It was my partner's birthday and we had a table booked at Forbury's restaurant in Reading so we decided, as we were getting the train in, to stop for a pre-dinner drink at Malmaison. Malmaison is handily located almost opposite the train station.

We stepped in from the cold to a lovely warm bar that was buzzing with other drinkers but without being overcrowded. We couldn't see a drinks menu but the woman serving behind the bar quickly procured one. After perusing the list of cocktails we both decided on a Bellini champagne cocktail (Raspberry for me, peach for him) and our drinks were quickly created for us.

We took a seat close to the lovely roaring fire, which made the bar feel very cosy despite the very modern decor. It's a dark, plush bar that does feel very chic but seemed to be without any snobbishness. We sat and enjoyed our drinks in a lovely atmosphere that was perfect for the birthday occasion. The only down note was that there was a flatscreen TV that was on the wall with sport on; this didn't seem to befit the other upmarket wine relaxing feel to the bar, which was a shame.

All in all I would definitely recommend this bar for pre-dinner drinks or a nice evening out.