Roger That, Roger Room

The Roger Room has been open a little bit more than a year but I just checked it out this week. Any cocktailian tries his or her best to check out the new hot spots. Unfortunately for my dear departed liver, there never seems to be enough weekend nights to do so and now I’m going to bars on Mondays.  I’m only disgruntled about that because Mondays was the one day I swore I didn’t want to go out.

However, I find I really don’t like over-crowed bars. And the best days to go would be non-weekend nights. Mondays, it is.

This past Monday, the liver weakly protested my choice but my tastebuds were enthused. I was enchanted by the circus theme of the bar. And very happy that it wasn’t snooty like the Varnish. Sure, the drinks are $13-$15 but I thought they were well-worth it.

I tasted the three whiskey cocktails offered; the Thug, Dueling Banjos and Japanese Maple (in that order). The Thug is not a pretty drink. It is rather like an Old Fashioned but with a brass knuckle punch. I liked it. The next one I tried, the Dueling Banjos was my favorite of the night. The bartender described it to me as a bit like a Manhattan. It is not like one at all. Not as sweet but that could be because of the Chartreuse in it. And finally the Japanese Maple was the coolest looking drink of the night but a little too “sour plum” flavor to me. When I mentioned it to the bartender Adrian, he said I was the only one to notice such a thing. They had described this drink to be like a Whiskey Sour. Well, then this must be an Ume Whiskey Sour.

Roger = Yes

I would really like to a shuttle company that’ll sponsor the next Minty Hot Bartender Crawl because the Roger Room would definitely be on the short list of bars I want to crawl to.

Roger Room

370 North La Cienega Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90048-1949

(310) 854-1300