It’s in the glossy lobby of the new Battersea branch of European hotel chain Art’otel that I realise my reservation at its rooftop bar, attached to the hotel’s 15th floor restaurant, Joia, and overlooking the newly renovated Power Station, is akin to gold dust.
It’s a hot day, more muggy than sunny, and Londoners all over the city are desperately searching for bodies of water and a breeze.
Joia’s rooftop bar promises both: not only is it sky high, but it boasts an affinity pool with views across London. Granted, said pool is for hotel guests only, but proximity to it is enough to cool down just a bit, right?
My reservation, I add with more than a touch of guilt, comes as part of an agreement with bar’s PR team to write about it for this publication.
Joia’s rooftop bar is ordinarily a walk-in only affair, so ahead of me are several groups of hopeful punters, who on this sticky, sweaty Saturday, are being turned away because the bar has reached capacity – despite a note on the website reading ‘plenty of space so in the rare case of a queue, you won’t be waiting long’.
Joia Rooftop Bar
The gatekeepers take some convincing, but once I’ve scrolled through my inbox and found email evidence that I really do have a table at the rooftop with my name on it, they politely guide me to the lift.
Up top, we find the bar in full-blown party mode.
The decks are spinning, the bar is jumpin’ jumpin’, and fortunately our table – right next to the speaker where, as Will from The Inbetweeners wryly noted, “if anything, it’s too loud!” – is indeed waiting.
The bar supposedly takes its inspiration from ‘Lison’s vibrant rooftop culture’, but between the R&B tracks and the crowd, it has a distinctly London feel.
In fact, as a drunk man fresh from the pool swaggers over to the neighbouring table dancing ‘big fish, little fish, cardboard box’, I feel a little like I’ve wandered into London’s answer to Ibiza.
The smokers on the next table are making me feel tetchy. I need a drink, and fortunately the service here is miraculously attentive given the number of people packed around each table.
Everyone seems to be on the Aperol Spritz train, but we go against the grain and order pimentas: the bar’s riff on spicy margaritas, made with tequila, agave and chilli. They hit the spot and we soon begin to mellow.
Joia the restaurant opened some weeks before the bar, and to much fanfare. Its arrival marked the first London outpost of two Michelin-starred Portuguese chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, and promised a menu inspired by his travels across the country’s Iberian Peninsula, but made with British-grown ingredients.
Luckily for visitors to the rooftop bar, Henrique’s menu supplies the bar snacks.
First comes a generous plate of charcuterie, its trio of meats glistening in the heat, but presumably no more so than it would in sunny Portugal. With them are pickles which could knock you sideways with the salt, but they’re a pleasing contrast to the rounds of meat.
Fresh and crispy patatas bravas, sauced with dollops of alioli and salsa, add to the beach bar feel of the whole experience.
Of course, you can’t visit an Iberian restaurant and not order Iberico croquetas. Henrique’s answer to the Spanglish favourite come laced with papada iberica and iberico ham, and practically dissolve on the tongue.
Joia Rooftop Bar
We’re ready for another drink – ideally one with similar properties to an ice lolly. Our waiter had recommended the strawberry margarita slushies, which we’d previously pooh-poohed, what with fancying ourselves serious cocktail aficionados (my guest, I should mention, is a certified drinks writer). But these were sticky, sweaty times. So we took the plunge (and the risk of looking like basic b*****s), and sunnies off to the waiter, because these punchy, flavourful slushies proved a delight – nay, a must, for a hot summer’s drinking sesh.
Do stick around for the sunset, if you visit, because with central London in the distance and the stark columns of the Power Station punching towards the sky right in front of you, it’s all rather striking.
So bravo, Joia Rooftop, for offering another place to party south of the river and bringing something different to London’s al fresco bar scene.
As for you, reader, if you’re hoping to visit on a sunny summer’s Saturday, pitch up at midday when the bar opens, or risk being left grounded.
I don’t recall seeing a single group leave during our visit. And why would they? Up top has everything you need to ride out a heatwave in style.
Joia Rooftop Bar, 15th Floor, 1 Electric Blvd, Nine Elms, London SW11 8BJ.
Open daily, 12pm – 10pm.
