Bars & Pubs

Crown

A thoroughly successful pub renovation, the Crown is worth the walk down bleak Blackfriars Road. Often less crowded than nearby locals, it's a comfortable, vaguely...

Waterloo: 108 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8HW

Distance: 0.4 mls

Ministry of Sound

With venues around the world not to mention compilations released every month of the year, the Ministry of Sound makes no bones about being a mega-successful clubbing...

Waterloo: 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP

Distance: 0.4 mls

Dog House

Depressed by the dominance of identikit chain pubs? Fed up with ubiquitous refurbishments? Want cod and chips not pan-fried sea bass with curly fries? Has it all gone...

Kennington: 293 Kennington Road, SE11 6BY

Distance: 0.4 mls

Fire Station

The London County Council's grand Edwardian fire station on Waterloo Road was converted into one of the city's early gastrobars in the 1990s. The restaurant's in the...

Waterloo: 150 Waterloo Road, SE1 8SB

Distance: 0.5 mls

Waterloo Brasserie

Like a true brasserie, this one is open all day, covering breakfast, supper and everything in between. Segregated bar and restaurant areas have a self-consciously...

Waterloo: 119 Waterloo Road, SE1 8UL

Distance: 0.5 mls

White Hart

In stark contrast to the endearingly dishevelled Dog House across the road (see left) is the smarter, trendier but less characterful White Hart, with its office crowd,...

Kennington: 185 Kennington Lane, SE11 4EZ

Distance: 0.5 mls

Baltic

An unlikely find on Blackfriars Road, the Baltic is sleek, chic and discreet. The exceptional north-east European restaurant is a bright and airy Grade II-listed...

Waterloo: 74 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8HA

Distance: 0.5 mls

The Anchor & Hope

Waterloo's most famous gastropub remains a good place for a drink, though dining is certainly the main event, and it can become impossibly busy. Nibbles such as polish...

Waterloo: 36 The Cut, SE1 8LP

Distance: 0.5 mls

Zeitgeist at The Jolly Gardeners

German pub grub near Lambeth Wall

Vauxhall: 49-51 Black Prince Road, SE11 6AB

Distance: 0.5 mls

Prince of Wales

Tucked away in the corner of an archetypal, residential Georgian square is this delightful, traditional, Shepherd Neame pub, which wouldn't be out of place on the edge...

Kennington: 48 Cleaver Square, SE11 4EA

Distance: 0.5 mls

Lord Nelson

A drab 1950s council estate façade hides one of the funkiest little pubs in south London. Kitsch and cosy thanks to a wall-length beach theme, the Nelson's decor also...

London Bridge: 243 Union Street, SE1 0LR

Distance: 0.6 mls

King's Arms

On one of central London’s last remaining terraces of Victorian workers’ cottages, this corner pub is now firmly on the tourist map, but also remains a firm...

Waterloo: 25 Roupell Street, SE1 8TB

Distance: 0.6 mls

Hole in the Wall

Better than an ATM, the HITW is an unreconstructed drinking hole in 'the wall' of the old South Eastern Railway's line into Charing Cross. In a calculated snub to the...

Waterloo: 5 Mepham Street, SE1 8SQ

Distance: 0.6 mls

White Hart

Popular with employees from South Bank media offices, this bustling corner pub has big windows looking onto the short cut to Waterloo station. As well as several wheat...

Waterloo: 29-30 Cornwall Road, SE1 8TJ

Distance: 0.6 mls

Charles Dickens

You would have to know it's here, this unprepossessing freehouse by the mainline rails heading out from London Bridge station, but regulars can always be found as you...

London Bridge: 160 Union Street, SE1 0LH

Distance: 0.6 mls

Wine Theatre

Disappointing wine bar

Bermondsey: 202-206 Union St, SE1 0LH

Distance: 0.6 mls

Rose & Crown

Probably the oldest pub in the area, oddly marooned by World War II bomb damage to the surrounding houses and their subsequent redevelopment into offices, the Rose...

Waterloo: 47 Columbo Street, SE1 8DP

Distance: 0.7 mls

The Gladstone Arms

This may just be the coolest little pub in south-east London. The landlord has form, having run the equally bijou (and largely undiscovered) Smersh in Shoreditch and...

London Bridge: 64 Lant Street, SE1 1QN

Distance: 0.7 mls

Lord Clyde

A marvellous neighbourhood boozer. Through a red-curtained entrance, cherry banquettes surround a neat bar counter, a fireplace, timeless pub paraphernalia and no...

London Bridge: 27 Clennam Street, SE1 1ER

Distance: 0.7 mls

Concrete

Thank the Lord. Starbucks has gone and in its place is a classy little bar/café with the tongue-in-cheek name of Concrete (set, as it is, in the vast Brutalist...

Waterloo: The Hayward, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX

Distance: 0.8 mls

Skylon

There can't be many better transport views than this in all of London. Sit at the cocktail bar (in between the two restaurant areas), and gaze out of what seems like a...

Waterloo: Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX

Distance: 0.8 mls

Royal Oak

True to its name, the Royal Oak seems wonderfully trapped in time. A pub for luvvies and lovers of Lewes brewery Harveys, the ales – Mild, Pale, Old, Best and Armada...

Borough: 44 Tabard Street, SE1 4JU

Distance: 0.8 mls

Beehive

You might not expect to find abstract expressionist art in a south London boozer just off Walworth Road, but then this graceful neighbourhood pub refuses to adhere to...

Kennington: 60-62 Carter Street, SE17 3EW

Distance: 0.8 mls

Royal Vauxhall Tavern

The grand dame of this so-called 'gay village', the RVT is a true icon. Gloriously faded, a bit louche and with a colourful past (the gay Kray used to drink here, and...

Vauxhall: 372 Kennington Lane, SE11 5HY

Distance: 0.8 mls

Boot & Flogger

A marvellous anachronism, the Boot & Flogger was until recently the only hostelry in the UK that had the right to sell wine without having a licence, thanks to a...

London Bridge: 10-20 Redcross Way, SE1 1TA

Distance: 0.8 mls

Red Lion

'A Great British Tradition' runs the wording around this 600-year-old pub between the Cenotaph and Big Ben. And with Spitfire, Courage Directors, Fuller's London...

Westminster: 48 Parliament Street, SW1A 2NH

Distance: 0.9 mls

Cinnamon Club

Divided between an upscale Indian restaurant, a buzzy DJ basement and sedate, study-like cocktail bar by the main entrance, this former local library has a...

Westminster: The Old Westminster Library, 30-32 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BU

Distance: 0.9 mls

George Inn

Part pub, part museum piece, the galleried George Inn consists of a number of interconnecting bars, upstairs function rooms and a wide courtyard where you expect...

London Bridge: 77 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH

Distance: 1 mls

Balls Brothers

London Bridge: The Hop Cellars, 24 Southwark Street, SE1 1TY

Distance: 1 mls