Cocktail Making at Bonbar

I celebrate my birthday this week, age undisclosed! and for a change I decided it was time for some adult fun.  I had read a blog a few weeks ago, by the lovely Chloe New Girl in Toon about afternoon tea in Bonbar Newcastle and having checked out their website I saw they did cocktail making classes.  I have done a similiar class to this in Revolution, York for my cousin's hen night and it was great fun so that was decided, a chance to try a lovely new venue and a girls night out.  I rounded up some friends up for a laugh and made our booking.  It was very simple and easy to do and I was impressed with the service.  The package we booked was £25 and for that we were promised a reception drink, 3 cocktails which we would make ourselves, cocktail games and snacks.  It also stated that the class would be in the 467 Club at Bonbar, however when I booked that was not available due to a previous booking, not a problem however, but it would have been a nicer touch.

Upon arrival we found our friendly host waiting for us and that our cocktail ingredients had already been lined up.  It was explained that our reception drink of prosecco would be served at the end of the class as we would then have more time to enjoy it in our reserved booth, we were more than happy with that.  The venue is beautiful, the lighting is perfect, it is quite swanky and the music was just at the right level so you could chat without shouting. I loved it and will definitely be back for an evening, the food is supposed to be lovely too and I would love to try their afternoon tea.

Having said all that, I have to admit to being slightly disappointed to be honest, we were perched along the end of the bar with everything laid out.  I was under the impression that we would choose our own cocktails off the menu but never mind, it looked good so we all got stuck in.  Our host was lovely and friendly and guided us through each cocktail taking time to answer our questions.  I did however, feel that the class was a bit rushed and that it was a case of getting it over and done and us sat down out of the way.  Maybe that was just my own feeling but it certainly didn't last the hour and a half we were promised and there were no 'cocktail games' whatever they might have been!  The cocktails were lovely, especially the middle one which was created by our bartender himself, the other two were not really to my taste but pleasant enough. The strawberry caviar in particular went down really well, it was amazing! In my other experience of cocktail making class, it was more of an 'event' each person got to go behind the bar and pour their own ingredients, choose their own cocktails, plus it was cheaper and we got pizza! 

At the end of the class, I was asked to pay for it as they said they had not received the rest of my money.  Luckily, I had paid by BACS so had the transaction on my mobile telephone so that was cleared up.  We were then shown to our booth with a lovely bottle of prosecco and strawberries waiting for us, I was pleased we had this at the end of the class, it was a nicer touch as we could relax and enjoy it sitting down.

Another slight problem arose in that they didn't provide the snacks that we had paid for,  I had to go and ask for them and again, show proof of the email on my telephone.  Small things but a little bit frustrating.  When the snacks did come, it was just a small bowl of crisps, a small bowl of nuts and a small bowl of olives, not really enough for 7 ladies but we hadn't come out for a meal so wasn't a huge problem.  It did give us a chuckle however!

All in all, we did have a lovely night, but there were a few glitches and to be honest, it didn't really feel that special.  I don't mean this to be a moaning review but I just wanted to point out a few things that disappointed me.  Bonbar has only been open approximately 6 months and they have got all the right ingredients there, just a few little things need touching up.

Bonbar Newcastle