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.
Address: Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PD
The 1893 cocktail bar inside the Savoy is the oldest surviving American-style cocktail room in London, with the legacy of Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book still on every back-bar shelf.
Tip: Listen for the live piano from 18:30, the room transforms. The age limit is 14 plus accompanied, dress code is enforced.
The Wentworth Street basement opened in 2014 in a former tailor's stockroom, with a Northern Soul and rock and roll soundtrack and a price list that undercuts the rest of the central speakeasy scene.
Tip: Walk in early, the room is small and they do not take bookings past 19:00. Cash and card both work.
The 1979 club under the railway arches by Charing Cross remains the central gay nightclub in London, hosting both club nights and a live programme that runs from MUNA through G-A-Y Saturdays.
Tip: G-A-Y Saturday is the long-running pop room, Porn Idol on Thursdays is the institution night for first-timers.
The Grade II listed Victorian pub on Kennington Lane is the oldest surviving LGBTQ+ venue in the country, with the Friday Duckie cabaret since 1995 and a programme that protects what Vauxhall used to be.
Tip: Duckie on Saturdays is the institution. The Sunday Bingo Lingo and panto seasons sell out months ahead.
The Kingsland High Street two-floor bar and basement club is the east London queer institution, with a calendar that runs from Horse Meat Disco-school disco nights through underground techno parties.
Tip: The upstairs bar is the warm-up, the basement does not really get going until midnight. Sundays are the lock-in.
The Kennington Lane gay bar established in 2004 is home to Horse Meat Disco on Sundays, the long-running global disco residency that defines what Vauxhall sounds like at 3am.
Tip: Sunday Horse Meat Disco is the night, not Saturdays. Get there by 22:00 or queue down the road.