Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in London for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in London for grown-ups.
Agostino Perrone's hotel cocktail bar inside The Connaught in Mayfair London, opened 2008, runs the trolley-poured Connaught Martini and has topped.
Signature drink: Connaught Martini (trolley-poured)
Food: Hotel snacks
Tip: The trolley-Martini is the marquee order; £24 a glass. Book a fortnight ahead through the hotel; jacket required after 19:00.
Ryan Chetiyawardana (Mr Lyan)'s cocktail bar inside the Sea Containers hotel on the South Bank in London, opened 2019, runs an ingredient-driven menu.
Signature drink: Whatever Mr Lyan ingredient feature is on the menu
Food: Snacks and small plates
Tip: Walk-up at the bar most weeknights; weekend tables book a week ahead. Six house ingredients drive the menu each season.
Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston's two-floor cocktail bar on Old Compton Street in Soho London, opened 2016, runs an upstairs Irish-coffee bar.
Signature drink: Irish coffee at the upstairs bar
Food: Snacks upstairs, late kitchen downstairs
Tip: Upstairs takes walk-ins from 17:30. The basement runs to 02:00 with a deeper whiskey list. The Borough sibling has the same kitchen.
Salvatore Calabrese's hotel cocktail bar inside Dukes London in St James's, trading since 1908, claims to have inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond Vesper.
Signature drink: Vesper Martini (trolley-poured)
Food: Hotel snacks
Tip: The trolley-Vesper is the marquee order; £28 a glass. The bar remains open during the hotel's 2026 refurbishment.
The Savoy hotel's American Bar on the Strand in central London, trading since 1893 and the world's oldest surviving cocktail bar of name, codified the modern.
Signature drink: White Lady (or any 1920s recipe from the Savoy Cocktail Book)
Food: Hotel snacks
Tip: Walk-up only between 11:30 and 19:00; book a week ahead for evenings. The Beaufort Bar across the lobby has the more modern programme.
Daniel Bovey's east-London cocktail bar on Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green London, opened 2014, runs a daily-changing menu of classic and modern.
Signature drink: The daily-changing menu (printed at 17:00)
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up only. Tuesday-Thursday from 17:00 is the easy slot. The daily menu turns over fully; favourites change weekly.
Justyna Kosinska's basement cocktail bar in a former 1900s tailor's storeroom on Wentworth Street in Spitalfields London, opened 2013, runs a focused.
Signature drink: House Old Fashioned
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up only. Doors open 18:00 weekdays; weekend queues run 30 minutes. Cash and card; tiny capacity below ground.
Alastair Burgess's basement cocktail bar on Hoxton Square in Shoreditch London, opened in 2010, runs a small handwritten menu of cocktails consistently.
Signature drink: Perfect Storm
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Book a fortnight ahead; the room takes 35 covers and burns through. No music, low light, conversation-first design.
Max and Noel Venning's neighbourhood cocktail bar on Kingsland Road in Dalston London, opened 2016, runs a daily-mixed-on-site cocktail menu and a small wine.
Signature drink: Whatever house-mix of the season is
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up only Tue-Thu. Friday-Saturday books a week ahead. The brothers source ingredients to make every house spirit from scratch.
Chris Moore's French-influenced cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road in east London, opened in 2018, runs a Calvados-heavy menu and ranks regularly.
Signature drink: Calvados-based drinks (the bar's house ingredient)
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Counter seats walk in any night. Booking a fortnight ahead through their site secures a table. The cocktail flight is the easy ask.
Matt Whiley's hyper-seasonal cocktail bar on Sclater Street in Shoreditch London, opened 2018, builds the menu around local UK ingredients and zero-waste.
Signature drink: Hyper-seasonal house mixes
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Counter seats are walk-up. The menu turns over by season; British produce defines the drinks list throughout the year.
Salvatore Calabrese and Federico Pavan's hotel cocktail bar inside Brown's Hotel in Mayfair London, named for photographer Terence Donovan, runs.
Signature drink: Breakfast Martini (Salvatore Calabrese)
Food: Snacks only
Tip: The Breakfast Martini was Calabrese's invention; ask for it after his Guinness-record house pour. The bar opens at 16:00 weekdays.
Remy Savage, Paul Lougrat and Maria Kontorravdis's Bauhaus-themed cocktail bar on Kingsland Road in Dalston London, opened 2022, runs blind-tasted spirit.
Signature drink: Batched Bauhaus-blind-tasted martini
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up at the counter; tables run on Resy. Open until 04:00 weekends; the rotating cocktail menu pours all under £14.
Tony Conigliaro and Marco Arrigo's Italian cafe-and-cocktail bar on Old Compton Street in Soho London, opened in 2015, runs an aperitivo menu and one.
Signature drink: Caffe corretto and Negroni
Food: Italian snacks
Tip: Walk-up at the counter and bar tables. Tiny room of 20 seats; the espresso bar runs all day, cocktails from 16:00.
Tony Conigliaro's hotel cocktail bar inside the Zetter Townhouse on St John's Square in Clerkenwell London, opened 2011, runs a Victorian-styled drawing room.
Signature drink: Flintlock cocktail (gin, tincture of gunpowder tea)
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up at counter; book a side table a week ahead. The Marylebone Zetter sibling on Seymour Street has the same kitchen.