The clock strikes six, symbolising the end of the working day. Try heading over to Abacus to celebrate with their great happy hour offers, just don’t expect expert mixology.

The Venue
There are three areas to Abacus; the upstairs bar, basement lounge and club. The upstairs bar has booths, group tables and places for people to sit and mingle. The plush surroundings make it the best place to head for informal drinks. There is also a DJ spinning the cheesiest of tunes to ease you into your weekend. It can get very crowded very quickly though, so booking an area might be a better option to guarantee a space.

Walking down the stairs to the basement lounge, a large shabby chic mirror greets you as you descend. This area is larger than the upstairs bar and is more sophisticated. Opposite the bar are white leather booths suitable for two or, if you like it a bit cosy, four. Nearer the bar there are black polished tables with high chairs. In the back there are larger booths for big groups of people to share after work. Interestingly, on the plasma screens is information about what’s going on and lots of footage of people ‘having a good time’ in the bar, which comes across as quite cheesy. Even the oversized square red lights on the ceiling have people’s happy faces beaming back down at you.

On the right side of the bar is the entrance to the club area, which has a small dancefloor and a seating area for people who want to soak up the atmosphere but not dance. This also has its own bar, which makes it easier to get your drinks quickly. There is air conditioning and blue neon lights provide a mysterious ambience.

The Atmosphere
As Abacus is slap bang in the middle of the City the main clientele are your typical City types, suited and booted, wanting to unwind. After 6pm (especially on a Thursday or Friday) it will be heaving with bankers and the like.

The atmosphere here depends on where you choose to go. The upstairs and basement bar are for people who want to listen to the singalong tunes and still feel involved, whereas the club is for people who want to take it that step further. The bar staff are constantly under pressure to get drinks to their punters fast and seeing as they have great happy hour deals on cocktails, it means they need to make them speedily, which can result in a drop in quality. However, they are very professional and always seek to accommodate you.

The Food
The food at Abacus consists of simple nibbles and hearty sharing platters all at decent prices. Lite Bites consist of toasted pitta breads and mixed Mediterranean olives (£4) or nachos (£4.50). The sandwiches are decent with fishfinger sandwiches (£4), juicy prawn sandwiches (£4.50) and chargrilled sirloin steak baguettes (£6.50).

In the Home Comforts section are all your favourites like organic pork and herb sausages with creamy mash and gravy (£6.95) and chargrilled fresh chicken breast with a creamy sauce (£6.95). In the fish section the Tiger beer battered fish and chunky chips (£6.95) is a new twist on a British favourite and is delicious. There are also salads starting at £5.95 for chargrilled halloumi or chargrilled blackened chicken (£6.50). For those who just want a juicy burger (£6.95) there is a choice of beef, chicken and lamb all with chunky chips.

The desserts are also worth a try. All at £3.50, the New York baked cheesecake with raspberry coulis is devilish whereas the chocolate and hazelnut roulard is delightfully naughty.

The Drink
The reason why people flock here is because of the unbelievable happy hours offers from 5pm-9pm every day. There are often special deals on selected Champagne, wine, cocktails, beer and even food lowering what are already extremely reasonable prices.

Abacus offers a decent selection of cocktails at low prices, tempting many; unfortunately, due to how busy it can get, the bar staff scrimp on quality so that they can be sent out at speed. They can taste rather insipid and uninspiring, if quite easy to drink. They start at £5.70 for the classics such as the Long Island iced tea, Mai Tai, mojito and daiquiri, rising to £5.95 for more exotic concoctions. Champagne cocktails are all £6 for a Kir Royal, Bellini or a Blushing Bubbles, which is made up of raspberry and passion fruit puree. Wine starts at £12.95 for a reasonable white and red and can go up to £32.95 for a Sancerre and £25.95 for a Crozes Hermitage. Bubbles start at £22.95 for a Spanish Cava and for blowing the budget £195 for a Krug France.

The Last Word
Although probably not worth travelling for, if you fancy a post work drink and you work in the area then Abacus is a good place to go. Take advantage of their happy hour deals - it’s extremely cheap even when the deals end.

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