Bar Elba is a rooftop bar located in the heart of Waterloo, just a 2 minute walk away from Waterloo underground station. Disclaimer: If you want to visit this bar, you must be 21 and over. My friend and I arrived there, unaware of the age limit (since they decided not to mention it on their website), but were kindly let in by the security as one of us were of the age and we had said that the age requirement was not mentioned online. You may not be as lucky, so I’d recommend going there only if you are 21 and above! After a few flights of stairs that seemed to be endless to say the least, we finally reached a beautiful rooftop bar which had brightly painted brick walls, wooden tables and benches as well as green shrubs with flowers around the pillars.
Bar Elba does a Happy Hour (which we were right on time for), meaning that we could get 2-for-1 on all cocktails between the hours of 4pm and 6pm on a Tuesday afternoon (and any other weekday). The timings for Happy Hour changes slightly on the weekend, where there is an extra hour to get your discounted drinks between 12pm and 1pm. Wohoo! They also sell food but it is limited to burgers and a variety of chips which didn’t tickle my fancy at the time.
The Cocktails
I had four cocktails in total, and with the Sun pounding down on me I can guarantee you that I probably couldn’t walk in a completely straight line after for a little while. Some cocktails were better than others:
- Frozen Mango Margarita (£9.50) – One of the margaritas of the day out of Strawberry, Peach and Passionfruit. Such a great pick as you can hardly taste the tequila, but also its essentially a slushie that can help cool you down on a hot summer’s day. My fave.
- Porn Star Martini (£11.50) – Accompanied with a shot of Prosecco and went down a treat with the Vanilla- infused vodka, passion fruit juice and liqueur and apple juice. Served topped with a sour passion fruit half. I have had better Porn Star Martinis but this was still good.
- Chi Chi (£10.20) – Sweet but strong concoction of Vodka, coconut rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice.
- Love Potion No.10 (£9.90) – Strawberry-infused Gin, with lemon juice, pineapple syrup and Prosecco. My least favourite. I wasn’t really getting the taste of the strawberry and overall it seemed very underwhelming.
Bar Elba had a really nice vibe with majority of people coming in after work. We were one of the youngest there among a more mature crowd. Prices were a little expensive, but seeing as we were very close to Central London, I cannot complain! I recommend going during the Happy Hour times to make the most of your money! Overall, a great spot to catch up over drinks when the Sun is shining!
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