Épernay Champagne Bar

Last weekend with my mum and dad visiting, I decided to take my dear mum Aída for a pre-Mother's Day treat. Having been introduced to the gorgeous Épernay Champagne Bar a few nights earlier on the Liquorists' Ceylon Arrack Trail, I knew it was the perfect place for a girly cocktail stop.

As we had spent a large portion of the day shopping to the point of dropping, we were tired, hungry and thirsty so were very grateful to be brought a couple of glasses of cucumber water and a bowl of peanuts before we'd even had a chance to browse the cocktail list. Since having been given cucumber water at Aumbry I really think this is a fabulous beverage. Drinking it makes me feel like some sort of 1920's socialite, I might start having it in the house.

The cocktail list at Épernay really is a sight to behold and you could spend hours reading the menu but me and Mum had a hot date with Primark so both quickly scanned the menu for our favourite ingredients to get our mitts on a pair of champagne drinks we knew we would like. Mum's choice was simple: it had to be an Aperol Spritz of course.

Aperol is Mum's all-time favourite drink and surely any drink you like can only be made better by being topped up with champers. Lurvely.

I decided to continue drinking like the 1920's socialite by going for an Elderbubble which combined the delights of cucumber gin and elderflower... and champagne of course. This was a very crisp, dry cocktail which was right up my street. I wasn't too sure about the presentation featuring huge wedge of cucumber but it tasted very lovely.

Mum and I had a splendid time at Épernay. I did tell her it was a shame we weren't able to go by night as it really is beautiful up there with all the twinkling fairy lights and pretty views of the city - I will ensure we revisit one evening. Épernay is brilliantly located if you are going to any of the places around Deansgate or THE FRENCH up the road which loads of people will no doubt be doing nowadays. OR if you are uber glam like us, you can go there before visiting Primark then walk around feeling really lightheaded and giddy and buy loads of stuff.