In the speakeasy model, the bar is dark, with elaborate chandeliers and superb drinks — and the stiff prices and aloof service to match.
Press a tiny doorbell in the mouth of a lion's head, and only if there's space — or if you've made a reservation — are you allowed inside a plush room with felt wallpaper, dim lighting and superb drinks, served past 4 a.m. if the demand warrants it.
A small table or crate would be superb for drinks or a place to rest your back after a long day of spying!
71 Beda Road, Canton, 029 2022 1312, thelansdownecardiff.co.uk Whether you love or hate "dude food", it is certainly increasing the opportunities to drink superb craft beer.
The bar is often like this, and no wonder: it's one of the best boozers I've discovered in Belgium, a nation not starved of superb places to drink.
Espresso machines anyway, according to Victoria Moore in her superb How to Drink, are only good for making espressos, rather than the long lattes, flat whites and so on that many of us use them for, because – "coffee made in this way doesn't do much to showcase the bean itself".
The food and drink The superb restaurant – Le Mardale – overlooks the lake and offers half a dozen choices, typically displaying inventive variations on duck (with beetroot rosti and rhubarb and port sauce) or sea bass (with mint-pea risotto), along with a classic steak.
All the trickery in the food makes it easy to overlook the drink: a superb collection of spirits, including inventive cocktails by Tona Palomino and a distinctive wine list that encompasses many regions and styles, giving explorers ample territory to cover.
But, of all that is unique at Voyager, nothing beats the vision and views of the owner, including his attitude to his own superb wines which he doesnt drink.
