Pick your poison in the Himalayan desert
Delhi was hot, noisy and chaotic. As always. I’ve never liked the place. I pour with sweat, get grumpy and scratchy, and just want to go home. What I do like, though, is Delhi’s Imperial Hotel. It’s everything that the surrounding city isn’t, being cool, quiet and calm. I can cope with Delhi if I can stay here, thank you very much, largely because of its wonderful Hardinge Bar, surely the finest in town. I mean, have you ever tried its Imperial Saffron Negroni? It’s an absolute belter. And the eponymous Hardinge, made from whisky and marmalade, is a corker too. Sadly, I wasn’t in the Imperial long enough to do too much damage to the cocktail list. I was here simply to regroup before heading north.
