Tayēr + Elementary — Restaurant in London

Elementary is the bar on the outside that you’d have to wait at before being invited into Tayer, the inner bar that is the true objective of your trip, when seats become available. When I went with friends, the wait to get into Tayer was about half an hour on a Saturday at about 8pm, but according to my friend it can be several hours on some days. Elementary serves light snacks and cocktails that are premade, but these are not just the classic cocktails. In fact, in the several pages of their menu, all of the cocktails are either twists on classics or their own recipes (though there are some beers). You can’t really tell that they’re premade. And even knowing that already, they’re delicious. The only scenario where you’d not like the premade aspects is if you want a classic martini and they can’t make that for you. But well, if you want a classic cocktail, this is not the right bar for you. Tayer and Elementary are built for experimentation. In that aspect, they are well done.

When you’re invited into Tayer, the menu changes into a more experimental touch (see attached photo). I’m told by my friend, who is a frequent occupier at Tayer, that Tayer makes the drinks on the spot. You can probably ask them to switch out a liquor, but I haven’t tried that as I wanted to see what their original recipe tastes like. On the menu, the drinks are listed from lightest to heaviest. The bolded words are both the name of the drink and ingredients to the drink. I like to think that I’m drinking liquid perfume because of how fragrance-like the cocktail names are. In reality the drinks are just as aromatic. All ingredients are well balanced, well played-out. I even ordered Oud, which is at the bottom of the menu, but was surprised to find that it wasn’t as boozy as I thought. We’ve tried almost everything from the menu. The drinks in Tayer are definitely more refreshing and sweet than boozy, but that is my preference and it works out because I like more of an aromatic and sweetness in my cocktails than super strong and boozy. My favorite one out of the lighter ones is Geranium+Tuberose, which is like a floral flavored yogurt/Yakult. More of a refreshing one that I like is Cypress. Down the list, my favorite ones are Oak Moss + Vetiver and Oud. The pattern here is that I like a foresty scent to my candles too.

Tayer’s layout is a square bar seating surrounding where the bartenders work. It almost is like visiting an avant grade restaurant. The food and snacks menu in Tayer are more like starters in a somewhat fancy restaurant. They’re not outstanding but you’re not really coming here to eat and fill up your belly.

This is the place to go if you want to try out new cocktails, experimental tastes, and scents that you’d love to have as candles. Everything on the Tayer menu is worth trying out. It’s not cheap, so go with some friends and share or whatever. But please only form an impression after you’ve been to the inside, and not just Elementary.

Seating is limited so that’s why it can take a long time for you to come off the waitlist from Elementary. Go early. Go on a weeknight. Great customer service. They’ll put your drink in a fridge beneath the counter if you haven’t touched it for a while just so it’s nice and chilled as if fresh when you sip on it after a while.

Safe to say, I had five drinks at Tayer and I did not wake up in the middle of the night dehydrated, and I did not have a bad hangover on the morning after. That is an indication of the quality of...

Unbelievable! So after waiting around two months to go to this place, as we waited for our House Exchange to go through, through to building our entire celebration day around visiting it due to it's location, we were turned away at 3pm on the door for having a four week old sleeping baby in a bassinet, on the pretext that the bar's (which is also serving food, come back to that) alcohol licence only allows for over 18's (which at 46 and 39 we qualified for)! I have actually no words, when food is served in a venue there should be no problem, but even leaving that aside our 4 week old infant was hardly likely to run amok. So rude and inhospitable in a town (and for the most part, country) where I don't think we have ever been refused entry with our other children (who I would understand may not be so welcome - but were in Nursery today and not with us for precisely that reason)! Such a shame for them mainly, because at 3pm no-one else was there, and we took our custom instead to the bar opposite, before heading to a higher ranked top 50 cocktail bar on the world's best list - the Connaught - where, as with Claridges which is in the same hotel group, we know we will be welcomed with great hospitality.

Quick PS at 1800hrs for those who are interested: The #Connaught which opens at 4pm could not have been a more different (better) experience... helped with buggy by concierge on arrival, escorted to table with space for buggy, exclusive baby change..had three amazing cocktails and celebrated our house Exchange...

Tayer + Elementary must be removed from the 50 Best Bar list. All the cocktails at Elementary are pre-made and kept in bottles within a fridge. Nobody actually makes you a drink. Literally. After two of their seasonal pre-made drinks, I asked for a basic classic cocktail and was told I couldn't order that or anything else off menu because all the drinks here are pre-made only. Have you ever been to a cocktail bar that told you they couldn't make you ANY cocktails!? It's almost comical.

You know what else is pre-made? McDonald's. If you can pour Coca Cola from a bottle into a glass, you're half qualified to tend bar here. You won't ever be making a drink, so why need other qualifications? What proof is there that the bartenders actually know how to make a drink? Obviously someone created the pre-made cocktails, but there's no telling who's talent that was. It also makes for a boring experience sitting at the bar. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying it's so much fun watching a mixologist work. Here I just watch someone open a fridge and pour a drink. There are no colorful displays of limes, lemons, oranges, and bitters.

I have so many more critiques but that's the gist. I've drank at many World's Best Bars winners, and half the 2023 current top 10. This was far and above the biggest disappointment. Two stars, because at least the pre-made drinks tasted good. Not great. Good. It's a bland experience, and one would think Alex Kratena and the 50 Best folks would...