Bars & Pubs

5th View

There are few more indulgent pleasures than whiling away a couple of hours in a pub with a good book. But what about drinking in a bookshop? Set on the fifth floor of...

St James's: 5th floor, Waterstone's, 203-206 Piccadilly, W1J 9HA

Distance: 0.7 mls

El Vino

The ultimate old-fashioned wine bar, in the heart of London legal land. Many a barrister finds a way here from the Courts of Justice opposite, and you’ll hear plenty...

City: 47 Fleet Street, EC4Y 1BJ

Distance: 0.7 mls

Apple Tree

This smart gastropub and post-work glughouse has a superior feel about it, thanks to high ceilings, tall house plants and a quality drinks list. Draught beers include...

Clerkenwell: 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE

Distance: 0.7 mls

Absolut IceBar/BelowZero

IceBar, a collaboration between Absolut and the designers at Ice Hotel, is probably not a place at which to settle in for a long night's drinking: that's because the...

Mayfair: 29-33 Heddon Street, W1B 4BN

Distance: 0.7 mls

ICA Bar

Having paid the £2 day membership fee (and thus skirting a local law concerning alcohol sales and nearby Buckingham Palace), walk through the ICA gallery to what at...

Trafalgar Square: The Mall, SW1Y 5AH

Distance: 0.7 mls

Gunmakers

One of many gastropubs within easy reach of the Guardian offices, Gunmakers is popular with lunching hacks but also operates as an excellent natter-filled bar. Draught...

Clerkenwell: 13 Eyre Street Hill, EC1R 5ET

Distance: 0.8 mls

Mô Tea Room

A small corner of the West End that is forever Marrakech. That, at least, is the idea, though the casbah chic (or is it kitsch?) here may be a little rich for some...

Mayfair: 25 Heddon Street, W1B 4BH

Distance: 0.8 mls

Harrison

A swift refurbishment in January 2008 has accentuated this corner pub's status as a smart but unpretentious spot for a pint, a natter and a Sunday roast. In...

King's Cross: 28 Harrison Street, WC1H 8JF

Distance: 0.8 mls

Jetlag

Japanese-style international sports bar in Fitzrovia

Fitzrovia: 125 Cleveland Street, W1T 6QB

Distance: 0.8 mls

Potëmkin

Potëmkin ('Potyomkin') is a smart and well-stocked Russian bar with more than 50 varieties of vodka in clear, unusual, berry, fruit, citrus and herb 'n' spice...

Clerkenwell: 144 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DP

Distance: 0.8 mls

Ye Olde Mitre Tavern

Consistently voted one of the best pubs in London by self-proclaimed experts on internet forums - and you'd have to say they've got this one spot on. Its secluded...

Holborn: 1 Ely Court, Ely Place side of 8 Hatton Garden, EC1N 6SJ

Distance: 0.8 mls

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

If you were to put a branch of All Bar One at one end of the drinking den spectrum, you'd find this pub leering at it with yellowing teeth from the other. Gloriously...

Fleet Street: 145 Fleet Street, EC4A 2BU

Distance: 0.8 mls

Artesian

Breathtaking is the word for Artesian’s list of cocktails: order any three, add service, and you won’t get much change from £50. At least you’ll be drinking...

Marylebone: Langham Hotel, 1C Portland Place, W1B 1JA

Distance: 0.8 mls

Last (branch of Balls Brothers)

City: 73 Shoe Lane, EC4A 3BQ

Distance: 0.8 mls

Hat & Tun

Martin brothers boozer

Clerkenwell & Farringdon: 3 Hatton Wall, EC1N 8HX

Distance: 0.8 mls

Chopper Lump (branch of Davy's)

Mayfair: 10C Hanover Square, W1S 1HN

Distance: 0.8 mls

Coach & Horses

This gastro gem is invariably packed with staff from the nearby Guardian offices, whose splashes decorate the wood-panelled interior. Inside, pub and restaurant areas...

Clerkenwell: 26-28 Ray Street, EC1R 3DJ

Distance: 0.8 mls

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...

Mayfair: Westbury Hotel, New Bond Street, W1S 2YF

Distance: 0.8 mls

1707

Strange that this most traditional of London shops should have decided to import a flavour of the New World: its revamp has created a bar that wouldn't be out of place...

Piccadilly: Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, W1J 9FA

Distance: 0.4 mls

Mulligan's of Mayfair (branch of Balls Brothers)

Mayfair: 14 Cork Street, W1S 3NS

Distance: 0.8 mls

Davy's at Regent's Place

Euston: Unit 2, Euston Tower, Regent's Place, NW1 3DP

Distance: 0.8 mls

The Eagle

Gastropub pioneer the Eagle was founded by Michael Belben and David Eyre way back in 1991 - you'll find signed copies of the weighty tome Gastropub Classic (£18) by...

Clerkenwell: 159 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3AL

Distance: 0.8 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

Vivat Bacchus

What is it about quotations and wine bars? Scrawled throughout this rambling venue you’ll find ‘Champagne is a way of life, a state of mind, and better than...

Farringdon: 47 Farringdon Street, EC4A 4LL

Distance: 0.8 mls

Crown & Anchor

The Crown & Anchor is burrowed in the back streets behind Euston Square station on the corner of Drummond Street, a road renowned for its dazzling array of vegetarian...

Euston: 137 Drummond St, NW1 2HL

Distance: 0.9 mls

Dollar

'Grills & Martinis' runs the gaudy red neon sign of this incongruous slice of Americana set behind a black-fronted façade on the corner of Exmouth Market. And...

Clerkenwell: 2 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4PX

Distance: 0.9 mls

Betsey Trotwood

It isn't only Clerkenwell's media types who are thankful for the Betsey's long-overdue facelift. The spruce-up extends beyond the fresh flowers, retro lighting and...

Clerkenwell: 56 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BL

Distance: 0.9 mls

Fabric

In Fabric's very early days, one promoter suggested that the new venue would become a latter-day Haçienda. Nine years on, the prophecy has come true: you wouldn't be...

Clerkenwell: 77A Charterhouse Street, EC1M 3HN

Distance: 0.9 mls