REVIEW – VERTILON, VERTA HOTEL, BATTERSEA

Vertilon is the new Bar at The Hotel Verta in Battersea, the Hotel right next door to Londons only Heliport, just across the Thames from  Chelsea Harbour.

A bit of a pain to get to, and from the outside fairly anonymous, once inside however, fans of modernist design are in for a treat. The image presented is one that could be any time from the late 1920s through to the 1950s – but missing out the brutalism in favour of comfort and style. Vertilon is situated upstairs from Patrisey (the main restaurant) on the Mezzanine level, with views of both Chelsea and the Heliport. That may not sound like much, but watching sleek Helicopters land and take off definitely adds a little something to the experience.

A quick look at the Menu confirms that although in “sarf London”, we are still in a Hotel that aspires to Five star ratings – its not cheap, with cocktails from £10.00 to £14.00, however, the real question is “are they worth it”?

The answer is yes – we had a couple of standards – an Aviation for me, and a Mojito for the Lady P. The Aviation , a thirties classic of Gin, Maraschino and Lemon juice was perfectly balanced, and the Mojito was spot on. the only quibble would be the slight delay in service, caused by the fact that we chose to arrive in the middle of the hotel launching its Sunday Brunch ( one for Wandsworths “Scrummy Mummies, no doubt).

I then went off menu, as I fancied an Old Fashioned made with their Diplomatico Rum, and Miss p chose the Bloody Mary – which she pronounced “excellent”. It was worth studying their back bar, which has a great range of Rums, Bourbons, Tequilas Gins and Vodkas, but I feel is a little short on Single Malts, although to be fair, all regions are represented.

The only other letdown was our unsmiling waitress, who was not enjoying her day in a rather obvious way. However the other members of staff we observed, and the pink-shirted Head Bartender who mixed our drinks more than made up for this little glitch.

Had we had time, we would have stayed longer, but alas, we had to be on our way…

So, if you are south of the river and in need of a decent drink in decent surroundings, Vertilon is the place to try…