Cocktail Embassy

Cocktails Great! Staff Friendly. The rest — err
Cocktail Embassy is a new kid on the block I’ve been meaning to try out for a little while. Taking over from Patricks (an Irish Sports bar) they’ve really transformed the space.
For me, it’s all a but purple and don’t get me started on the black plastic chandelier lighting with flicker effect *pukes a bit in mouth*. But the plush emerald green, chesterfield effect boots and stools are lovely. Amble bar seating for the ultimate propping up the bar with a Sex On the Beach moment.
It’s a bit of a bizarre contrast to the hippy pubs and organic cafes that line the rest of the CP Triangle. Feels a bit like it should be in the city, especially with the average cocktail price at £8.50. Even popping in last night on a Bank Holiday Weekend, the Mrs and I were really the only ones there at Happy Hour.
However dubious I was about it, the cocktails are good. The bar staff make the event of making some of these complex cocktails look effortless. It’s refreshing to be made a rocking Amaretto Sour without the 20 min wait while the bartender flips this and that with unnecessary theatrics.
Happy Hour is a generous 5−8pm, perfect for the after-​work, pre-​dinner cocktail with 2 cocktails at £12 which is just fine by me.
Top Tip — non drinkers are well catered for. Come back after dinner and have the Shocolata, an espresso mocktail for desert. Yum Yum

They obviously spent a lot of money on this but it feels gaudy and soulless. Great if you like chintz…

Cocktail embassy. Very nicely decorated place with the translucent lights. Great seating areas right by the bar, nice ambience. Cocktail list is great and so are most of the cocktails, slightly pricey but thats crystal palace nowadays. If you ask for something special or a surprise they will whip you up a great drink that you will definitely enjoy! The dance room and bar downstairs is a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it has great music and sometimes not! Dance, funk and a bit of old school. the dj does take requests. Its reasonable busy but nothing crammed so should be able to get a table after a short wait. The last couple times i have been they have been closed for private parties but disappointing. But great if its your party as you get the whole downstairs area and bar!

Ok new bar in town so it would be rude not to try it out. This place until recently was another bar. In its new incarnation it has transformed into a clean and bright cocktail bar.
This is the first cocktail bar in the area and hopefully it will be here for a long time. Now do not get me wrong I do like this place but there are a few things that it will need to improve on. The variety of cocktails on offer is ok. They can make some on demand but not every cocktail you may ask for. I guess that there are more cocktails in the world that I know of so I cannot argue with that, however I do think the menu they have needs a few more additions.
The staff are all very helpful and accommodating I especially like the fact that when someone who clearly had had a few too many somewhere else got a little to loud they were quick to quieten him down and then he left quickly after that.
The music level is ok so you can have a conversation without competing with the music. The price of the cocktails is cheaper than city prices but still pricy for the area. Some little nibbles on offer might be another good improvement. As it is early days I’m sure they will figure this out.

Cocktail Embassy has not been open long and, having spied this establishment a short while ago and thinking this was a little different for Crystal Palace we made the effort to drop by for pre-​dinner drinks.
Tastefully decorated and a place where you would want to sit and drink (not propping up the bar), the waiting staff were friendly and seemed to be enjoying themselves also. They accommodated making a cocktail which was not on the menu. Although they have a menu of cocktails, there are not many on there and, if you label yourself ‘cocktail’, I’d expect to have a wide variety of cocktails to select from. I think this could be improved.
They also have a downstairs area which we were informed is intended to be for live DJ nights on the weekend. That area is more spacious in the middle with a bar down there also.
The night we were in there, it was not overly busy (which I like!). There was one noisy customer who clearly had too much to drink however, he was promptly told to keep it down otherwise leave. Good sign of the calibre they wish to keep so hopefully they keep this up.
I think the music, could be a little lower upstairs leaving this area where you come to sit and chat and downstairs a little more vibrant. With the music high, you have to raise your voice making it all a little noisy for a cocktail lounge.
I hope they do well here as it is something different to what is available in CP currently. I will visit again and see how they progress.