While staying at the fabulously luxurious Hotel d’Angleterre, it’s a must to spend an evening - sampling the champagne and cocktails in the Balthazar Bar.
There are over 150 champagnes to sample, but the real deal is the champagne cocktails.
There is a constantly changing cocktail menu, including established favourites and seasonal specialties. The very knowledgeable bar staff will guide you if you can’t decide, and of course, watching the cocktails being prepared in front of your eyes is a big part of the fun.
The highlights for us included the Duchess, a blend of brut champagne, fine cognac, a splash of freshly squeezed lime, a hint of honey and egg white for body. This was absolutely sybaritic, and we would have stuck with this one had we not been tempted by the Downton Abbey.
This proved to be our favourite; an amazing combination of champagne, vodka, passion fruit juice and liquorice – yes liquorice! It went down so easily, it should come with a health warning!
We moved on to the Francke’s No 1, which has an intriguing sweet and sour character, and is considered by the bar staff to be the best choice if you’re not sure what you want.
We were munching on crackers, a trio of Danish cheeses, all accompanied by guava jelly, and which proved the perfect accompaniment for our champagne tasting.
We were encouraged to try the Espresso Martini, which blends espresso coffee, martini and champagne along with some secret ingredients. This was intended to be the last drink of the evening, but we were tempted to try another, and yet another.
Enough to say, Balthazar’s is a must try venue whether you are staying at the Hotel d’Angleterre or simply in the area.