I’ve often said that the best dates are where you’re doing something. With that in mind I tried out the ICEBAR LONDON to channel my inner Frozen.
Tucked away at the end of Heddon Street you would hardly know it’s there. Today we would be doing the ice bar followed by a 3 course dinner and we opted to do the ice bar first which was a good call.
We arrived 20 minutes before our 6:30pm slot and were served by a friendly guy before taking a seat in the bar.
The Cocktails sounded delicious
Vanilla and Apricot Sour and Lavender Margarita caught my attention. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have time for them so here’s a tip for you – if you go to the ICEBAR LONDON, get there a bit earlier to have a cocktail! It also builds up the anticipations which I know sounds silly, you know you’re going into a freezing cold freezer but even still there’s something a bit exciting about it!
Soon enough 6:30pm came around and we lined up ready to get our sexy blue jackets. Actually, they could have been worse and were blue ponchos with mittens hanging out the end – kind of like the ones you had at school back in the day 🙂
I don’t want to state the obvious here but as you walk in something hits you….
It’s cold. Very cold. Did I mention I don’t do cold well? Yup, great decision to come to an ice bar! 😉
Whilst others dashed for the bar we decided to have a look around. It’s relatively small but big enough and they have some fun additions which of course mean compulsory photos.
Here’s Christian with an icy pineapple….
Here I am driving an ice bus…..
Looking ‘cool’….excuse the pun!
A drink is included so we headed to the bar. They have a special ‘ice bar’ cocktail menu and they all sounded pretty good to me! I opted for a Pineapple Express (Havana Club Especial Rum, Apricot Brandy Liqueur, Cherry Brandy Liqueur, Pineapple Juice, Lemon Juice, Sugar Syrup) whilst Christian settled for the Tropical Sensation (Absolut Blue Vodka, Blueberry Liqueur, Tropical Fruit Juice, Lemon Juice, Strawberry Syrup).
What can I say? We picked well!
Mine kicked a hefty punch and was delicious too. They come in ice glasses (of course) and once you’ve had your cocktail you can head on up the bar again as all the cocktails are available to buy.
We grabbed a seat and did some people watching.
I had expected a lot of tourists and whilst there were some, there were also a lot of couples on dates and a group of older men who were being all masculine and saying it wasn’t cold enough. They said this whilst sporting bright red noses and hopping from foot to foot so one can only assume they were in fact, freezing 😛
Halfway through our 40 minute session I started to get cold toes.
This is the perfect opportunity to test how chivalrous your date is
Do they try to warm you up or do they leave you to fend for yourself as each one of your fingers turn blue? I saw both 😛
With 10 minutes to spare we could take no more, I know, what wusses! We were the first to leave but we saw another couple lingering…they just didn’t want to be the first 😉
We headed back into the bar and started to slowly defrost. After a bit of a warm up we headed downstairs to the restaurant and were seated in a nice booth. The package we were on included the ice bar experience and dinner and a drink. Cocktails were in order and very welcomed (and good)…
First up for both of us was the Icebar Friend Chicken presented in a little bag. This was good but a spicy BBQ sauce would have made it better.
Next up was burgers all round, well, for the 2 of us. Fatal error on my part. As it was a ‘date’ I had worn a gorgeous dress. You know the type ladies, you feel super-hot in it, except it’s tight. Very tight. And you can’t breathe. But you look good so hey ho. It’s one of those dresses! Half way into my burger and fries (which was so heavy it felt like a brick!) I was stuffed. Luckily Christian managed to polish mine off too 😉 It was a shame I couldn’t manage it as it was good.
By the time dessert came we were so full I literally managed a mouthful but my treacle tart was nice and Christian said the dark chocolate parfait was good but I think by then he was too stuffed!
We waddled out of the ice bar having had a great night.
Plenty to keep us entertained, nice food, excellent drinks and good fun
I would say it’s probably a bit much for a first date, but once you’ve hit the third date mark it’s a great way to spend an evening and have fun together.
Check out the ICEBAR LONDON website here.
