Potion Bar

I’m pretty lenient with bars as I was a bartender, I know how tough it can get. However, when your site says you offer Absinthe, you better have Absinthe. When there are 10 people in the room and it takes you 10 mintues to actually ackowledge me, someone better have died in the back. And when I ask for a simple martini (one that is featured on the papers sitiing on your bar), don’t tell me you don’t know how to make it. What a crap experience.

We popped in on a quiet Tuesday night, with less than 10 customers in the whole place. It still took 10 minutes for the bar staff to deign to ask us what we wanted — and when we pointed to one of the special cocktails on offer, he had to phone someone to ask how to make it. At which point we left.

O thirsty lover of classy bars: smitten by tasty drinks and dispossessed of a thick wallet you are washed ashore next to three university halls of residence. Woe is me! — you cry — does my future truly beckon solely cheap Carling and tequila shots?
Your prayers of being spared such gruesome punishment are answered by the God of Good Times, who shines a bluish light into the end of your tunnel of despair. Welcome to Potion.
Skilfully prepared cocktails await those who are patient in their search and whose minds have stayed true to the drinker’s mantra: not every bar will be great, but a great bar can be found anywhere.
Students worship at the shrine of Ethanol, yet the buzz of such boozy fervor makes no dent in the awesomeness of your newly-​found favourite watering hole.
Let yourself be amazed by the miracle of such a place staying in business in such a surrounding. Let Potion’s elixirs fill your veins and cruise you through the night.
Cheers!!!

Right next to UCL halls so frequented by students during term times and gets quite busy during the evenings. Good for a quiet drink at lunchtime. Food doesn’t seem to be served till 8, but drinks selection is OK and reasonably priced.

Potion do a good mix of cocktails and the rather small sized bar seems to be adequate for the size of the bar. except you can imagine on a friday night, elbowing and foot stepping is the common communication. Each floor of this bar is different, with the ground a deliberate attempt to attract corporate clientele in a plush blue and silver effect, the first lead by a spiral staircase is sterile with jazzy contemporary sofa sitting and steel table and chairs. But the basement to me has charm, exposed vaulted low ceilings hiding alcove type of upholstered sitting is cosy enough to want another drink. usually rented out to larger group occasions they provide a DJ service and it has its own equipped bar too.

Potion is a vaguely aspirational bar in Fitzrovia. It is about 5 minutes away from Tottenham Court Road and is close to a few university halls of accommodation.
It is quite a small bar, set across two floors with outside seating. The décor is quite modern, just leaning toward stylish rather than tacky. The bar sits across two floors. Both floors have a bar, the ground floor has a glass frontage whereas the downstairs is a little pokey.
The clientele is a mix of students and young office workers. The atmosphere is alright and there is a fully stocked bar that sells cocktails. It is an okay bar, suited in size to small private parties.