Heverlee 0623
Heverlee 0623

About us

Founded by Phileas J. Fogg, Esq., The Society is located only a stone’s throw away from Charing Cross station – the starting point of his famous voyage around the world! Society fellows and adventurers alike can sip on exploratory tipples in the dimly-lit Drawing Room; let off steam with a libation or two inside our life-size Victorian Train Carriage; or gaze with wonder upon cabinets of curiosities in the mysterious Map Room.

Come and encounter hidden wonders of the world at The Society – from bookcases brimming with timeless antiques and weather-beaten maps, to old mounted portraits of past explorers whose spirit of adventure remains within these very walls. Taking pride of place behind the wood-panelled bar sits the world’s first automated Negroni-making machine, a symbol of the innovative fruits of the Industrial Revolution – the cleverly-crafted and ever-extraordinary Mechanical Mixologist!.

Facilities

Cocktail barFoodFunction roomWiFi free
Pub reviews

Reviews

Adela Mocanu

2 months ago

Amazing cocktails. Definitely recommend booking ahead if you're planning to go at the weekend as we tried to get in before and they were too busy. This time came prepared and it did not disappoint. Amazing cocktails for all different tastes!

Laura Garcia

2 months ago

This is an amazing experience, the decoration of the place is very interesting and Mr Foggs history in the menu is captivating. Cocktails are very good and starters are ok. We came to celebrate my friends birthday and they gave us some very delicious shots. It was nice

Vee

3 months ago

Normally, I would give a bar like this more of an average 3-star review, but I feel like a few things actually set it apart for me from what my partner felt was a rather dull experience. Door staff, fun with good banter. No problems with our reso and we were brought down immediately. We were seated at a decent spot, and it seemed fairly busy for a Monday or Tuesday night (I can't recall). Unfortunately, it seems understaffed. It took ages to receive the menus, and we had to repeatedly attempt to flag down a server to make an order. Drinks took a bit of time, but our vantage point allowed us to see the bar and those boys were BUSY. They didn't stop, so it was not the bars fault. We did see drinks sitting for a while on the pass however. Again, seems like there aren't enough servers on the floor -- but that is a generally post-COVID problem across the industry. The menu is massive. I loved the attention to detail and storytelling, and this devotion to a theme is basically any Mr. Fogg's calling card. The menu is actually fun to read. Some like this can be tedious, others too try hard, but this had a good balance. The way it was organised was also very intuitive. (Other similar London bars could learn something about menu layout from this place.) Not looking for sweet or long drinks, I settled on Umi's Mist as it seemed to have all the notes I like. It was a solid cocktail. Sure, this place loves to use all the latest cocktail trends like foams and "air" (aka bubbles), but despite the rather kitschy vibes of the whole place, the cocktail worked. It wasn't too sweet, or too weak. My partner wasn't so pleased but she's very picky, and it does appear like there are a lot of offerings that lean sweet. I believe she ordered Li-Li's but found it far too dependent on the liqueur, to the point it overwhelmed all the delicate tea flavours. We ordered a few more options, and I have to say, I very much appreciated our server being honest. When she saw me eying one of the (expensive) offerings on the limited edition rum menu, she warned me off it, saying that if I don't want sweet, that's not a great choice. She suggested a better cocktail instead. Many servers would let a guest order an expensive cocktail and suffer. So, kudos to her for caring about our experience over the total on our bill. The cocktails themselves are basically what you would expect for a theme bar. Nothing crazy or too challenging or complex. Another positive was I had forgotten that I mentioned it was a birthday celebration in our booking, as both me and my partner had our birthdays that week and this was our celebration. We were served complimentary shots and a cute take-home card with birthday wishes. I know these are not personalised, but still, it was a very nice touch and I wasn't expecting anything, to be honest. And certainly not the attention to detail provided. Also, there is one incredibly talented bartender I was watching. (Long hair and beard). His style is super, and he's fast and fun to watch. His pours are very stylish. A negative is the way they automatically add a charity donation to LandAid. Like, if I want to donate to a charity, I will do it myself after vetting it. I found that very underhanded. I fully support LandAid, but I should be given a choice, not see later it was included in my bill without any notification. And if the establishment cares so much, they should be the ones putting in the donations, not shifting the responsibility to their customers (and then depending on tax laws, they could claim a charity write-off for their business). Underhanded. I cannot even guarantee they are giving that money to a charity at all. The decor is great, staff (when they were present) were great, and it was just a pleasant experience. Not sure I would come back, but I may try another Fogg's experience.

shakher chudasama

3 months ago

We had a wonderful time here at Mr Foggs society of exploration. They have created an amazing atmosphere. I have been here a couple times with friends. We had gone here for pre Christmas drinks as a group of friends. We had probably one of the best gatherings, due to the atmosphere, and the drinks to go along. The drinks and cocktail menue was FANTASTIC. The only one thing I would suggest is, not to assume a group will only have the table for 2 hours. It’s not really an ideal set up when in a group of more than 2 people. You can easily make more £from a bigger group over a few hours. I’d suggest you have an option at the booking stage to secure more than two hours when in a bigger group. Otherwise you feel rushed, and for some people that can leave a bitter taste regardless of the earlier experience. With that in mind YES I WOULD STILL GO BACK, and recommend to friends.

J. Q

6 months ago

We didn’t make any reservation when we came here on a Saturday night. We knew that there might be a queue so we arrived at 8 pm. We talk to the receptionist, and he arranged a seat for us after 10 minutes waiting. We only have one hour time for the table. The pub is downstairs and the whole pub decoration is explorers theme. There are globes maps etc. They don’t serve food here at all there’s no bar food any snacks. We were seated at a couch seat, right next to the bar, and we could see the bartenders are working very hard. There are many signature cocktails price range from £15-£20 Most of them are quite small. I will recommend to order the strawberry cider which is 500 ml and it tastes really good and the price is very decent only £6.7. There is a 10% service charge applied. Don’t forget to make a trip to the bathroom. The decoration is very British and classy. The staffs are very nice and polite. They also follow the rules very strictly. The music is not too loud. It is a really good place to catch up with friends and talk.

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Heverlee 0623
Heverlee 0623