London // Rise 46, Clapham

You're all lovely, loyal readers (thank you, thank you, thank you!) so if you're a regular you'll probably be aware that I moved out of home over the weekend! Gulp!

In amongst all the organising and packing, I managed to get my closest friends together to have a "Leaving London" party. The venue of choice was a lovely little 1920's inspired cocktail bar, Rise 46, a short walk from Clapham Junction station.



From the Rise 46 website

You can watch Gatsby here!

I'd been in contact with the bar to book a small area for my party and I just need to make it clear how kind and accommodating Rise 46 staff were from start to finish. When my search for the perfect venue began, I e-mailed a handful of bars to enquire about booking and whether any events were happening etc, and most places seemed pretty half-hearted about it. I suppose they know that on a Friday night they are likely to be busy regardless of whether they have a booking like mine. Rise 46, however, answered all my questions, didn't require a deposit, didn't stress me out over a minimum spend, made me feel like they'd love to look after us and replied to all e-mails promptly and politely. A massive tick already before I'd even set foot in Clapham.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Sergio - a brilliant barman - who showed us our area and a complimentary bottle of Prosecco. Loooook...!

There were enough of us to make it feel like we weren't cut off from the rest of the bar, especially as the staff were so attentive. Before long, crowds of us gathered around the main upstairs bar as we had spotted sweetie jars...the intrigue hit all of us and before we knew it, there was a multitude of popping candy, lollipops and fizzy bubblegum bottles being shared around. I mean, just take a moment to think about that - you've got a huge jar of one of the most delicious cocktails you've ever tasted, and in the jar's lid you've got an abundance of sweets (and good ones too). Are you not sold on that alone?!

If you needed even more convincing that this is no ordinary bar, did I mention that they have a popcorn machine too? You're just handed little bowls of freshly made popcorn every now and again, amplifying the fun experience tenfold. You must be sold now, right?!

We were blown away by the range of cocktails Sergio made for us and the speed with which he did it. They were honestly amongst the best cocktails I've ever had - really carefully and skilfully crafted. It has made me want to learn how to make them just as well. Mojitos are usually my drink of choice but I don't think I even had a single one that night, on account of there being so many other delicious choices. If you don't believe me, take a look at the drinks menu here...how do you even know where to begin?! (Answer: sweets. Always the sweets.)

Photo of us sourced from Rise 46 website

Other handy information ::

You must try their :: porn star martini - seriously good.
You'll be dancing to :: all the types of tracks you want to hear on a night out, and live music on certain nights if you're lucky
You'll be surrounded by :: happy people
You'll be blown away by :: how yummy the cocktails are
You won't stop talking about :: the sweets and popcorn!
You can get :: 20% off your drinks on weekdays if you sign up to be a friend of Rise 46
You can find them at :: 46 Battersea Rise, London, SW11 1EE

On the "Leaving London" front - as sad as I am that I have left my favourite city, I am pretty excited to be able to adventure in a new part of the country and explore pretty little places I don't even know exist yet. Thank you to my friends for being such wonderful company and to Rise 46 for really looking after us - it was the perfect send off!

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A huge thank you also to my friend Anj who kindly helped me out with photographs for this post. Pictures on a night out are tricky with the iPhone! Apologies for the graininess...do any of you take your SLRs out with you to bars?

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