Waeska Bar

Waeska is the cocktail bar at The Mandrake, and the first thing you see on entering is the wall behind the counter: treasured artifacts, objets d'art and artworks stacked on dark shelving above an expansive labradorite bar, with a taxidermy chimera suspended over the bottles. The room runs long and low-lit, herringbone underfoot, quilted velvet booths at the back for a table that wants to disappear.

The drinks list is built on ethnobotany, the study of a region's plants and what its people have traditionally done with them. Ancient herbs and botanicals are researched, then worked into a menu that changes as the research does. It is a serious bar in a hotel better known for its theatre, and it keeps its own hours rather than the restaurant's.

For a DJ-led house this is the useful room in the building. There is a live DJ every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, and the bar runs to 1am Thursday to Saturday and 12.30am on Wednesday, later than almost anything else on this stretch of Fitzrovia. Walk-ins only in normal service, dress code smart casual, and no ties, hoodies or trainers. Private hire is by arrangement through the hotel rather than a published product: Waeska can be taken as one of The Mandrake's outlets on exclusive hire, or as part of a full buyout of the house.