Above Board

Above Board is a rare sort of cocktail bar. There’s no luminous back bar stacked with bottles and bottles of brand-name spirits. There are no intimate corner tables or booths – the only place to sit is at the big 12-seat island bar, or the coveted pair of two-seater banquettes behind it. And though owner Hayden Lambert has impeccable bartending credentials (Bar Americano , the Merchant Hotel), he won’t make you any drink you can think of, no more than a restaurant will make you any dish you can think of.

It’s a polarising place, but you can’t fault Lambert’s intentions. He’d rather serve 25 cocktails he knows how to make perfectly, than hundreds he’s less familiar with. Business partners Manu Potoi (Rockwell & Sons , Bar Liberty) and Cornelis Ribbe are down with it.

There are 25 or so cocktails on the menu, split into signatures and updated classics. The Big Four are still here – Negroni, Old Fashioned, Manhattan and Martini – made to exacting standards.

Finding the place isn’t easy. When BeerMash is open, go inside and enter the unmarked door at the back of the shop. Above Board is a sharp U-turn and a flight of stairs away. Otherwise, entry is at the rear. Walk down Perry Street and up the graffiti-riddled Chopper Lane, which isn’t listed on Google Maps.