Simply deVigne

It's difficult, if not impossible, to understand what is running through the mind of a hotel proprietor who, after spending squillions doing up the place, agrees to close the public spaces - the bar and restaurant, at least - at regular intervals.

It's wearisome, if not downright blooming annoying, when you schlep across town for a bit of a beano, only to find your beano partner rooted to the pavement, access denied. Marylebone isn't exactly littered with immediate alternatives.

So I telephoned ahead of my proposed second schlep only to be told that the place would be closed for a private party. Damn it. Again? We consulted our respective diaries and made plans: no, I can't do next Monday, I'm washing what's left of my hair, you can't make Tuesday, Wednesday's no good as it's my evening class in brass rubbing, how are you fixed for next Monday? You're open? It's a date, then.

It's essential to report back insidiously after being faced with such organisational traumas, but deVigne could lift the spirits and melt the heart of even the most curmudgeonly bar critic. Once I got over the emotional moment of being confronted with the kaleidoscope of colours - bright and garish and with changing colours in the backlit bar - I began to enjoy the space.

Coloured box stools surround clear-glass tables, robust banquettes sit flush against the walls, a series of vignettes of Elizabeth I sporting bright lipstick fill one wall. But the best view in the house is the bar, which is stocked with a seriously impressive range of superior quality whiskies, bourbons, brandies, gins and vodkas.

Now, here's the confusing bit: 'de vigne', I am reliably informed, means from the vine, which is really odd given this is a cocktail bar with not a wine list to poke a stick at. But let's not dwell on this.

The cocktails are, for the most part, extremely well made with careful balancing of flavours, and represent extremely good value for money (around £7.50) given the large size of the drinks.

There's an accessible cocktail list that contains all the old favourites of Mojitos, Caipirinhas, mules, Daiquiris and sours, but take a stroll through the pages of international whiskies, and you'll find rare examples (Jack Daniel's Green Label, Edradour 10-year-old) and wonderful discoverie (Laphroaig 30-year-old, Blanton's Gold), alongside other superior, but more traditional, offerings.

The food menu consists of a million things you want to eat when you're having a drink - chorizo, tiger prawns, chicken fillets and the like (£5), and a long list of sandwiches including a burger (£13.50), minute steak (£9.50), home-cooked ham (£7, though it doesn't say whose home it was cooked in), and roast beef with horseradish (£7.50).

I will go back and rub shoulders with deVigne's mature, discerning drinkers, but only if they abandon their ludicrous policy of closing the entire place for parties.

deVigne Bar
Mandeville Hotel, Mandeville Place, W1U 2BE