The most-loved bars and pubs in London

It might look like a classic London pub from the outside, all Britain in Bloom-worthy hanging baskets and an extremely pub-like name picked out in gold lettering, but the Camberwell Arms is not a place to watch the footie or sink eight pints and waddle home semi-conscious (maybe try the Hermits Cave across the road for such tomfoolery). Locals have known this for the past decade, ever since the grand Victorian boozer was given a serious sprucing up in 2014 under the auspices of chef director Mike Davies. Mike had form; starting out at one of south London’s original gastropubs, the Anchor & Hope in Waterloo, before setting up another south London institution, the much-loved hipster HQ that is Frank’s rooftop bar in Peckham.  ‘Sublime’ doesn’t even begin to do it justice. It is nothing less than art Since then, the Camberwell Arms has remained the very picture of modesty. Settle into the spacious back room, an airy but still-intimate space, and the lack of fanfare (stripped wooden floorboards and the occasional stylish print is about as close to grandiose design as it gets here) only goes to prove how confident they are in the quality of the food. Who needs jazzed-up interiors when the cooking is this compelling?  The menu is short but not too short, seasonal without being smug, and features a wry nod to the room’s pub past; a starter of beer onions on toast with aged gruyère. It’s a frankly indecent snack, snaked with sloppy boozed-up ribbons of onions, the particularly...

Drinkers and diners are both happy at this brick and timber 1930s boozer. The former get a sterling selection of cask and craft ales, plus cocktails and an acceptable wine list. The latter get a menu that changes regularly, depending on the pop-up kitchen, plus hefty Sunday roasts. There’s plenty of seating: at large wooden tables next to the central bar, in the back garden and in the front yard facing Nunhead Green. You'll also find an array of entertainment here, including DJs, folk nights and a comedy club. And the name? A nunnery once occuped this site; the rebellious Mother Superior was murdered during the Reformation and her head stuck on a pikestaff on the green.

This is a proper old-school boozer: think massive TV screens, swirly carpeting that’s absorbed decades’ worth of secrets and a menu that runs all the way from crisps to nuts. But when the Grade II-listed building (replete with stained-glass windows) is this beautiful and the karaoke nights are this legendary, what more do you need? The pub was originally built in the 1930s for Truman’s Brewery and you sense the atmosphere is little-changed since. Fun fact: The Army and Navy featured in the 2024 Netflix drama Baby Reindeer, though its scenes were actually set in Edinburgh. The magic of telly, eh? Order food in While there’s no food prepared on-site, The Army and Navy has teamed up with Yard Sale to make pizza available to order in. This kind of arrangement always feels a bit a naughty somehow, which is part of the fun. Invite everyone The beer garden is huge, with covered seating and a lovely mural that depicts people milling about a picturesque park. Fittingly, there are enough uncovered benches for an entire squadron. RECOMMENDED: Stoke Newington area guide.

Some pubs are a work of art, but Mayfair’s Audley Public House takes the idea to the next level. Iwan and Manuela Wirth, founders of the renowned Hauser and Wirth galleries, re-launched this impressive Victorian gin palace in 2022. And ‘impressive’ really is the word: here you’ll find a trippy ceiling mosaic from artist Phyllida Barlow and, in the Mount St. Restaurant upstairs, actual Andy Warhol and Lucien Freud paintings on the wall. It’s pretty intoxicating to neck humble pints in such proximity to artistic greatness, though naturally the pub’s food and drinks offering is pretty swish too. With poshed-up favourites (think pies and fish and chips) in the kitchen and beers from Battersea’s Sambrook’s Brewery behind the bar, it’s a feast for the eyes and tastebuds. Order this The Audley’s Scotch egg, perfectly gooey and served in two halves, sunny side up, should be on permanent display at the Tate. Time Out tip The Mount St Restaurant boasts four private dining rooms, including The Scottish Room, a Highlands-inspired creation that features a striking cluster of antlers affixed to the ceiling. Great Scott! RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in Mayfair.

A relic of a pub, the Palm Tree has no time at all for the modern trappings most east London hostelries. But people still traipse to this middle-of-nowhere Mile End venue for something money can’t buy – the Palm Tree provides a Cockney experience more intense than Danny Dyer pulling pints at the Queen Vic. Signed pictures of obsolete celebrities and forgotten jockeys line the walls above the oval-shaped bar, and spaces that aren’t plastered with memorabilia are covered in gold chintz accented by cabaret-esque red lighting. Regulars can be real characters, but it’s refreshing to visit somewhere with a distinct lack of hipsters. Its canalside position is appealing to summer strollers, but it’s the evening vibe that’s the real draw. There’s often a live jazz band, and since there are no neighbours within shouting distance, late-night knees-ups often get lairy.

