Located within the confines of the luxurious 5 star Andaz Hotel, conveniently positioned by Liverpool Street station, lies this bar. An offshoot of its neighbouring quality seafood restaurant Catch, this bar offers Champagne, sea food and a surprisingly upbeat atmosphere.

The Venue
This Champagne bar is one of several bars and restaurants within the luxurious Andaz Hotel. You can reach the bar either by walking through the hotel (which is recommended as it’s a truly beautiful venue) or via its own entryway – a set of heavy wooden doors with large glass plates allowing you to gaze out onto Liverpool Street.

Inside, the venue is certainly very attractive. A large oval bar, accessed on all sides to aid the inevitable queues, is the centrepiece with polished glasses proudly displayed, just waiting to be filled with Champagne. Above the bar, quite bizarrely, hangs two animal shapes (a dog and a bear, it’s presumed!) covered with silver sequins that glimmer in the light – adding an interesting twist to the decor. The white embellished ceilings are high, lending a pleasant feeling of space, helped along by the dark wood panelled walls and wooden floors. Black and white photos of basic imagery adourn the walls and around the periphery of the bar lies several small round marble tables surrounded by silver edged hard leather chairs. Little touches like huge bottles of Champagne sitting on windowsills and fish etchings on the windows help to tie in the Champagne-seafood theme nicely. In all, it’s an attractive space that sets the scene for the copious drinking that goes on here.

The Atmosphere
The atmosphere at this Champagne bar changes as the week goes on. At lunchtimes and Monday-Wednesday evenings it’s a far more chilled out affair as businessmen and local City workers come here to chill out with a glass of Champagne and chat business with platters and sea food. However, come Thursday and Friday the bar steps up a notch and the party vibe kicks in. City workers kick loose and the music plays loudly in the background. The throng of conversation is palpable and you’ll find it hard to hear yourself think – but then who needs to think when the Champagne is this good? Girls get dressed up to the nines and the guys throw off their ties in preparation for the weekend. There’s a real sense of people out to have a good time, which may surprise those who think that Champagne bars are snooty and pretentious. Open until 1am, you’ll see an influx of people at pub closing as they make the most of the extended hours.

The staff are, as you’d expect, extremely efficient and friendly with a definite 5 star hotel skew to service. The clever layout of the bar itself means you won’t be stuck in a huge queue and there are plenty of staff to make sure the drinks keep flowing.

The Food
There’s a small but well formed menu of bar food with a skew towards seafood at the Champagne Bar, with a nod to it’s sibling Catch Restaurant. You can indulge in three varieties of oyster (£10-£20), including Colchester rock, Falmouth rock and Loch Fyne. Alternatively, if you have money to spend, try the caviar at a whopping £60-£100 for 30g or 50g.

However, in these credit crunch times, it may be best to indulge in food to share and well-priced platters. For £20 you can get three dishes that are big enough to fill two people on a night out. The Manchego cheese with pink peppercorn honey is well presented on a large plate with triangular slivers of cheese drizzled in sweet honey. The mix of the tang of the cheese and the honey works well, although the honey is particularly sweet and may not be to all tastes. The seared squid and chorizo is exceptional, with a large selection of thick, juicy chorizo sausages with a rich meaty flavour. The squid is perfectly cooked and just soft enough that you can easily bite through each piece with no hint of the unpleasant chewiness that can accompany this dish. Finally, the tiger prawns in Japanese breadcrumbs is another winner, with a generous portion of tiger prawns, neatly piled against a dish of mayo. The prawns are full of flavour and, again, particularly well cooked. However, the mayonnaise is a little too rich and, coupled with the breadcrumbs, can be a little heavy on the stomach. Although that might be what you want when you’re about to drink Champagne. Finally, the platters are well priced at £12 and include antipasti and Italian meat with olives. In all, it’s a decent choice of bar food.

The Drink
The main focus of this bar is the drink and, as you’d expect from a Champagne bar, the menu skews towards quality bottles of Champers. There are four glasses available by the glass: the Henriot NV (£10) is a pleasant choice, dry but easy to drink. However, the real stars are the De Venoge Rose (£11) and the Ruinart Blanc de Blanc (£16), which are extremely quaffable. There is also a decent selection of white, red and rose wine available by the glass, ranging from £5-£9. However, if you’re really here to drink in style then make the most of the huge selection of Champagne by the bottle. Ranging from £50 for a bottle of Henriot to £1250 for a Dom Perignon Rose 1990, there’s a great choice to suit all budgets. With nearly 100 bottles to choose from, including an impressive selection of prestige bottles, it’s hard not to be impressed.

If you’re not a huge fan of Champagne then never fear, there is also a great choice of Champagne cocktails. The real highlight is My Love (Malibu, strawberry puree, raspberry puree and creme de peche) for £8.50. A real girly cocktail, the bright red drink is presented in an attractively curved glass and tastes just like a sweet strawberry sherbert, reminiscent of the sweets you’d eat as a kid. Delicious. If you prefer something less sweet then the Cherry Blossom (cherry puree, Grenadine and Champagne) for £9.50 is more classic. Quite dry, the sparkles of the Champagne works well with the delicate cherry flavour that just about comes through. The Polish Punch (Belvedere, raspberry puree, Creme de Bois, Creme de Cassis and Champagne) is also impressive and particularly well balanced. Finally, there’s a real highlight with the Mojito Royal (10 Cane rum, fresh mint, elderflower, apple juice and Champagne), which is an interesting twist on the classic. Basically a sparkling version of a mojito, it works well although it has been muddled to within inches of its life.

The use of premium spirits and fresh fruit is testament to the emphasis they place on quality here, and if you just can’t face Champagne or cocktails, you can always opt for Asahi, 1664, Leffe, Guinness, Hoegaarden or Magners for £4.

The Last Word
The Champagne Bar at the Andaz Hotel does its job well. For quality Champagne and great cocktails then this is the place to be. The party atmosphere later in the week is a pleasant surprise for such an establishment.

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