one, kind of like a cosmo with a slice of roasted apple on the side. My friend went for a flowery little number which tasted surprisingly refreshing and fruity.

Tried and tested, we judged it as a pretty good new cocktail bar in London as well.