Confined to cocktails - Be At One, Spitalfields

Chain bars are a much maligned category on this blog, but I have to admit that there are some exceptions to that rule. One relative newcomer to the drinks scence and a recent 'discovery' of mine is Be at One - the nine strong cocktail bar chain that is dotted at the hip and not so hip locations of London town.
I checked out the Spitalfields version (hip location) on the Bishopsgate side of the square (not so hip location) for some after work drinks. The bar shares the same block as a Starbucks and Pizza Express. and is directly opposite an investment bank. It also occupies the site of what used to be an old City champagne bar. But honestly its not as bad as it sounds.
In fact the Be At One crew pack a lot of good things into what is a very small space - think a tradtional English fashioned butchers shop converted into a bar and that should give you an idea of the room. Not that this place is, I hasten to add, a meat market. In terms of drinks there is a good selection of beers and wines bu the reason for drinking here are the cocktails. Some 191 different types if you believe the press. These range from the conventional classics - mojito, caipirinhas, etc - to their own inventions such as Candy Pants (Absolut Kurant vodka, Chambord, strawberry puree, lemon juice and cranberry juice) and the like. And just to make sure that you are tempted they offer a 2-4-1 Happy Hour (yes, I thought they were illegal now) from 5 - 7pm every day. All set to a backdrop of pure 80's pop. Magic.
What Be At One isn't of course is cool - you won't find your Shoreditch / Hoxton artist crowd. Nor do you see much in the way of denim or trainers. But Be At One with its great service and laidback ambience gives it a certain sort of charm that means it never strays on to the wrong side of cheesy. However close it might come. So give it a try - it's the perfect starting place for a night ou and you even might want to end the night there too.