Simpson’s has perfected the art of the forgotten cocktail, says Alice Lascelles.
When my husband and I got engaged back in 2008, my father took him to the Strand institution for roast beef and A Chat. It was that kind of place. And Jeremy King’s much-vaunted Simpson’s #2 reeks of British nostalgia – prawn cocktail, spotted dick, giant Yorkshire puddings dispensed by servers in toques. Even the guests are a throwback – my neighbor at dinner the other night was Dame Joan Collins.
And the cocktail list, too, feels rather wonderfully like it’s from another, slower age, when lunch began with a stiffener at noon, before segueing into claret and brandy. You could write off an entire day.
There are two bars at Simpson’s and three interweaving cocktail lists. In the basement is Nellie’s Tavern, a camp ‘late night’ cocktail lounge inspired by the district’s theatreland heritage. Upstairs on the first floor, meanwhile, is Simpson’s Bar, a crisper, Art Deco-style affair where white-jacketed bartenders bustle around serving drinks to excited pre-dinner parties smelling of Chanel No. 5 and Elnette hairspray.
And it’s here, among the marquetry sunbursts and brown leather banquettes, that I found the most to excite; a list that’s fun but also clearly put together by a team who know their cocktail history inside out.
It kicks off with several half-sized, aperitif-style ‘Sharpeners’ that riff on a chess theme (an allusion to the fact Simpson’s was a hub for British chess in the mid-19th century). Something like the Book Move (dry Riesling, Campari, red vermouth) would ease you in gently.
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Things then ramp up with a trio of Martinis, available in both half- and full-size serves, which arrive at the table in stingingly cold in cocktail glasses designed by Giorgio Bargiani of The Bar at the Connaught fame. Among these, I was especially delighted to see the Turf Club, a rather obscure Martini twist named after the late 19th-century gambling clubs, or ‘Turf Clubs’ where the drink was invented. Like a lot of recipes from that era it is quite baroque, layering up juniper-heavy Sipsmith VJOP gin and dry vermouth with dashes of maraschino liqueur, orange bitters, and absinthe. It hits the spot. (My companion went for a No. 3 gin Martini with Sacred Dry Vermouth and a dry sherry rinse, which was also excellent.)
Simpson’s has also resurrected the Cobbler, a wildly popular 19th-century recipe that saw fortified wines or spirits tossed with sugar and fruit and served over mounds – or ‘cobbles’ – of crushed ice (and which, it’s often claimed, was the drink that popularized the drinking straw). Their version is made with cognac, sherry, pineapple, triple sec, and a dash of Angostura bitters.
Going even further back in time is the Regent’s Punch, an elaborate concoction from the Regency era, when punches reigned supreme. Here, pineapple rum meets sherry, lime juice, orgeat, and a clever splash of sparkling Saicho jasmine tea. Served in a tall, slender glass, tipped with a single jasmine blossom, it’s fresh and fruity with a delicate, dry finish.
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There are no Margaritas on this menu (just fancy that!). But there are some great alternatives, including a tequila-based take on a Rickey, a late 19th-century highball made with hard liquor, lime, and sparkling water. There’s also an Infante, which is essentially a Margarita made with orgeat (almond syrup) instead of triple sec.
The digestif is also a focus. There’s a nice little edit of brandies and whiskies from around the world. A Sazerac made with Hennessy XO, Michter’s Rye, absinthe and Peychaud bitters (and served correctly, without ice or a garnish, like the medicine it is) is also very good.
In the event, though, it was the mint-green Grasshopper that got our vote. Sipping this creamy New Orleans classic, after dinner, was like imbibing liquid After Eights on a cloud.
“I’ve never thought Simpson’s should feel like a museum,” says Jeremy King, “but there is real pleasure in revisiting the sort of drinks that would have been at home here in earlier eras.” And in creating a cocktail list that can take you from lunchtime all the way through to the end of dinner.
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