Artesian at the Langham hotel

I've started a new job in Central London so it seemed like a good opportunity to start trying cocktails beyond Islington.
I remembered a visit to the Tsar's bar at the Langham hotel  a few years ago which featured several of the 100+ vodkas that they had in stock. Back then I wasn't drinking Martinis but I did have the vodka shots which were served in a shot glass made moulded in ice. It was a nice novelty and there was some excitement in going through the hotel to what felt like a hidden bar.

I made the arrangement with my date and we met there at 6pm. Unfortunately the Tsar's Bar is no more so we were led to the Artesian cocktail bar on the ground floor of the hotel.

The bar has a specialism in rum but I wasn't tempted to digress in my order.

Having placed our standard order (me the vodka martini straight up with a twist, my date asked for a very dirty martini), we settled in to enjoy the bar nuts and crisps that were brought over.

The setting is very plush. The Langham hotel is certainly one of the more exclusive/expensive places to stay in London. Service was friendly and polite.

The drinks arrived and the presentation was excellent (see photo).

With my first sip I was very pleased. This tasted as good, if not better, than any martini rated so far.
My date didn't agree, she felt that hers was not dirty enough.

Before long it was time to order the next round and unfortunately we were presented with two dirty martinis rather than one of each.

It didn't take long to rectify the order but unlike the Dollar Bar and Grill we were not given the incorrect surplus drink on the house so can only assume that it was thrown away. Shame.

The second martini arrived for me and it was exactly like the first venue to score on consistency.  It's possible the drinks were mixed by the same person, unfortunately I wasn't facing in the right direction.

Measures:  It seemed to fix the standard size of a London Vodka martini

Mixing: I checked with the bar man on the way out and we were drinking Ketel One vodka. I didn't check the Vermouth brand.

Twist: Looked great and tasted good too.

Cost: £15.00 (yes that is fifteen pounds) for each cocktail plus 12.5% service charge

Verdict: The best vodka martini that I have bought so far. Crisp, tasty, consistent. Down checks on service error and cost. four stars out of five. Excellent