Happiness Forgets

It is around 5 minutes of walking from the Nightjar to Happiness Forgets, so it would be stupid to miss this bar. At the very beginning of this review I have to say, that I know nothing about this place, I don’t know how long it has been opened or how many people have been working there or I cannot tell You the REAL story behind this bar.

What I can tell You is only my personal impression from this place. It looks like there was a group of friends, that wanted to have their own bar. But not just any bar. They wanted to have a GOOD bar.

After entering I had to wait few minutes to get 1 single place, as this bar was completely packed with people. I wasn’t waiting there alone. Many groups of people had to be sent to the queue behind me with ‘‘I am sorry, but we are completely full at this moment,  so if You want, wait here please‘‘ by the waitress – pretty much constantly, through the whole evening, as I have realized later on..

No wonder why is this place so full. When I entered this bar, I got greeted by the waitress, then I got greeted by Muddy Waters from the the speakers and then I got greeted by the bartenders with : ,,Hey mate, how’s it doing?‘‘

I replied and then I had a look to the menu. Simple to understand, but not simple to choose. There were so many interesting recipies that it took me a while to choose, but then District 10 was the choice. It was a short cocktail based on cognac with two very strong aperitifs and pretty aromatic bitters.
 I have spent some time on that one and in meanwhile I totally fell in love with this place. Fantastic, stylish music, great, friendly and open atmosphere and great cocktails with one of the best customer services, that is definitely worth mentioning. Yes, if You are sitting on a table, it can take a while before somebody will get to You, but that is mainly because there is only 1 narrow aisle between the tables and in this aisle, there are all the people going to/from the toilet, 1 waitress serving guests and the other waitress refusing more guests because this place is still full. But when the place is THIS full, please have some understanding. You would be waiting for your drink everywhere and maybe even longer.
 For us, people sitting on the bar, it was different. Bartenders were chatting with everybody and as soon as any guest was close to the finish, they got menu again, automatically. Also my bartender got 6 cocktails to do at the same time, but none of us was waiting for too loong and when he served those cocktails back to us, he even followed the correct order, from who ordered first.

So if You are like the 5th one and You will naturally have to wait for a while, You won’t be thirsty anyway, because You still get a glass of cucumber water (the same as in Nightjar) which will get refilled instantly at any time You will finish it.

When I was about to finish my drink, I got the menu again, but after my short chat with the bartender I didn’t need it. I just asked for the Perfect Storm.

Perfect Storm

-        Skipper’s dark rum

-        Lemon and ginger juice

-        Dash of plum brandy

-        Honey

This cocktail is so hard to describe. It is indeed a perfect storm for your senses. You take a sip and first, what You will notice is a refreshing taste of lemon that gets spicy after few seconds, because of the ginger and then the rum gets to the word and the brandy adds something little extra and the end of your experience from the sip is the closing sweetness of honey, that goes so damn well together with the rum and ginger!

Then the bartender came back to me and we had this chat :

,,So what do You think?‘‘ He asked me…

,,It’s great!‘‘ Was my reply..

,,Thanks! Are You a bartender by any chance? ‘‘  He asked me…

,,I used to be, how do You know? ‘‘ I wondered..

He smiled and replied : ,,The straw taste, mate! ‘‘

Basically, when I first tried this cocktail, I took a straw and blocked the end of it with my finger, then I removed the straw from the glass and I tasted whatever got stuck inside of the straw. It is something, that bartenders are doing, when they are tasting cocktails, they made. I am not a bartender anymore, but I got so used to do this, that I don't even think about it anymore and I use it automatically.

Now, I am not writing it here to show off. I am writing it here to point out, how amazingly good customer service You will get here in Happiness Forgets. The bartender was not waiting in front of me to taste the cocktail. He was preparing another cocktails for another guests, but he still noticed that. Only a detail, You may think? I repeat again, never underestimate the power of detail. Here I can give You a full example, how important it ACTUALLY is.

The day before I was in Portside Parlour. Portside Parlour and Happiness Forgets are 2 very comparable bars by the category and similar style. They also have very good cocktails and great atmosphere. But even though Portside Parlour is smaller and when I was there, it was not full, bartenders didn’t come back to ask customers if  they like their cocktails. And now look :

Portside Parlour and Happiness Forgets are 5 minutes of walk, far from each other. Therefore, if there is a person, who has been in both of these bars and who would have the chance to go again to ONLY one of them, this person would choose Happiness Forgets, because thanks to these 2 things (question if You like the cocktail and/or a bartender who is more engaging with the customers) the customer service is better there, than in Portside Parlour. It is more friendly and You as a guest, You feel more appreciated there. And only because of this detail, Portside Parlour has lost one guest already.

I love Happiness Forgets even though it is not a top notch - high end cocktail bar. The place is great, bartenders are using advanced techniques for preparations, such as special tubes of ice for long drinks to make sure, that it will melt as slowly as possible, their customer service is fantastic as I have described above already and the atmosphere and the hype, that You will get from this place is amazing, so even the name has a perfect match with what You will find here. 
Their only weaker point will be their comi-bartender, who was taking out the glassware out of the dishwasher, with fingers inside some of the glasses. That is a silly mistake out of a good bar like this. It hurts my heart, but I need to mention it here, to keep my objectivity.

Anyway, if I would be in this area with a person, that I would like to make them fall in love with bartending itself – not only with cocktails, I would not take that person to the Nightjar, because it might be too much and too formal. 

I would take them to Happiness Forgets.

Then I had to leave, so I asked for the bill. Bartender gave me a receipt written by hand and I paid. But before leaving, I wanted to ask for a visit card, that I like to collect. He replied, that they don't have a visit cards here. That they want to keep things simple. But he smiled, took my receipt back to him and added a note saying : 

,,Thanks Dude!'' 

So yes, it would definitelly be stupid to miss this place, but not because it is close to the Nightjar. This place stands strong by itself.