The International

The ambience is nice and the wine selection is pretty extensive, but as per other reviews, the service is bad news. We decided to sit at a table and the entire staff happily ignored our presence for a long time. When we finally ordered some wine, they brought it relatively fast. The check arrived almost immediately afterwards — because suddenly they were very concerned being timely?
Other than the service, The International is not a bad spot to lounge around with a spot of alcohol. Come with friends and you’ll have a good time if you’re not looking to get pampered.

I don’t mind this place. I wouldn’t come for an evening meal but lunch is ok, you can get a Thai green curry and a glass of wine for a fiver, not bad.
When I worked in this area, it was an convenient place to go for a cheap cocktail or a meeting place to begin the evening. You can get table service and put drinks on a tab but you do tend to wait ages to order a drink both at the bar and at the table.

The service is bad. Bad bad bad.
Although the Internaional offers table service, don’t kid yourself. Go to the bar to order drinks else you be perched on your seat for hours vainly trying to flag down one of the cocktail servers.
The drinks are good. Good good good (for the Happy Hour prices).

This place is the perfect happy hour stop before going on to dinner or a show. It’s location means I always come here when I am going to the theatre, and the £3.75 happy hour cocktail price-​tag means you can have a few fancy drinkypoos without spending a fortune.
The cocktail list is extensive (the happy hour cocktail list is also pretty extensive) and they are very yummy! I would particularly recommend the Cubanesque (it comes with a preeeeetty flower in it too!), the Gin-​Gin-​Sling and the Espresso Martini. Yum.
Word of warning, if you order the Spicy Bison do not eat the chilli! My mum dared me to eat the chilli last time we were here and my mouth was on fire for the next half an hour. Seriously.

ouch gotta agree with leon and elena… not my favorite.
the food is «asian fusion»…which basically means thai. think i had the pad thai, some type of curry, and some random fried things with sweet thai chili sauce for appetizer. i think it sets itself up as a nice fancy place but really doesn’t live up to it.
you come in then immediately go upstairs to a cramp little dining area. i didn’t really experience the bar area since i went for dinner.

I don’t know if I’d come back outside the happy hour, considering the service is at of the pace of a snail if you try to wait at your table. Just go to the bar and order whatever you need. Cocktails run at 3.75 during happy hours, and all bar food is 2-​for-​1, which is fairly decent. I’d rate their food as fair, but with the 2-​for-​1 deal, i’ll bump it up to a «good.» They got some really interesting drinks here that seems to be based on a mixologist philosophy, but I’m not actually sure if I feel any of the alcohol apart from the ‘Dark and Stormy.’ But the drinks are made beautifully, and I’d say check it out for the drinks over happy hour.

I am not feeling this place at all, it is like an airport lounge bar. The atmosphere simmers at a 3 out of 10. So how were the cocktails? I have over eight years experience in high end cocktail bars, so understand the workings of mixology. Watching the bartender strain my Spicy Bisen over a rapidly melting wedge of crushed ice, with the red supposedly fruity liquid separating and layering over the melted inch of icy water in the bottom of the glass didn’t fill me with confidence in receiving a quality beverage. Not good people. My drink was a watery, non-​spicy, non-​fruity, unsatisfying sham. Oh, oh, the garnish was good.
I am disappointed with The International. I would not recommend, not even for the reduced priced Happy Hour.

I don’t know what it is about this place that just doesn’t do it for me.
The décor is trendy, the place is buzzy, especially on a Friday night or during happy hour, and there’s wait staff in the bar which means more time chatting to your friends and less time queuing for drinks.
But the staff stand over you for payment as soon as they have bought your drinks, and i’m not sure that you can open a tab for the night.
During happy hour the drinks are reasonably priced but not great tasting. Despite billing itself as a cocktail bar they don’t sell the classic cocktail ‘Harvey Wallbanger’ and although cocktails are similarly priced i was charged for each spirit and the mixer separately — pricey!

The very cool International Bar was the recent venue for a Pre-​Elite event. I arrived late to find all the Unilocalers in place chatting and chilling. No time to waste, the waitress whizzed over to get me a cocktail. They are so friendly here — even though my method of ordering is pointing at random drinks and going ‘that one, that pink one’ like a small child.
We got to sample a veggie platter thing that was different to the usual deep fried combos most bars serve. It had edamame, tiny spring rolls, vermicilli spring rolls and gorgeous tempura. Can’t wait to go back and try this place without the rush, it’s in such a central location for a good night out.

This place so cool and the cocktails are amazing but I think the location and the tourist flytrap that it is that puts me off giving it the full 5 stars.
They have a £5.95 lunch special at the moment which is excellent value for money and an amazing happy hour. As I said before, this is THE place to come for a decent cocktail in this area, i have to say i do love a good Gin Sling!

The International Bar near Trafalgar Square is a very classy bar with great service. It is attached to a restaurant which i can’t comment on as I’ve never dined there, but if the service and quality is anywhere near as good as the bar then it is probably amazing.
The bar area has lots of comfy sofa’s and tables for small groups of people. The bar is stocked with lots of premium spirits and the bartenders are extremely knowledgeable about their products. The presentation and service is immaculate and the staff are friendly and polite. They are used to large groups alongside stray tourists and never make you feel anything short than welcome.
Nice décor and design, very crisp and clean, make this a good quality place to come. Maybe soon I’ll get round to sampling the food!