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Side Hustle
Side Hustle

The best bars in Covent Garden

Don’t get lost in the tourist madness – find the best classic cocktails and bottles of plonk in Covent Garden

Leonie Cooper
Edited by
Leonie Cooper
Written by
Laura Richards
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Live music, lovely little wine spots and some of the city's best cocktails – Covent Garden has more brilliant bars than you can shake a stick at. The area's drinking scene is diverse, so check out our picks of the best places for after-hours drinking in the the middle of town; whether it’s female-founded beaujolais at Lady of the Grapes, rock'n'roll Martinis at Stereo, cabaret with your cabernet at CellarDoor or beers, so many beers, at Bierschenke.

RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in Covent Garden

The best bars in Covent Garden

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Charing Cross Road
  • Recommended

Kitsch, messy and a late-night legend, this basement bar attracts a regular crowd of debauched luvvies and miscreants. The club is members only, but the trick to enjoying its way-past-midnight hospitality is to arrive before 8pm and stay put.

  • Hotels
  • Covent Garden

Inside the Nomad Hotel – which was once the Grade II-listed Bow Street Magistrates’ Court – you'll find Side Hustle, an atmospheric bar in the former police station, with low lights, leather booths, a Californian-inspired menu (try the build-your-own beef short rib tacos) and enough tequila and mezcal cocktails to guarantee a good night’s sleep.

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The 10 Cases
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Covent Garden
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended

For a relaxing tipple and a bite to eat, The 10 Cases delivers the goods. It’s got a Continental bistro vibe, and serves tempting, predominantly Old World wines by the glass and with small plates galore.

  • Bars and pubs
  • Beer hall
  • Seven Dials
  • price 1 of 4

Offering a pretty damn authenic slice of drinking, Munich-style, Bierschenke is a low-ceilinged and roomy underground bierkeller with a menu of Bavarian delights. Currywurst and schnitzel go well alongside a host of beers (of course), including weiss beers, dark beers and helles lager. Oompah bands play on Saturdays, but general hollering is encouraged throughout the week. 

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  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Covent Garden
  • Recommended

When someone says ‘wine bar’, this Covent Garden spot is exactly what you’ll picture – rustic, cosy, and filled with bottles. The focus is on organic wine by female producers, and includes drops by the glass – although carafes are where you’ll find the best bargains. Food-wise, the emphasis is definitely on cheese.

  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Covent Garden

Stereo is made for big nights out. Just on the south side of Covent Garden's glorious Piazza, this subterranean venue offers up cocktails named after classic rock tracks (anyone for a whiskey, vermouth and rosemary Hotel California?) live music, DJs and American-style bar snacks to power you through the evening. 

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  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Covent Garden

Since 1972 the resolutely old school Le Beaujolais has been famed for its selection of wine and cheeses. The historic restaurant downstairs is members' only but the retro ground floor bar is open to all. There's a strong 1980s feel here, but it's the perfect semi-hidden destination to sink a reasonably priced Côtes du Rhône from an exclusively French wine list. 

Freud
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Shaftesbury Avenue
  • Recommended

Back in the late 1980s, this was the place to be. A hidden cellar with a faintly industrial feel, it carried with it a certain easygoing democracy, a welcome change from style-trial nightclubs and members-only enterprises such as the Groucho. It’s still standing the test of time, unlike many of its eighties’ peers.

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Blame Gloria
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Covent Garden
  • Recommended

This former public loo is convenient in a whole new way, now a cocktail bar dishing up a daily happy hour. It’s popular thanks to its over-the-top look, with lurid neon and flowery booths. If all that doesn’t scream ‘party’ to you, try taking a trip to the toilets, kitted out with disco balls and dance anthems.

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Seven Dials
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended

A fairly cosy wine bar in equally cosy Neal’s Yard, CdVS takes its cue from its older sister bar in Paris. So have a sophisticated time on the wine, with plenty of interesting options available by the glass and great paired with a plate of cheese.

The Escapologist
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Seven Dials
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended

So the theme is a little naff at The Escapologist, which takes its name from some Victorian scoundrel or other. But the 20-strong cocktail menu makes it well worth a visit.

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Eve Bar
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Covent Garden
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended

Just a leap from the piazza on the way down to The Strand, Eve Bar has an ominous dark entrance and a witchy-looking, biblical theme. Temptation comes in the form of experimental bar snacks and cocktails with all the dry ice in the world. Some of these drinks are delectable, even if they don’t all meet the mark. And service is super-friendly – just what you need in this crowded part of town. It's downstairs from chef Adam Handling's Frog and is his first standalone bar. 

London Cocktail Club
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Shaftesbury Avenue
  • Recommended

One thing is for sure at LCC: you’re in for a good time. The bar staff bring the atmosphere as well as quality cocktails at serious speed. Party tunes are paired with party drinks, with garnishes as hefty as the delicious booze.

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Sushisamba Covent Garden
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Fusion
  • Covent Garden
  • price 4 of 4
  • Recommended

Sushi purists will struggle with this Japanese-Peruvian-Brazilian fusion restaurant, but the fabulous decor and the expansive cocktail menu (as well as the prices) are just as impressive as its infamous City counterpart. Best of all, you can drop in to the bar for just a drink – and in among that foliage is the perfect setting to do so. 

Mr Fogg's Gin Parlour
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Covent Garden
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended

You get two bars for the price of one at Mr Fogg’s; a downstairs pub with a traditional tavern vibe and an upstairs parlour where gin is the word. Sip from one of the biggest gin collections in the capital or peruse a list of delectable cocktails made from Mother’s Ruin.

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