The Wild Drink Blog

I have been hearing about Raoul’s pretty much ever since I left Oxford about 5 years ago. The little bar made it into Britain’s Top 50 cocktail bars in Vol. 3 of the Sauce Guides and therefore had to be of a pretty high standard. As I understand it they had a very expensive refurb about a year ago and I think the cocktail list was overhauled in the process leaving Raoul’s with a list about as long as a chimps arm, roughly 100 cocktails I reckon.

I should have cottoned on to the fact that cocktail bars are nearly always smaller then you’d expect them to be by now. Raoul’s is no exception to this rule with a layout size and style very reminiscent of LAB in London, long and narrow dropping down a floor at the rear, giving a nice sense of enclosure and exclusivity. Decor is fairly simple with the back bar comprising of a series of square boxes set into the wall which contain groups of spirits, a nice touch although I can imagine the bartenders complaining on a nightly basis of how awkward these boxes are to use during service time! A small LCD screen at the bar offers tit bits of drink trivia and cocktail recipes. General colour schemes were red, white, silver and black, with a nice warming but but stylish urban feel.

The bartenders were friendly and confident working well as a team and coping well when large thirsty groups turned up! When I ordered my Sazerac I was asked if i’d like Cognac, Bourbon or Rye, good work, the drink was nice as well reminding me of good quality Earl Grey tea. One of our rounds was delivered to us at our table which I always think is a nice touch.

I’m not a huge fan of massive lists partly because I like to feel i’ve had a good go at exploring different areas of a cocktail list by the time I leave the bar, this simply isn’t possible in Raoul’s unless you have a spare 3 days and £600! About half of the menu is comprised of classic cocktails leaving the other half consisting of about half simple variations of classics and the other half original creations. Average price for a drink: £5.50 with beers a shade under £3.

We only had time for two rounds, eight drinks, most of those were classics and so I had a chance to gauge their style and methods. ‘Mojito’ tasted good but they were shaken which I don’t agree with (you get little bits of mint stuck in your teeth!) and slightly too sweet, but that’s really a matter of personal taste. ‘Caipririnha’ was lovely, they used palm sugar with Germana (2yo I guess), it was a great drink but in this case not sweet enough in my opinion, presentation was also a little bit poor. My ‘Sazerac’ was well made and very tasty as was my second drink, Botanical. This was an excellent effort, comprising of Tanqueray 10 (perhaps a little wasted?), passion fruit lime & grapefruit, it managed to be refreshing and fruity but still retain its balance. ‘General Lee’ is another top recommendation with a unique fruity texture to it, ginger apple & cranberry are flavours that spring to mind! We had one damp squib of the night which came in the form of a watermelon and something or other which was basically a fruit salad crushed into the bottom of a glass and was almost undrinkable due to all the fruit pulp.

Overall and excellent bar with friendly staff, reasonable prices and plenty of drinks list to explore. Best drink = Botanical. Sorry for the lack of pictures, too busy drinking!