To celebrate the launch of their new cocktail menu (and because they really value our opinion, obviously) the nice people down at Room invited the Man Con team down to road-test a few oldies (but goodies) and some of the newer creations that are exclusive to Room. Here is what we thought:
We started out with the Malaysian Daiquiri (£6). This contains Havana 3 year old rum, coconut rum and lychee liqueur, shaken with fresh lime juice and sugar syrup, served straight up and garnished with a blade of lemon grass. Very special. Gordo (who was pretending to be a posh food critic) gave it 7/10 “3 points have been lost as I wouldn’t like to drink it all night.” Kelly of ‘Ask Kelly’ fame said “8.5/10 for this. The taste is strong, but it is still refreshing.” This was generally the view of everyone and the overall mark that we gave it was 7 out of 10. A good start for the boys. Our waiters were Jason Price and Oliver Wright. Jason will be going over to the new Room in Liverpool when it opens later on this year, so pop in now before you miss him!
Next was KC and the Sunshine Band (£6). This is a stunner. Fresh kiwi and cucumber, shaken with Miller’s gin (a Gordo fave – don’t get him started on Miller Gin!), lemon juice and fresh pressed apple, served short over crushed ice with a suggestion of cracked black pepper. Everyone LOVED it! Tristan summed it up very well when he commented that “this cocktail is what summer in Manchester is all about.” Ooh, err Missus! KC and the Sunshine Band scored a very impressive 9.5 out of 10 and will be being served at the forthcoming Manchester Confidential dinner at Room (click here for more details).
Moving swiftly on to the Mai Tai (£6). This contains Trader Vic’s classic, Gosling’s dark rum shaken with Cointreau, fresh lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice and Orgeat, built over crushed ice and served tall. Jayne felt that this drink was “a bit too camp” for her liking (it is quite a flamboyant shade of yellow with stuff poking out the top). The overall view was that you couldn’t have too many due to the rum content. I (who was chugging it down nicely, thank you very much) loved it as I love pineapple. Our overall mark for this one was 6.75 out of 10.
Last but by no means least came Cool as a Cucumber (£6). This is billed on the menu as “Muddled cucumber, red grapes and mint with Belvedere Cytrus vodka and elderflower cordial, lengthened with soda, served long over crushed ice and served tall”. Its basically a twist on Pimms and lemonade. Vanessa reckoned this was “too sugary sweet. This is one that you have to start of the evening and then leave it alone”. However, not being one to go with the flow, Tristan loved it! Overall this scored 6 out of 10.
So as David Brent so eloquently put it “Different drinks for different people”. All in all there is something on the menu to suit every palate and the atmosphere in the bar of Room means that it is a great place to go to warm up your evening. As we all know, a hard day in the office can often leave you feeling somewhat muddled, crushed and shaken, so the clever people at Room have come up with the ideal way to relax and unwind with friends after a grueling day. The Room Cocktail Hour brings you a selection of some of their finest cocktails for only £4 each, making it the perfect after work meeting place. Sit back as you enjoy the finest service, in great surroundings, at prices that won’t hurt your pocket too much either!
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