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Mirror Bar

Bratislava

Classic hotel meets maximalist cocktails

Set within Bratislava's historic Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel is a lounge bar that has become the jewel of Central Europe's cocktail new wave. Mirror Bar blends classic hotel grandeur with modern cocktail maximalism and a flair for magical realism. Even before the first drink arrives, the room makes its intentions clear. Forest-green walls and emerald velvet furnishings are broken up by dark wooden panelling and hanging plants. In the corner, cabinets of curiosities display houseplants and beneath a lofted skylight stands the room's centrepiece, a full-size tree created by florist Róbert Bartolen.

The setting plays into the foundational elements that underpin the Mirror Bar concept – Classy, Art and Nature. For its most recent menu, The Essence of Design, Mirror Bar explores form, shape, line, texture, colour and space through its serves, which are frequently theatrical exercises in maximalism where cocktails arrive on miniature sets crafted by local Slovak artisans. Take the Lantern of Infinity (rum, goji berry and rosehip clarified juice, red miso butter caramel, rice milk) served in a glowing lantern placed within a four-dimensional mirrored tesseract, or Lux (gin, passion fruit, rue berry liqueur, sherry, prosecco) served beneath a bonsai tree under a halo lamp.

While the bar's design and cocktail presentations are intended to take the breath away, it's the warm hospitality of the team, led by bar manager Peter Marcina and bar ambassador Stanislav Harcinik, that will stay with you and led to the bar receiving the Michter's Art of Hospitality Award at the inaugural The 50 Best Bars Europe. 

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