Rooftop Gardens, Kensington
Venue: Rooftop Gardens, Kensington Recipe: T10, Noilly Prat, Stirred, olives, Liquid Nitrogen Price: £10.00 WBM score: 82/100
The Kensington Roof Gardens are a revelation. Set six floors above the busy Kensington High Street, just around the corner from the tube station, you will find acres of lush garden, with a flowing stream and flamingos – yes, that’s right, real pink flamingos. A typical Virgin group flourish, for it is they that own this stunning establishment.
The seventh floor hosts a bar and restaurant, with balconies overlooking the gardens below. It’s from here that they serve one of the more unusual Martinis in London. Their USP is that they use liquid nitrogen to chill the drink.* That’s right, the stuff that they do science with on TV, with giant rubber gloves and safety goggles, only here it’s in a thermos flask and is handled with slightly less concern for the health & safety Nazis. I’m sure it can be dangerous stuff, but we’re all adults (it’s a bar) and the customers are not allowed to play with the frozen air.
The downside is that the Nitrogen definitely adds a taint to the flavour. Just enough to add a slight chemical harshness to an otherwise pleasant martini. There’s also the danger that on warm days a supercooled glass left in the sun could shatter –just make sure you finish the martini first.
The bar snack of choice is also interesting – sugar puffs soaked in Liquid Nitrogen, allowing you to perform the famous ‘dragons breath’ – take a mouthful and breath out, and watch as your breath crystallises and forms a long cloud.
It’s a pleasant venue, with friendly, helpful staff, and the Nitrogen is a nice touch, but for the pure connoisseur, simply enjoy the surroundings and ask for a regular ice cooled martini.
* Please note that this practice has now stopped since some daft girl up north swallowed some and damaged herself. Thanks for that…
