Satan's Whiskers — Restaurant in London

Maybe I just had too many expectations for this spot, after a rec from another London bartender and its ranking as #1 on the list of London's 50 best cocktail bars (all issues with that list aside, it can be a rough guide starting point for the curious drinker).

I'm not entirely sure why this is London's best. Nothing about it was particularly creative or outstanding. They just rehash other people's cocktails.

The one female bartender was super nice; the others seemed entirely indifferent to everybody.

The menu, which allegedly changes daily for some reason, is pretty lengthy, so I'm sure there's something for most everybody. To me, there are just too many options and seems needlessly long, especially if it changes daily. So many of the options seem very basic, and none are created in-house. They are all existing cocktails easily found online. Not even riffed on. Just taken straight from online recipe databases. Not a signature on the list.

I, too, can steal an online recipe from Diffords or Imbibe and put it on my menu.

Truly embarrassing and lazy for a cocktail bar with such a reputation to be doing this so brazenly and shamelessly, and not even bothering to do it well.

After having a few drinks prior to coming here I decided upon a long drink as they're generally a lower total ABV and also, if a bar can make a long drink really unique and still taste the spirit, to me it's the sign of a solid mixology/bar program. So many long drinks just taste like watered-down juice. My go-to is normally (twists on) traditional cocktails or short, spirit-forward offerings but I am always open to any drink, long or short if it's made well.

Sadly, the cocktail I chose, despite having promising ingredients listed, ended up just tasting very generic. If I hadn't read the spirits in it, I never could have picked them out by taste alone. It was somewhat bland. No oomph to it, and certainly no wow factor I would have expected for a bar that is ranked Number 1.

Mediocre cocktail aside, the vibe was... hipster. Totally expected for this place, even though it is quite far from the trendy Shoreditch area. Same sort of crowd as there. The music was obnoxious. I don't mind a little hip hop but this was... I don't know. I guess I don't get it. Nothing about the venue, decor, ambience, or menu screams "exclusively playing extremely loud hip-hop!" I don't think I saw a single person of colour in there either. Again, pretentious hipster posturing. Typical Shoreditch.

I liked the space otherwise, and it has a nice enough backbar and staff seem to know what they're doing, but it was all rather lacklustre and something about the overall vibe just wasn't hitting the right notes for me.

The fact they have basically no signature bar program and all their drinks are yanked from Diffords guide online is ridiculous. And fair play if they want to just make classics and existing cocktails but do them WELL. But.. they haven't even managed that. The only selling point here is that for London, the prices are very reasonable. But then, if I'm getting a drink that tastes like it barely has 30ml of spirits in it, maybe it's not so reasonable.

Maybe stop focusing on the novelty of changing a massive drinks menu daily and focus on building some unique and interesting, and lasting, cocktails instead. I can only assume that the bar manager/bar team doesn't know how to develop cocktails. Or even put a twist on them.

This is a completely average bar serving completely average drinks with completely average staff in a completely average venue. I didn't dislike it. I just was not impressed, and I really should have been considering its reputation.

It's a shame. Why this bar has such a high ranking or good reviews is an absolute...

I waited a week before I posted this, just to make sure I didnt write anything in anger. . . Here goes:

Recent nominee for Tales of the cocktail spirited awards. Prompt, polite, and friendly service. Not overly impressive bar set up, as it sometimes creeps into the serving areas creating some close quarters. It does as have though it does have interesting taxidermy contributing to the overall ambience. Drinks were good.

Sadly, it wasn't the bar, the drinks or staff that left me with a poor impression, but it the very rude, self-righteous, unfriendly, and unwelcoming clientele that it attracted. I suspect it might be a 'local's bar.' Or perhaps it was the higher than usual anti-American sentiment that I encountered from time to time. I found that simple things, like journaling your trip at the end of the day, minding ones' own business, or having your ears perk up when hearing your country's name repeatedly spoken about in a negative light (despite not saying anyyhing) were grounds for confrontation. Perhaps the cramped bar area contributed to this? People there were very territorial about their space and perceived intrusions into it or conversations.

I managed to visit 15 of the 23 of the Tales of the Cocktail winners and nominees in London during my trip, as well as many fine cocktail bars and pubs in Cardiff and Aberystwyth. The clientele at Satan's whiskers made it the most negative drinking experience of the trip. (In comparison, I took a bottle to the forehead meant for the person next to me at one Bar in Wales. I was treated to free drinks, complemented on my 'form,' and told it was a "Welsh initiation rite.' amd have several new facebook friends from the experience which I now look on pleasantly. I will return to that bar. Not to Satan's Whiskers. A shame, because the staff was quite pleasant and friendly, and I had hoped to enjoy another round before it became...

Satan's Whiskers is my absolutely favourite cocktail bar, great place to go and drink and catch-up with an old friend, solid choice for a second date where you both want to impress and spend quality time getting to know someone and have even taken my 88 year old mother there a couple of times to round off a night out. Staff aren't just super friendly and attentive, but also really, really know their cocktails. I regularly describe a flavour profile I'm looking for or a memorable drink I've had before and without fail they grasp what I want and come up with something that absolutely hits the nail on the head and is totally delicious. With staff this good (and frankly this beautiful) with such a fantastic ambiance and totally hipster location they'd have every justification for having real attitude, but have none, absolutely none, they're just fantastically friendly and totally focused on giving you the best night humanly possible. This has been best demonstrated both times I've taken mum, she's had a stroke, has mobility problems and walks with a walker, so isn't easy to get into a seat, both times they haven't blinked, got her into her seat with minimal fuss and just made her feel totally welcome and at home and, despite the stroke leaving her speech a bit stop start at times, totally engaged with her describing what she'd like to drink, then, with typical aplomb, getting it 100% spot on. Both times mum's been totally delighted, and left feeling alive and included.. Does it get...