This conventional bar at Chancery Court Hotel is over-priced and old-fashioned, but serves up some quality wines, champagnes and cocktails - if your budget can stretch that far.

The Venue
The Chancery Court Bar (CC Bar for short) is tucked neatly through a side door at the High Holborn street entrance of the hotel. The bar, formerly an old banking hall, is spacious but manages to feel fairly cluttered, with an odd mix of clashing upholstery, carpet and furnishing patterns. There are plenty of seating options throughout, with settees, armchairs and banquettes littered around the bar floor. The décor is very traditional and it is easy to identify it as a hotel bar from its grandiose chandeliers, fleur de lys patterns and Swedish green marble ionic columns in the corners of the room.

The Atmosphere
Customers in CC Bar are smart-looking businessmen, older gentlemen, lunching ladies and hotel guests. There is a very calm vibe about the place, with relaxing music piped through the sound system. Don’t expect lively drinks here, as the bar is better suited for a post-dinner drink or two. The hotel tries to uphold a private club atmosphere, and if bar staff come to you to take your order, they are certain to add a service charge to your bill.

The Food
Bar snacks are available at a steep cost. Prices for wraps and club sandwiches start at £15 and salad nicoise costs £13.

The Drink
There is a wide selection of high-price champagnes and wines available, making this venue a great haunt for wine buffs. Prices for champagne start at £56.50 a bottle for Piper-Hiedsieck. The most expensive bottle of champagne at the bar is a lavish cristal Louis Roderer, vintage 2002, coming in at £355. White wines and red wines start at £7.50 a glass, and the wine list boasts a variety of old and new world fine wines to choose from.

The cocktail list is equally as extravagant, with champagne cocktails on offer for £15 a pop. Potion of love (£15) is made from chambord, lychee liquer, grapefruit juice and Piper-Heidsieck champagne. Pre-dinner cocktails like the sloe gin sour and red passion cost £12, while tropical cocktails cost £13 and offer something a bit different from the norm. The vanilla mojito (£13), combines lime, vanilla, crushed mint and Havana rum. There’s a range of martinis on the menu, such as the bounty martini (£12) and the Cuban lady (£12).

There is a great range of spirits at the bar but unfortunately beer drinkers are not so well catered for. With only four beers and lagers on tap, and a few expensive bottled beers to choose from, CC Bar certainly pitches itself as a wine bar. A pint of Stella Artois costs £5.50, as does Boddingtons Bitter. Soft drinks are equally limited, with a couple of alcohol-free cocktails costing £7 per glass, and an over-priced latte setting you back £5.50.

The Last Word
The CC Bar may serve fancy wine labels and world-class champagnes, but the fusty atmosphere hardly justifies the price tag on its less upmarket soft drinks, lagers and bar snacks.

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