Right next door to the Charlotte Street Hotel and Carousel’s achingly cool restaurant-slash-other, is the door to an unassuming little bar that only the most knowledgeable of mezcal heads will have on their map. That’s because they stock a whole bunch of the agave stuff you’ll never have tried, which by the way, is totally delicious. But this place is much more than a mezcalería, it’s a learning curve. Forget everything you know about a cocktail list: you might as well hoof it off the swanky counter and into the bin. For example, hell would freeze over before I touched a cosmopolitan at a cocktail bar, but here every single note of flavour and smell is considered – making it a firm favourite with even the most laddy of lads, the barman tells us. The website says they set out to ‘redefine the cocktail’ experience and it kind of looks like they’ve managed it.
Order this
Now hear me out – because I know you’re picturing 1980s’ Tom Cruise at the beach bar. But No. 23’s Pina Colada is a thing of utter beauty and leans away from those creamy, sickly tropes. Their version is made using coconut water rather than cream, as well as banana liqueur. The result? A dangerously drinkable nostalgia hit.
Time Out tip
Take the hit on the tostadas, you won’t be disappointed. After all, they’re coming in hot (well, perhaps not if you pick the ceviche, salsa macha and pickled onion variety) from Carousel’s kitchen.