Bars & Pubs

Hotel bars | Spirits & cocktails | Real ale & good beer | Historic pubs | Good mixers | Wow factor | Gastropubs

See all these bars and pubs on our top 50 map

Hotel bars

Blue Bar
The crowd at this sleb-favoured, David Collins-designed hotel haunt is very see-and-be-seen, but it’s nice to see the staff don’t greet them with the complacency they probably deserve. This is a handsome, cosy room, made lovelier by the low lighting. The watery blue hues makes the surroundings akin to an aquarium full of colourful fashionistas flitting about the crocodile-print leather floor in place of exotic fish. Best of all, the drinks are terrific. On the colourful cocktail list, the bar staff make good on the basics (an impressive whisky sour made with egg whites) and the inventions: the Spicy Queen, blending 12-year-old Chivas Regal whisky, fresh figs and lime juice with own-made caramel and chilli was stunning. The dress code denotes ‘casual’, but we’d only brave the throng here wearing our best threads.
When to go When you’ve a glide in your stride and you’re feeling pretty fly.
What to have Whisk(e)y – whether Scotch or American – is well-represented.
Blue Bar, The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1X 7RL (020 7235 6000/www.theberkeley.co.uk) Hyde Park Corner/Knightsbridge tube. Feature continues

The Coburg Bar at the Connaught hotel (© Michael Franke)

Coburg Bar
RUNNER-UP, 'BEST BAR', TIME OUT EATING & DRINKING AWARDS 2008
The Coburg Bar is the Connaught Hotel’s new destination drinking spot – and it's everything you could hope for in a smart hotel bar, sans pretension. Darkly sophisticated (the room was redesigned by Parisian designer India Mahdavi) and sinfully comfortable; the leather and velvet are pleasingly tactile. Tip-top nibbles (olives, posh crisps) appear unbidden and free of charge. The cocktail list is a fascinating read, as it charts the origins of the cocktail from Sours up to the modern day; most of them are greatest hits of the last two centuries. The wine list is similarly exemplary, but pricey, with an emphasis on top French marques. Although most of the cocktails cost £12 a glass, they’re worth it, to be enjoyed in the plush surrounds. The congenial staff seem genuinely pleased to see customers, and the service is faultless – slightly formal, but certainly not standoffish. Other customers tend to be moneyed, middle-aged and as well-dressed as you might expect in a five-star hotel – so don’t show up here wearing your baseball cap and sneakers.
When to go When you feel the need to be pampered.
What to have One of the fabulous historic cocktails.
Coburg Bar, The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL (020 7499 7070/www.the-connaught.co.uk) Bond St/Green Park tube.

Dukes Hotel
London’s best martini can be had at this centenarian hotel, renovated top to bottom in 2007 by hotelier Campbell Gray and designer Mary Fox Linton. This transformed its discreet, highly regarded but old-fashioned bar into a swish landmark destination for connoisseurs of life’s good things. Ian Fleming was a regular and it’s believed that Dukes’ martinis, flamboyantly and expertly made at guests’ tables, played a part in shaping the legendary Bond character.
When to go When you’d rather be stirred than shaken.
What to have A martini, just the way you like it.
Dukes Hotel, 35 St James’s Place, SW1A 1NY (020 7491 4840/www.dukeshotel.co.uk) Green Park tube.

Library
Not-so-surprising given its name, those books are real. But the whole place is otherwise a fabulous illusion: despite its olde worlde appearance (such as the staff in 'Casablanca' attire), the Lanesborough was a hospital until the 1980s, and only opened as a hotel less than 20 years ago. Whereas the bars at other nearby hotels – The Berkeley, say, or the Mandarin Oriental – are dressed to the eights and nines and draw a younger, more boisterous crowd, the Library remains gentle and mellow long into the night, partly thanks to a tinkling pianist, fireplace and perpetually low lighting. Sit back in the elegant surrounds and contemplate the excellent list of tipples – the choice of vintage armagnacs and cognacs is simply legendary, while the unusual Garlic Affair cocktail (garlic, cognac and ginger beer) was inspired and surprisingly delectable. All of the dozen or so wines come by the glass, including a Puligny-Montrachet La Garenne Larue.
When to go When you’ve grown-up and realised what’s important in life.
What to have Cognacs and Armagnacs.
Library, The Lanesborough, 1 Lanesborough Place, Hyde Park Corner, SW1X 7TA (020 7259 5599/www.lanesborough.com) Hyde Park Corner tube.

Lobby Bar
This signature bar in the chic One Aldwych hotel is known for two things: the range and quality of their cocktails and a peculiar sculpture of a bemused rower. The drinks list has spirits of established provenance – Wyborowa and Kauffman Luxury Vintage 2003, for example, in the martini stakes. Cocktails are fresh and inventive; a Gazpacho Martini incorporates lemon-infused Tanqueray, green pepper, Midori and elderflower cordial, while fresh cantaloupe melons flavour their cantaloupe daiquiris. Bar snacks are not at all ordinary, with organic gravadlax and mini wagyu steak burgers among the offerings.
When to go Before or after a West End show.
What to have A soothing cocktail.
Lobby Bar, One Aldwych, WC2B 4RH (020 7300 1070/www.onealdwych.com) Covent Garden or Embankment tube.

Long Bar
The long bar in question is a thin onyx affair, with eyeball-backed stools which you are unlikely to find a free seat at. A better bet is the lovely courtyard, where table service, candlelight and watery features make a much nicer setting for cocktails. And, really, it would be wrong to order anything else, with a list of enticing flutes (£14), long drinks (£11) and martinis (£12). High-end spirits include Chivas Regal and Sauza Hacienda (£8), and the wine selection is kept short. Bar snacks are priced high (BLT for £14, burger for £16), though this is unlikely to be a problem for most of the punters. A good-looking spot, but the service remains poor for the service charge levied.
When to go When All Bar One is failing to light your candle.
What to have A cocktail in the garden while admiring the beautiful people drifting in and out.
Long Bar, The Sanderson, 50 Berners St, W1T 3NG (020 7300 1400) Oxford Circus or Tottenham Court Rd tube.

Polo Bar
Polo eschews the bland international style of so many hotel bars in favour of gorgeous art-deco fittings that are just the right side of opulent; that’s one reason it’s such a hit with post-work revellers as well as discerning solo drinkers. Another is the cocktails: the barman here will knock you up a flawless version of one of the classics – in our case, a perfect Moscow mule – or something a little more idiosyncratic: our De Vigne (£11) was a heady confection of vodka, lime and Champagne. There’s superior (and reasonably priced) bar food too: tapas, the usual club sandwiches and Caesar salads.
When to go When you need an oasis of calm amid the lunacy of central London.
What to have Stick to the traditional tipples.
Polo Bar, Westbury Hotel, 37 Conduit St, W1S 2YF (020 7629 7755/www.westburymayfair.com) Bond St or Oxford Circus tube.

Hotel bars | Spirits & cocktails | Real ale & good beer | Historic pubs | Good mixers | Wow factor | Gastropubs