Dukes Bar, London, October 2021

Details

Location: St. James, London
Cost: $29 and up per martini
Dress code: For men, a jacket, no sportswear (sorry Ivan). Women, I think you know better than us men and will have the elegant clothing all settled.

The Arrival

The hotel and bar are located in a hidden courtyard down an alley off a main thoroughfare by a Square. It's intensely hard to find, and you don't realize it's really the spot until you turn that last corner off St. James Place. Map app will help you immensely, or a London cab.

It's an ancient (200 years or more) building, and the bar is somewhat hidden. Turn the corner to your right as you enter the hotel, and look for this:

The Bar

Various smaller rooms off a central bar, a little cramped, but not bumping into each other tight. They keep room for the drink cart to move about.

The Drinks

The drinks are the reason, the view is... non-existent. The atmosphere is good, but the martinis are a series of incredibly strong flavor delights, many named after James Bond elements (Ian Flemming used to get exceptionally drunk here writing the books when he started out).

So so many different taste notes it's almost impossible to decide

Awaiting the drinks, anticipation building

The martini master is here, creating your drink as a show with explanations

Worth the wait, incredibly strong, I hear they have a two martini limit, but I've not tested it in either of my visits

Summary

I first was blessed by visiting here in 2014, but I didn't take any pictures! It's just a whole production and delight of drinks. While exceptionally expensive on a US drink scale, the experience seems worth it for me, and I think for most of you that enjoy an incredible drink.

Your author being all British to fully appreciate the experience