With a string of wildly successful bars in the UK under his belt, award-winning mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, has made his highly anticipated international debut in Amsterdam, opening all-day cocktail bar Super Lyan.
Housed in a historic seventeenth-century building connected to the glam Kimpton De Witt hotel, the space is comprised of a light-filled garden serving brekkie cocktails and spiked milkshakes (alongside an impressive brunch
menu) and a neon-lit bar area complete with cosy booths.
It’s here you’ll find some of the more innovative drink options – like the Rhubarb Daisy with buttermilk whey and hibiscus paint – and tasty snacks, including the now famous chocolate and chips. Make sure you say hi to Robin, too – he’s Super Lyan’s resident party cat.
For a New York-style night out with the guys, the girls, a date or solo-dolo, visit the Blind Barber. Located across the street from Tompkins Square Park, it’s unlike anywhere else in the Lower East Side. The barbershop, featuring two chairs, is a front for a secret bar behind door number six. Entering this door transports you back to the Prohibition era and will have guests disappearing for a few hours into a true Manhattan nightlife experience.
Is it a place to get your beard groomed and your hair trimmed or is it a place to enjoy a cheeky beverage? It’s both! Kill two birds with one stone and look your best while indulging in one of Blind Barber’s cocktails. Try the Heathers, a blend of tequila, pineapple cordial, grapefruit cordial, saline, lime and soda. There are also delicious pizzas on the menu to complete the hip East Village experience.
Be overwhelmed in the best possible way when you venture into quaint and cosy Ølhallen. The oldest pub in this surprisingly lively Arctic city, Ølhallen offers 67 rotating Norwegian beers on tap – said to be the widest draught selection in all of Europe. What’s more, around 15 of these are prepared right next door in the Mack microbrewery, which, until not long ago, held the mantle of the northernmost beermaker in the world.
Brewed to a rock soundtrack (it’s said to get the yeast ‘moving’), some of the beverages feature rock star names, from the American light lager Lemmy (in honour of the Motorhead frontman) to the Sweet Porter of Mine (dedicated to the Guns N’ Roses classic). Play it safe by ordering the five-beer flight, or be bold and head straight to the bar for a mug of Dead Cat IPA.
You must first weave through a shop selling bartending equipment before you can enter this multi-storey venue, concealed behind a sliding bookcase. The first floor – accessible via a tunnel and a flight of stairs – plays host to a lively, standing-room-only bar that pumps out cocktails. New York staples pepper the drinks list, interspersed with Asian-influenced libations such as the Eastern Paris, which combines brandy and aged Pu-erh tea.
To access level two, find the antique map on the stairs and put your orienteering skills to the test. Once you’ve located Shanghai and given it a poke, you’ll gain access to an intimate and slower-paced bar that serves up more elaborate, less classic cocktails. Patrons who drink here often enough will find themselves ushered past the ‘employees only’ sign on the stairs where yet another bar awaits.
At 65 years young this grand dame of a watering hole still courts plenty of attention. The only revolving bar in the city, Carousel purveys carefully crafted cocktails from its short but sweet (and sometimes sour) cocktail list. Local classic the Sazerac – featuring rye whiskey blended with bitters and lemon peel – has been Nola’s official cocktail since 2008 and is the obvious first port of call. But it’s not just the drinks that people flock here for: Carousel is a whimsical cross between fairground attraction and chic bar that has attracted literary legends such as Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and even features in their works.
Just 25 seats perch under the ornate, mirrored roof, so eager punters will need to hotfoot it to this popular French Quarter haunt early. And once you’ve staked your place at the bar and settled in for a long night of drams and chats there are (thankfully) bar bites on offer. Local favourites po’ boys, gumbo and beignets all line the menu, and later your stomach.
Planted in one of the country’s most conservative states it’s a wonder this downtown whiskey saloon ever came to be. Not only does High West pour a mean Old Fashioned, but it also produces the very Rendezvous Rye that goes into it. Yet there’s more: unsatisfied with merely flying in the face of draconian local liquor laws and winning numerous awards, High West also holds the mantle as the globe’s only ski-in distillery.
Pass under the original Wild West wooden facade with your cheeks still cold from the breath of the mountains, and emerge later among the snow-clad streets warm with the glow of aged Yippee Ki-Yay whiskey and its cinnamon spice notes. Or settle in for the night with a homemade chicken pot pie and a High West 101 whiskey flight, watching the snow flutter past the windows.
In the age of social media maintaining anonymity can prove tough. Go incognito at Anonymous, a cocktail bar down an alley in Prague’s Old Town. The brothers who opened the bar based it on a trilogy of familiar symbols of anarchy: Guy Fawkes, V for Vendetta and the hacktivist group, Anonymous. These inspirations are encapsulated in every aspect of the decor.
Once you’ve tracked down the boozy take on V’s hideout, order a cocktail from a mixologist sporting a Guy Fawkes mask and set to work figuring out how to unlock the secret drinks list. Consuming several brews is enough to wipe your memory, though that Instagram pic you posted will provide some proof the evening took place.
Deep in the heart of Texas two Spanish engineers have delivered a venue that combines two of our greatest loves: beer and books. By day you can get a coffee here, but by night this cute bookstore bungalow turns into a bar. Browse the shelves, where you can find the work of plenty of local authors, order a tosta (a Spanish-style bruschetta topped with prosciutto or salmon) and a pint.
Local breweries Texas Ale Project, Peticolas and Four Corners are all represented. Then either flip through some pages or eye what the person sitting opposite is reading. On many evenings, you might also stumble across an event – movie screenings, readings, wine tastings, DJ sets and book signings are all on the agenda.
In the depths of Helsinki, you can meet Jackie, a real Finish beauty. She has a moody aesthetic with steely forest-green walls, marble tabletops and 60s-inspired timber furniture, accompanied by a single tan leather sofa that runs the length of one wall. Her gold-trimmed bar will lead you to her finest poisons, but what you’ll love most about Jackie is her ability to transport you back to the eras of 60s Italian lounge and 70s French cosmic disco.
That’s the true inspiration of Jackie’s sublime design and soul. Jackie offers a variety of wines, accompanied by a selection of pizzas created by Antto Melasniemi, a food visionary who blends his interests of design, music and art and weaves them into culinary masterpieces. And if you were wondering why Jackie…it’s named after 60s pop icon Scott Morgan’s 1967 song.
Bringing the concept of urban jungle to a whole other level, Living Room is situated at the heart of Johannesburg’s built-up and bohemian Maboneng Precinct, yet it offers a nourishing pop of greenery. Relaxing in a hammock chair, surrounded by potted ferns, vases of flowers and vertical gardens, this inner-city oasis will make you feel a million miles from the hubbub five floors below. But if you’re looking to take things more up-tempo, stop by for their famous Sunday soirees – just remember to book a table.
Either way, be sure to try one of the cheekily named cocktails – the Minty Magic Unicorn is supposedly a new classic – perhaps paired with some tapas, while admiring the stellar views of the city.
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