Cocktail barCocktail bar£££covent-gardenMon-Thu 17:00-00:00, Fri 16:00-01:00, Sat 13:00-01:00, Sun 13:00-00:00
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.
Cocktail barCocktail bar£££sohoMon-Sat 15:00-00:00, Sun 15:00-22:30
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.
Cocktail barHotel cocktail bar£££mayfairMon-Sat 15:00-22:30, Sun closed
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.
Cocktail barHotel cocktail bar£££covent-gardenMon-Sat 12:00-00:00, Sun 12:00-22:00
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.
Cocktail barCocktail bar£££shoreditch-spitalfieldsDaily 17:00-00:00
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.
Cocktail barCocktail bar£££shoreditch-spitalfieldsMon-Fri 17:00-23:30, Sat 18:00-23:30, Sun closed
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.