The Holyrood Street basement just off Bermondsey Street pairs a custom-built sound system with a Mexican taco kitchen and a cocktail programme that has won regular World's 50 Best Bars recognition.
Tip: The mezcal flight at the bar is the way in, the booth at the back of the room is the listening spot. No bookings, walk in early.
Address: 8 Holyrood Street, Bermondsey, London SE1 2EL
The Dean Street pub run by the de Gaulle-era Free French in the 1940s still pours half-pints only at the bar, hangs the Sylvester Stallone portrait behind it, and remains the central Soho writers' room.
Tip: Half pints only, no phones, cash welcomed. The upstairs dining room runs lunch and dinner if the bar gets too tight.
The Greek Street Grade II listed pub was the Private Eye crowd's hangout for decades and Jeffrey Bernard's regular, and the room has resisted the redevelopment pressure on every side of it.
Tip: No bookings, walk in, the back room fills first. Order at the bar, the regulars hold the front stools.
The Hanway Street basement with the late-70s NSM Prestige jukebox and a 20,000 single collection has been the post-Oxford Street lock-in since long before Fitzrovia got expensive, and the rotation still surprises.
Tip: No food beyond crisps and nuts, the jukebox is the entertainment, drop coins in and the regulars stop minding the queue.
The Carlisle Street Guinness specialist just off Soho Square pours the best pint of stout in central London, with a basement room that fills before 18:00 and spills out onto the pavement once it does.
Tip: Guinness only, do not order anything else. The pavement crowd is the bar, the basement is the conversation room.
The Frith Street gothic basement runs a cantina menu of garlic-laced everything and 101 flavoured vodkas through a sound system that is mostly metal, and the upstairs garden patio is the unexpected smoking court.
Tip: The garlic beer is the dare drink, the chilli vodka shot is the warning. Skip if you have a date the next day.
The Cavendish Square pub with the cellar live music room runs cask ales upstairs and a small-stage programme of rock and indie nights downstairs that costs nothing on the door.
Tip: The cellar gigs are free entry, walk down the side stairs and put a fiver in the bucket for the band.