Mad Botanist

Mad Botanist is one of Hanoi's hidden bars, and finding it is part of the fun. It is tucked away at 45 Ly Quoc Su Street, a few minutes from St Joseph's Cathedral, inside a building that houses a dim sum restaurant. You enter through the ground-floor café and head up the back stairs to the third and fourth floors, and the bar opens out above in a room decorated in 1920s glamour style, with palm leaves, brass and geometric patterns.

Gin is the speciality, and the bar has been described as Hanoi's first specialty gin bar, with more than 100 kinds of gin and tonic. The upper floor has open-air views towards St Joseph's Cathedral, a good reason to head straight to the top. The signature drink is the Lab Inspired Gin and Tonic, which comes in nine flavours made with house-infused gins. Each batch takes two days to prepare using a hot infusion siphon, so the flavours are distinctive and you will not find them elsewhere. Trying two or three different versions, perhaps shared among friends, is the best way to explore the range.

Beyond the gin and tonics there are inventive cocktails. Bacalao, for example, combines a sweet muffin tea gin with Maraschino Luxardo and a homemade roselle cordial. If you are not a gin drinker, ask the bartenders for a suggestion from the wider menu.

Prices sit at the upper end of the city's bar scene. The bar is open daily from 4pm to midnight, so it works for an early evening drink after sightseeing as well as a late one after dinner. The decor and lighting make it a good choice for a date or a celebratory drink, and it suits small groups who want somewhere stylish to start or finish an evening.

Ly Quoc Su Street is also home to Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su, a Michelin Bib Gourmand noodle shop, which makes an easy dinner stop before drinks. St Joseph's Cathedral is nearby, and Polite & Co and Ne Cocktailbar are also in Hoan Kiem, so the three can be combined in a relaxed bar crawl around the centre.