"they can or do not know that a few weeks back we ran a competition to win a meal and drinks for two in the sterling bar. our Twitter account went almost to melt in retweet. So we thought we should visit better to see what was going on with all the fighting – well, it would be rude, not! This stylish city bar sits at the foot of the gherkin st mary axe, one of the most famous and iconic buildings of londons, maybe this was the reason for all our competitive entries? we are past from the gherkin, either by bus or to foot, 100s of the times, but it is not until they are near that they can see how beautiful a building it really is. saff could not make it to the sterling other work obligations) so I have the help of my old art directors and good friend, sam to test their menu and impressive drinks list. I arrived a little late. fortunately, sam had already taken place by the friendly staff and was happy to snap away on their iphone and posing their pictures on their social media pages. decor at the sterling is quite typical of a city bar, they think of drake and morgan businesses torn down and they are not far wrong. there is a light colonial explorer theme, old black and white photos, small nic-nacs here and there a large green roller shutters hanging on the wall. the bar area is divided into three areas. the actual cash, a section for more casual eating and a counter on the back, which is probably used for busy lunch. there is also an area in the upper floor, called the library, with bookcase wallpaper. we ate out of the bar menu, a selection of sharing sweet, small dishes, burger and grilled sandwiches – perfect for the selection when drinking and chatting and believe me when sam and I start chatting, there are no stops us. while we waited for the “Kissen” to arrive, we chose a few cocktails. I am a sucker for limincello, so when I saw the ginchello £8, I knew it was for me – a long refreshing mix of gin, limoncello obvious,) red johannisbeerensirup, lychee purée and prosecco. sam ordered a classic cosmopolitan £7.50,) she said it was a "good and she should know she had enough of them! we spread our order net far beyond their menu, we wanted to try a little of everything except the burger and sandwiches.) first the charcuterie and cheeseboard £19.) was a selection of their most popular meat and cheese varieties with crispy grissini, crostini and halkidiki oliven. loved the Spanish meats especially the dense deep red fennel cut cut ham. there were four different types of cheese and all a decent portion size, our favorites were the tanger oxford blue and the somego – although the ripe cheddar was great with the tanger chutney. the hot chicken wings £5,) were unusual. well unusual, not strange unusual. the “hot” part must relate to its temperature, as they were not spicy in the least. but what they had was an amazingly crispy, nutty coating – possibly my favourite dish. sam ordered the peanut butter, kokosnuss, lemongrass and green chili chicken skewers £5.50 for three.) these were served with watercress and a cool alkyoghurt dressing, all aromen fought for dominance, but the kokosnuss was victorious. at the strange opportunity when saff and I dive into polpo, we always order a few of their pizzettes – small sour pizzas, simply big enough for a snack. the hand pulled pizzettas by sterling were much bigger and made us both feel a little greedy for ordering on everyone – how to have been big enough to share. these freshly made, hand-pizzettas are decorated with Italian tomato sauce and mozzarella. mine also had spicy chorizo and a generous scatter of guindilla and piquillo paprika. during sams in the melt in the mouth was lubricated prosciutto san daniele and halkidiki olives. this Mammut festival was all washed with an incredible New Zealand dashwood pinot noir £35.) her house red starts at a very reasonable £15.50 the three hours spent sam and I in the dying, just flew past, a safe sign that everything should be. the bar was quite quiet, but we said that the noise factor rose on Thursday/Friday when the city workers come out to play. when it was, we could scatter all night without screaming. perfect business thanks to sam,) great cocktails, surprisingly well prepared eating and excellent service – all at the foot of one of the most famous buildings of london. a sterling effort!"
