Best hideaway so hidden even you'll wonder where you are
"Okay. You know the Boston Harbor Hotel? No? Over on Atlantic Ave, kind of behind all the construction? Okay, now. You know where Intrigue is, through the foyer to the left? Well, it's not there. And you know where Meritage is, up the stairs and straight ahead? Actually, it's not there either ... basically, just keep hanging rights, through the lobby and past all the couches, and eventually you'll find it."

Whew. You'd better take bread crumbs on the trek to Rowes Wharf Bar - assuming that, once you finally make yourself comfortable in this wonderfully dignified sleeper of a watering hole, you'll ever want to go home. At the center of the spacious interior - gleaming with polished mahogany and dotted with sofas and armchairs elegantly upholstered in crimson, tawny, and moss - is a long granite-topped bar lined with ruby-cushioned barstools whence an admirable lot of liquor flows. Single-malt Scotch is the specialty - the bar stocks more than 50 - but the champagne cocktails and martinis sparkle equally: the house Bellini, a blend of champagne and peach schnapps, boasts a garnish of brandy-soaked peaches, while the Heavenly Hazelnut - combining vodka, crème de cacao, and Frangelico - sports a nutmeg-dusted rim. Finally, when the munchies strike, the bar menu strikes back, with feeling: order a wrap and get a spinach tortilla stuffed with lobster, cured lemon, and melted leeks; ask for a slice of pie and get key lime lightly spiked with tequila and ginger. Come to think of it, they say you can't go home again anyway - so why not stay for one more round?

Rowes Wharf Bar, Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston, (617) 439-7000.