A Visit to 2017's World's Best Cocktail Bar: Dandelyan in London

During my visit to London, of course I had to check out Dandelyan, recently named the “World’s Best Cocktail Bar” at the 2017 Spirited Awards in New Orleans during Tales of the Cocktail (We were there! Read about it here.)

Founded by Ryan Chetiyawardana — aka Mr. Lyan — Dandelyan is in the Mondrian Hotel on London’s South Bank. The bar was also named the “best international hotel bar” and won an award for “best international bar team.” In the “world’s best cocktail bar” category, Dandelyan had been up against Dante in NYC, Singapore’s Tippling Club, and The Hawthorne in Boston.

According to Dandelyan's website,

The focus of Dandelyan has always been on bringing a neighbourhood vibe to the glamour of Mondrian London. Our team, the menu and the ethos have always been focused on making an unusual and exciting offering accessible as well as bringing a sense of fun to proceedings! We play a mixture of late 70s and early 80s rock, funk and disco with our favourite DJs playing each weekend and a focus on hip hop for Sunday Lyan, our Sunday evening wind down.

It just so happened that the only time I had available to visit was Sunday evening for the bar's hip hop set. I had no expectations; I just knew I wanted to check out the world's best cocktail bar.

Decor

As soon as we walked in, it felt like a chic place to be. The decor felt like a luxurious blast from the past with green walls, mirrored tables, and brass adornments throughout the bar.

Photo Credit: Dandelyan

Food

Dandelyan doesn't offer an extensive food menu, as the main event at this establishment is the cocktails. However, we did sample the ceviche (bream, brill, prawns, lime, red onion, chilli, coriander, corn nuts) and burrata with heirloom tomatoes on grilled focaccia. Both were delicious and the perfect size for bar bites. I highly recommend ordering food with your cocktails if you want to leave without stumbling.

Photo Credit: Ashlee Tuck

Cocktails

Now on to the good stuff — the cocktails. The menu is divided into four sections: Faith, Lust, Currency and Rock ‘n’ Roll, while Vices of Botany serves both Dandelyan originals, refined interpretations of the classics, and boozeless cocktails. 

Photo Credit: Londonist

I made sure to sample a cocktail from each section. (Hey, it's a hard job but someone has to do it.) Each cocktail is so intricately made that I had no idea what they'd taste like. I sampled Beau Wine and Flower of Five from Faith, Lonely Heart Killers from Lust, Oak Island Old Fashioned from Currency, Jurassic Jungle No. 2 in the Classics section, and my personal favorite, The Westwood from Rock 'n' Roll.

While the cocktails seem fancy and unattainable for cocktail non-connoisseurs, nothing could be further from the truth. There is literally something for everyone on the menu. I was with a group of guys who prefer to drink whiskey neat, but were pleasantly surprised by how much they enjoyed the cocktails after I suggested (read: forced) that they order from the menu. If conflicted about what to order, ask your waiter and he or she will be able to give great recommendations for your taste buds. 

Photo Credit: World's Best Cocktail Bars

I give Dandelyan 5 out of 5 cocktails and can see why it was named the world's best cocktail bar. The service was impeccable and the overall vibe was unlike anywhere else I've experienced in London. Give it a whirl while you're there before or after dinner and let me know what you think!

Don’t Let Them Disappear: Help Amarula Save African Elephants

As you can read here, here, and here, South Africa is one of my favorite countries. I love the culture, the people, the vibes, and of course, the drinks. Amarula is South Africa's leading liqueur and they've teamed up with WildlifeDIRECT to save African elephants.

Elephant Poaching

While elephant poaching in Africa has declined for the fifth year in a row, approximately 55 elephants are killed per day. That is 55 too many. Elephant populations continue to fall due to illegal killing and other human activities, and global illegal ivory trade transactions have remained high. Despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, tens of thousands of African elephants are still being poached in large numbers for their ivory tusks each year.

Amarula and Elephants

You might be wondering why Amarula is invested in saving African elephants. Great question. Once a year, African elephants begin their journey to feast on the sun-ripened fruit of the Marula trees, which grow wild and free across the sub-equatorial plains of Africa. This signifies to local communities the fruit is ready to be hand-harvested and eaten or turned into Amarula, the delicious cream liqueur enjoyed all over the world. You can read more about how Amarula is made here. 

How can you help?

Join Amarula in the fight to end poaching of one the world’s most beloved species. While poaching occurs in Africa, it is very much a global issue. Amarula recently launched the campaign, “Don’t Let Them Disappear,” and has a long history of giving back to protect African elephants. Their newest initiative kicked off this past September and continues through the end of 2017, where for every bottle of Amarula sold in the United States, $1 will be donated to the incredible non-profit organization, WildlifeDIRECT. These funds will support their on-the-ground conservation efforts to help save this magnificent species.

With the cooler season quickly approaching, there's no better time to enjoy this delicious, velvety cream liqueur drink. But if you can help save more African elephants too, it's a win/win for everyone! Join me in helping Amarula and WildlifeDIRECT in their noble cause.