Seattle’s cocktail renaissance has led to something of a Golden Age for those of us who appreciate a well-crafted drink; virtually every neighborhood boasts at least one or two bars that can make a claim to being one of the city’s best cocktail bars. But Belltown’s Rob Roy

excels in many ways. It offers a wide range of interesting and creative house drinks that bring together disparate ingredients in fascinating ways (mezcal and amaro in the El Tio Nonillo, cachaca and bourbon in the Corvus & Crater), or even include items that are not generally considered edible (gunpowder in the Gunpowder Punch). The decor is at once alluringly modern and charmingly retro (witness the sleek bar top and the animal-hoof lamps co-existing), and the staff is knowledgeable without being pretentious. In fact, it’s a bar that seems delightfully out of place in Belltown, but that’s exactly where it’s needed most.