London's most glamorous new dive bar
What do we need to know about Larry's?
If you've ever been wandering the wastelands around Leicester and Trafalgar Squares bemoaning the dirth of good cocktail bars, this new arrival at the National Portrait Gallery aims to change all that. It's from the team behind the Daisy Green collection of restaurants (who also have another cafe, Audrey Green, in the gallery) and this time they're focusing on cocktails (more of which, later).
So it's a dive bar?
In essence, yes, although much more glamorous. The look and feel of the place has certainly been helped by the month-long stint that co-founder Tom Onions spent in the archive of the gallery getting to choose exactly what prints he wanted to use throughout the bar. So you'll find original portraits of Amy Winehouse and Audrey Hepburn along with collections of ska vinyl artwork and more.
Where is it?
There are two ways of getting to the bar. It has its own entrance from St Martin's Lane, but you can also access it from the basement of the gallery. The nearest tube is either Charing Cross or Leicester Square.
Where should we sit?
There are multiple spaces within the bar to choose from. If you're here for a date, there are some very cute train-style seats in the front of the bar as you come in. For groups, there's a section with a glass ceiling under the pavement and there's also a pretty decent-sized terrace for alfresco drinking and dining.
Underneath the pavement, there's a side bar with a glass ceiling.
Cosy booth seating at Larry's and those cute train-style tables for two.
What's on the menu?
Let's start with the food first. The menu's loosely split into snacks, sharing boards and specialities. So if you fancy a selection of wagyu beef and ale pies or a choice of Scotch eggs this would be a good place to start. We went to a preview for the space and got to try a few dishes over the course of the evening. Here are our highlights:
Kimmeridge Bay lobster roll with yuzu citrus aioli (£28 - with added Exmoor caviar for £20).
Mushroom Party Parfait with fresh Wiltshire black truffle (£18.50) - inspired by Fallow's signature mushroom dish.
Portrait Gallery & HG Walter whole Beef Wellington with a rich beef gravy (£60 for two).
What have they got to drink?
Thanks to being down in the cellars, they've got plenty of space to store an extensive collection of biodynamic wines. But the cocktail list is where it's really at. There's a lovely leather-bound cocktail menu detailing the inspiration behind each drink, named after the sitters and photographers to be found in the gallery.
Larry's (£13.50) - a twist on an Old Fashioned using Scotch instead of Bourbon and blends it with their own cereal spirit and cherry bitters.
And then we come to, from our point of view, the main reason to visit Larry's - their martini. For such a simple drink, London bars often get this wrong. Most usually, there's an issue with the temperature. But here, both the pre-batched martini and glassware are kept in the freezer (as they should be).
The Herefordshire vodka from Gattertop has been infused with Welsh seaweed, there's also some Highclere Castle Gin. To that is added a drop of black olive oil and a generous spritz of Asahara Nigori Umeshu. It's the best martini we've had in London this year.
The McBean (£13) - a dirty martini worth travelling the length of Britain to try, let alone across London for. It's a terrible photo but to be fair we were on our second by the time we took this.
Overall thoughts
It's probably pretty apparent by now that we were fans of Larry's. Granted we were there on a preview night, so we haven't seen the place in full swing. But the attention to detail in the design, the food and the drinks are all there. It should, and deserves to, be a huge hit.
More about Larry's
Where is it? National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Pl, London WC2H 0HE
Find out more: Visit their website.
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Larry's. Prices correct at time of publication.
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