Hemmesphere

It’s like time stood still in 2002 here. The music is chilled. The Ottomans are puffy. The lasses with the serving trays (there’s no bar service at Hemmesphere) are comely. The suited punters rolling through from the lift are often still wearing their name tags from whatever convention they’ve been at that day. There’s no lack of suited men flying solo. Cocktails, like the Tommy’s Margarita, are showy, but a bit of fun if you're out to impress. Here, instead of a balanced amount of agave syrup in the drink, there’s a rock-hard agave sorbet that you’re meant to eat as you drink. We end up tipping it into the cocktail instead. A Heaven's Hell - rye, sweet vermouth, yellow chartreuse and black tea syrup - is set afire at the table. The snacks menu is cool: Sushi e hand rolls are on earlier in the evening, and then from 10.30pm there are Black Star pastries for supper. If that’s not moving with the times, we don’t know what is.