From my perspective, nothing’s a bigger treasure than a bar near a shopping spree. Don’t get me wrong, Mrs Romance and I shop well together.
There are several techniques I employ to cope. In fact here are some tips for shopping with your partner. Even in the midst of a Bloomingdale’s shoe sale, Mrs R knew the importance of a post-shop drink. She put me in charge of finding a nearby.
I consulted Yelp.com and discovered The Bar Room on 60th Street between Lexington and Park avenues in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It proved to be the best off-the-cuff decision we could make.
Only open a few weeks, The Bar Room has done an incredible job creating a space that felt like it’d been around for a hundred years. It has an old Parisian speakeasy feel, which is beautiful, old-worldy and something you’d expect to find in the middle of New York City… but not these days.
Behind the bar, Darragh explained it all – and she certainly knew her stuff. The bar itself was designed and made from African Mahogany in the 1880s. It’s one of only eight like it left in the world; five are in museums, the others are scattered around Manhattan.
Darragh served us a couple of delicious cocktails from the excellent drinks menu and we soon forgot about the efforts of shopping. I was almost tempted by the whiskey cabinet next to the beautiful old grandfather clock, and the food menus look good too.
There’s a small but interesting range of tap beer available too, but we were way too taken by the feel of the place (and the cocktail menu) to not be extravagant. The Bar Room really is a place to live (and drink) like you’re in the roaring ‘20s. If there were ever a place to escape prohibition, this is where you’d go.
The Bar Room’s not on its own either; it shares ownership with Bar 6 in the West Village. Both places are often incredibly busy and quite loud with the after-work crowd. But when we were there in the late afternoon, things were peaceful, just for a while.
The Bar Room
117 E. 60th Street
New York, NY 10022
btwn. Lexington & Park
American Romance – Instagram Diary: New York City – Part 2
[…] Mrs Romance chooses a fig mojito in one of our favourite bars in NYC – The Bar Room. Beautiful cocktails, beautiful service and a beautiful place. Here’s our review on the Bar Room. […]