40 St Paul’s

A classy, classy joint. It’s so classy there’s not even a sign. Just a black door with 40 on it. Inside is a tiny little room with a simple bar and limited seats. You do need to book. Both times I’ve been they’ve been turning people away.
Table service is the order of the day– this isn’t somewhere you order at the bar and then stand around. It’s a pretty amazing way to experience gin. First up, they give you water and top it up throughout the evening. They have over 7 gins from around the world and it looks like more will be appearing.
Trying one of their G&Ts is a must. Each comes with appropriate garnishes. I had a wonderful provence inspired G&T with herbs, apple and lots of ice. There’s a fair few gin cocktails too, all beautifully presented and delicious.
As well as gin you can order a limited number of bar snacks including olives and a cheese board. I highly recommend both.
I also attended the Valentines event, which was four European themed cocktails with appropriate snacks, all from local producers. It was one of the loveliest evenings I’ve had. I’m also booked in for a collaboration with Nomad. it’s great to see them doing exciting events like these.
If you’re a gin lover, why haven’t you already been?

What a hidden gem! I originally heard of 40 St Pauls through the buzz on social media. Thank goodness I did as it’s not publicly advertised. As the other reviews mentioned, there is NO sign so you must know where it is to find it. It feels like an exclusive hangout in your friends fancy living room.
I finally decided on trying this place for Valentine’s Day for the Orient Express menu. For £40 each, we were to receive 4 themed cocktails with accompanying nibbles.
Thank goodness for other Unilocalers posting what the door looks like. Otherwise I think I would have been to shy to open the unmarked door! Upon entering we were greeting immediately by Aman and told to sit anywhere (we had booked btw). Two glasses of water later and a fun Orient Express Menu, and it was time to choose our first cocktail.
Throughout the evening we each had 4 cocktails. I’ll post a pic of the great menu they provided. We snacked on olives, bread and smokey butter, a wonderful cheese course, ending with some lovely chocolate truffles. After speaking to the owner we discovered that all the snack items are provided by local businesses. I love when small businesses support each other!
Because I was here for a special pre-​booked event, I didn’t get a change to check out the normal menu. Based on what I heard, it sounds like this place has quite the selection of different gins to try (say around 60 different gins!). It was busy with all types of people. Try and book if you can!
All 4 cocktails I tried were great, with my favourite being the apple strudel. I could drink teapots of that cocktail, it was that good! The service was excellent. No awkward long waiting between drinks. This place was definitely worth the price. We will surely be back for more :)

If you’re a gin fan stop reading this review right now, book (yes book, it is essential at the moment or you may get turned away as seats are limited and they don’t want to crowd the space out) yourself in and prepare to have a fab night.
For everyone else you should probably also follow the above advice.
40 St Pauls just exudes class. Once you find the unassuming entrance (just a door with a 40 on it and very easy to walk past! Watch out for Henrys opposite) and walk into the small lounge space you’ll be sat down for an evening of table service by someone friendly, knowledgeable and passionate.
Drinks fall roughly into 3 classes.
1. Gin and tonic — there are over 70 varieties of gins to try, as well as some special gin and tonic «twists» (don’t worry the twist is subtle rather than suddenly becoming a cocktail), they also have their own special tonic.
2. Cocktails — There aren’t loads to choose from but, and this holds true for the whole operation, they are precise, clean and thoughtfully put together to create elegant drinks that show off the gin.
3. Wine — In the style of the wonderful Nomad (in fact these guys will be supplying the cocktails there soon) the wine list simply describes the flavour of the wine to stop any biases coming through in your choice, they are also all the same price so you can just pick the flavour to choose your mood without having to think about anything else.
As this is table service there’s a good chance you’ll be feeling a bit peckish during the evening so the guys have you covered with some table bites, cheese boards and the like.
Prices are also pretty reasonable, drinks come in at around £8, although they could be more depending on your gin choice.