From the award-winning Ryan Chetiyawardana comes Lyaness, Sea Containers’ elegant cocktail bar. Chetiyawardana (AKA Mr Lyan) and his team are behind a whole group of top-tier bars dotted around London. Sea Containers itself, meanwhile, is a luxurious lifestyle hotel and events space with bars and restaurants overlooking the Thames. Lyaness was designed by Jacu Strauss and the Lore Design Team, whose iconic work reaches from Washington DC to Amsterdam. The space features its original green marble bar, along with electric blue walls and modern furnishings.
Since the cocktails here are ingredient-focused, each unusual ingredient is showcased in three different cocktails. Oyster honey, for example, can be enjoyed as a marigold gimlet (with Bacardi Ocho, white verjus, brioche and apple blossom), a palm tree daisy (with Patron Silver, dry grenadine, Martini Bitter and tropical wine) or a brack-ish Rickey (with Martell VSOP, smoked passion fruit and ocean soda). Other unusual ingredients include blood curacao, green sauce liqueur, malt and grass amazake and fruit furikake. Each of these ingredients can also be tasted on its own if you so wish.
To accompany the stellar cocktails, there are plenty of things to nibble on. Bar bites include classic olives and spiced nuts, as well as fries with Old Bay mayo. Small plates are a little heartier, featuring the likes of croquettes and tacos while sharing flatbreads come topped with tomato and blue cheese, roasted courgette and herbs or even curry goat. There is a short, carefully selected list of wines and a much more extensive list of spirits. Lyaness also offers afternoon tea, which includes three cocktails, sweets like coconut panna cotta and savouries like smoked salmon, creme fraiche and dill sandwiches, as well as the full tea selection. There are Champagne and alcohol-free versions of this, for those who prefer bubbly or don’t drink alcohol.