Justyna Kosinska's basement cocktail bar in a former 1900s tailor's storeroom on Wentworth Street in Spitalfields London, opened 2013, runs a focused house-mix cocktail menu.
Food program: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up only. Doors open 18:00 weekdays; weekend queues run 30 minutes. Cash and card; tiny capacity below ground.
Address: 29A Wentworth Street, London E1 7TB
Chris Moore's French-influenced cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road in east London, opened 2018, runs a Calvados-heavy menu and ranks regularly on the World's 50 Best Bars list.
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.
Alastair Burgess's basement cocktail bar on Hoxton Square in Shoreditch London, opened 2010, runs a small handwritten menu of cocktails ranked on the World's 50 Best Bars list since 2014.
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 list.
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 2018, runs a Calvados-heavy menu and ranks regularly on the World's 50 Best Bars list.
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 production.
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.
Inside the Pan Pacific Liverpool Street hotel in the City of London, opened 2021, Silverleaf runs tea-infused cocktails and a sleek brass-and-walnut bar room from a hotel team.
Signature drink: Tea-infused cocktails
Food: Snacks and small plates
Tip: Walk-up at the counter; book the snug for groups of four. The tea-house design pairs every drink to a specific tea leaf.
Marian Beke's cocktail bar on Old Street in Shoreditch London, opened 2014, named for the Gibson Martini and built around the pickled-onion garnish that defines the drink.
Signature drink: Gibson Martini
Food: Snacks only
Tip: Walk-up at the counter; book the back for groups. The bar runs a long menu of variations on the classic Gibson template.
