The Sea Containers 12th-floor cocktail bar on the South Bank looks out at St Paul's and the river, with a cocktail programme that earns its rooftop premium and small plates that justify staying for dinner.
Tip: The window seats book out for sunset, request one when you reserve. The corner with the Blackfriars view is the prize.
Address: Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PD
Ryan Chetiyawardana's ingredient-led bar at Sea Containers is built around the seven Pinnacle Guide ingredients that change every year, and the menu reads like a chef's tasting more than a drinks list.
Tip: Sit at the bar, the conversation with the bartenders is the menu's commentary track. Saturday afternoons are the quietest slot.
The One New Change rooftop bar and restaurant runs eye-level with the St Paul's dome, with a modern American menu downstairs and a long terrace bar that is the closest seat to the cathedral.
Tip: Walk straight through the restaurant to the bar terrace, the queue at the front desk is for diners only.
The 10th-floor terrace at ME London is the central rooftop with the 360-degree West End view, and the gin-and-tonic list and modern Asian plates keep it from being only a view bar.
Tip: Book a window banquette on the north side for the Trafalgar and St Martin's view, the south side gives the river.
The basement on City Road behind an unmarked door is the standard against which every London speakeasy is measured, with nightly live jazz and a cocktail menu that takes the prohibition era seriously.
Tip: Bookings only, walk-ins are turned away after 19:00. The 22:30 second set is when the band loosens up.
The Hoxton Square basement run by Alastair Burgess pairs a tight rotating cocktail list with a no-nonsense room policy that has kept it on the World's 50 Best Bars list more or less continuously since 2014.
Tip: Bookings open one week ahead at 12:00 sharp, set a reminder. Walk-ins get the bar if anything.
Agostino Perrone's bar inside the Connaught in Mayfair has won World's Best Bar more than once and runs the table-side martini trolley service that the rest of the industry copies.
Tip: Order the martini trolley, the choice of vermouth and bitters at the table is the experience. Reservations open one month ahead.
Ryan Chetiyawardana's ingredient-led bar at Sea Containers is built around the seven Pinnacle Guide ingredients that change every year, and the menu reads like a chef's tasting more than a drinks list.
Tip: Sit at the bar, the conversation with the bartenders is the menu's commentary track. Saturday afternoons are the quietest slot.