Well-to-do Hampstead residents don't need an excuse to enjoy a drink and the arrival of upmarket cocktail bar Alice House has whet the locals’ appetites sufficiently to become a firm favourite.

The Venue
Alice House may well be a looking glass from West Hampstead’s swirling streets; its cavernous window panes offer it an appearance of a bar much larger than it is in reality. Inside, an impressive central bar, instead of splitting the venue in two, creates a central focus to which all heads are turned. However it is Alice House’s lighting that steals the show – dozens of dimly-lit bulbs suspended everywhere from a glut of blackened wires. It’s hard to explain without making it sound like the hull of Red Dwarf; suffice to say it’s a stunning addition to the sort of bar that baulks at innovation.

The walls are black and brooding, exposed-brickwork punctuating its modernity. Yet brass coat hooks and the parquet flooring scream tradition. The only drawback to the decor is the seating areas. If Alice House, as it professes to be with its intricate menu, wants bums on seats for dinner, the vast tables and tiny chairs make cross-table conversation resemble military orders across noman’s land. That, combined with the odd drinker parking their delicately-attired behind next door to your dinner, isn’t conducive to a quiet night out with the Mr or Mrs. Still, once the punters get going and the music’s pumping, you’ll forget you were ever in a dining room and start downing cocktails.

The Atmosphere
A five minute walk from West Hampstead tube station, you will have walked past a dozen or so eateries and bars easily recognisable as Hampstead haunts: swathes of well-dressed, young professionals flaunting their wallets and their wardrobes in trendy, dim-lit doyens of Primrose Hill perfection. Yet as much as Alice House perpetuates the local clique and their suave tastes, it’s no less than a corking little venue jam-packed with juicy decor, top cocktail staff and bar food to drool over – even before those all-important aperitifs have wormed their way down your throat. Even on a soggy spring’s afternoon Alice House lights up its area like a south coast beacon to a channel of mediocrity. And this is before the drinks start flowing.

The Food
Alice House has two main food menus: the lunch menu, which runs Monday to Friday, 12pm-4pm, and the bar menu available thereafter. The lunch menu comprises hearty dishes such as haddock and salmon fishcakes (£8.25) and a sirloin steak sandwich (£8). For those Hampsteadites with their eye on the scales, a Caesar salad tips in at an about-par £8.

In the evening Alice House goes all continental – well, ish. Following the ethos that states drinkers don’t want to get bogged down in heavy dining (has no-one mentioned that doyen of British cuisine, the doner kebab?), the menu consists of a number of tasty-looking tapas numbers, each weighing in at around £5. Note: this is not bar food, this is bloody brilliant bar food. Meatballs in spicy sauce are cooked to perfection with just the right hint of hot. Seared tuna is delicate, rare and juicy – even if you won’t know how to eat them and their white bean and pancetta accoutrements. Even the halloumi has a depth of taste rarely found outside the top tier of British brasseries; and the presentation will have you feeling like you’ve just been air-dropped into an episode of the F-Word.

The only minor drawbacks are the calamari’s overwhelming batter mix and the duck confit (yes, that’s right) and spring onion croquette’s over-reliance on the onion. Still, alongside a plate of chips this £30 job-lot is enough to satisfy even the most hunger-ridden drinker. A roaring success – and when the barbeque gets going this summer, Hampstead’s well-heeled establishments will be watching their backs with some degree of worry.

The Drink
The Alice House drinks menu alone is enough to get anyone salivating on command – no less the options available when you finally manage to pick something. Who wants a strawberry Daiquiri when you could chuck in watermelon (£7.50)? Why pick pear over pineapple? The cocktail waiters are, thankfully, experts in their field and know exactly how much of what to serve you.

The sumptuously-flavoured Pear and Cardamom Martini (£7), combining pear brandy with pear liqueur, may sound sickly but actually contains more smooth refreshment than a weekend in Mauritius with James Bond, with the cardamom kicking in as a delicious aftertaste. Next up, a Honey Berry (honey and Krupnik shaken with Chambord and raspberry puree, topped with Champagne; £8), which may be a tad too sweet for some tastes, but had just enough of a Champagne tickle to bubble itself away from the overpowering honey. Le F*** is hardly about to be a bottle of ginger ale, and the venomous mix of Jack Daniels, Creme de Fraise, fresh strawberries and maple syrup (£6.50) is enough to put hairs on the hairs on your chest.

The commendable menu also includes a short wine list (house red; £13, all the short way to Annie’s Lane Aussie Shiraz for a decent £24). All your favourite spirits are there for about £3 a pop, and beer ranges from the rare draught Red Stripe for £3.30 to a summerific bottle of Bulmers for a little under four quid. Not the cheapest in London; certainly par for the area.

The Last Word
Whether you're in a large group or a simple twosome, this bar is perfect for a night on the tiles or a romantic refueling. The drinks are excellent, the decor is stunning and the food worthy of far more than its bar menu billing. If you can put up with funky house music and backsides in your garlic butter, Alice House could be your new favourite place.

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