Not only does Five Points Brewery make great beer, it also has an excellent place to drink it. There’s a cosy tap room for colder days, and a courtyard for sunny evenings, where you can get well-acquainted with their beers and sample some BBQ treats. And if that wasn’t enough, on Thursday and Friday between 5pm and 7pm, you can get a pint of their freshest tank-beer for this bargainous price of £3.99. Good luck finding one that cheap anywhere else in Hackney that isn’t a ’spoons. Keep an eye on their Instagram for pop-up events, talks and festivals.

Keep your eyes peeled for this one: it’s sunk beneath Greek Street, accessed through a dodgy-looking doorway and a seriously scruffy staircase. If there’s a less salubrious introduction to a bar in London then, well, we’d like to see it. These days, the term ‘speakeasy’ is bandied about with reckless abandon by bar owners desperate to adorn their venue with an elusive, exclusive and illicit allure yet few are the genuine McCoy – not least because if you’re shouting about what you’re doing, then you’re not a genuine speakeasy. This old school drinking den and members club, however, is refreshingly free of any such affectation. It was formerly called Trisha’s (aka The Hideout), and there’s a small bar, a scattering of tables and chairs and pictures of boxers, mafia types and Italian football teams adorning the worn walls. There’s a very small courtyard out the back and only one proper lavatory. It looks like the kind of place where someone would get whacked in ‘The Sopranos’ – except there was an episode of ‘Emmerdale’ showing when we last went. True to a real speakeasy, the drink selection is pretty average. There are some bottled beers, a couple of wines and a quite random selection of spirits. The New Evaristo Club has some very devoted regulars. If they aren't entertainment enough, there are some jazz nights. And there’s always ‘Emmerdale’.

Do you like music? You’ll love the Beatles. Enjoy movies? Check out a little gem known as ‘The Godfather’. Fan of the dramatic arts? Do yourself a favour, mate: Shakespeare. Thank me later. Am I about to compare Noble Rot to Shakespeare? No! Kind of. It’s more that if you’re a fan of really nice food and wine you should definitely go to Noble Rot. It is a no-brainer. Anything I write after this point is garnish. When, one lunchtime, I walked into the Bloomsbury restaurant and wine bar, a blissful calm set over me, similar to how the barefoot pilgrim Louis IV must have felt on arriving at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres. Some divine harmony, running through the mellow decor, extending into the staff and finally through the menu and wine list. Everything is on point. Everything is nice. The bread is a Rush-esque power trio of carbohydrates: soda, focaccia, and sourdough selflessly working together to achieve a common goal. The slipsole - a kind of buttery, beautiful ellipse - may well be the restaurant’s special move. This fish is a soft and smokey wonder that refuses to not be eaten. Similarly charismatic were the comte beignets. Dusted in parmesan and served with pickled walnut ketchup (a more well-read and worldly Daddies Sauce), these bad boys made me flout my own ‘no more oily crispy things filled with hot goo’ rule. Crucially everything tasted of something. This shouldn’t be a remarkable quality in a restaurant, but how often have you paid through the nose for...

If the Pocket feels familiar, that’s because it comes to you from the same independent pub pros as Gospel Oak’s incredibly good Southampton Arms. Despite appearances, the rustic-leaning Pocket hasn’t been here for 100 years, but was opened by stealth in the spring of 2025, complete with new-old wood panelling, a 1930s anaglypta ceiling, a nerdishly impressive collection of 1970s pub ashtrays (on the walls alas, not the tables), and a battered upright piano (which gets played three times a week).  The Pocket’s premise is simple, and, let’s be honest, perfect: ‘No reservations. No green food. No shit beer. No terrible modern music,’ they say. The bar snacks come in various shades of beige (scotch eggs, sausage rolls, pasties, and pork pies), the music comes from either the piano or a vinyl record player which favours vintage jazz and soul, and the crowd is gorgeous. Beer is priced in order of strength, meaning it’s possible to get that rare thing - a London pint for a fiver. We are fully in the Pocket’s pocket. Time Out tip The Pocket is mere steps away from another great Islington pub, the Compton Arms. If you’re looking for more of a gastro experience, pop over for one of their unfailingly good kitchen residencies; as of summer 2025, it’s the powerhouse Rake boys.

This Soho institution may have mellowed somewhat since self-proclaimed ‘London’s rudest landlord’ Norman Balon finally hung up his polishing cloth in 2006, but there’s still plenty to make it stand out from the crowd. Decor, meanwhile, is stuck firmly in the past, with carpets worn threadbare by decades of post-work sessions. It all adds up to a curious mix of old-timey standards and progressive ideas which, crucially, work together like a charm.  Time Out tip They might not serve food, but they do have an impeccable array of crisps aka ‘London's greatest tuckshop’. Make ours a bag of pickled onion Monster Munch.