The best bars in Dalston

This Kingsland High Street veteran was once the face of east London’s party scene. And in true Dalston style it's home to all sorts: popular with a large and diverse LGBT crowd, but welcoming to all and everyone. DJs – mostly local, many well-known – keep people dancing with sets most nights. Drag brunch on Sundays is a big, boozy draw. 

A scruffy, tiki dive bar that always brings the party, rock up to Ridley Road and discover good times in an unlikely beach shack setting. Grab a can of Red Stripe, a signature ginger mojito, or even a piña colada and position yourself under the mirror ball on that groovy (and often sweaty) dance floor.

This Dalston restaurant-bar has a strong Japanese theme running through it, serving dishes inspired by the country’s izakayas. There’s also regular live jazz and DJ sets played through a top-notch soundsystem – well, it is named after Thelonious Monk album. Wash down ngiri with natural wines and sake. 

This enticing room is home to a wide range of experimental music that exists well outside the mainstream. Operating as a relaxed, light and airy café during the day and a live music space and bar in the evenings, Oto puts a strong emphasis on the more out-there of underground artists. Listen to Norwegian improv/free jazz/psych-rock while sipping fancy beer.

Three Sheets has fast become a hangout for those in the drinks biz who flock here to sample standout, pre-batched cocktails and enjoy the low-key, stripped-back setting. The owners make sure everybody feels welcome, though, and will happily offer up suggestions to suit your palate to a tee. Bar perfection. Get there outside of drinking hours, and you'll find Dead Good Coffee slinging flat whites all day. 

Surrounded by Turkish grill restaurants and party-focussed nightspots is this bar where cocktails are king. The seasonal menu lists seemingly simple drinks with just a few ingredients, but they're all pretty delicious. What started out as a bit of a sophisticated cocktail joint has morphed into the perfect late-night watering hole. 

East London's craft beer champs 40ft Brewery can be found right by Acme Fire Cult's outdoor flame-grilled restaurant and Dusty Knuckle's cult sandwich shop and bakery. Rock up on a sunny evening for 10 taps of fresh beer brewed on site as well as natural wines, guest ciders and cocktails as well as a short bar snack-sized menu from the Acme chaps.

In the basement of Corrochio's restaurant, you'll find the Cantina, where there are margaritas for miles, made with tequila, mezcal and a range of hibiscus, chilli, pineapple syrups. Start with the smokey mezcalita and order a few Mexican bar classics to eat, too. Lots and lots of fun. Come also for the 6-7pm happy hour, with classic margaritas at £8 a pop.

Missing The Glory, the infamous London pub that was a key part of the capital’s LGBTQ+ scene? The Divine is the new venue run by that much-missed space’s team and owned by iconic drag queens Jonny Woo and John Sizzle. You’ll find a whole host of drag shows to liven up your nights downstairs – and, after the show’s over, you can stay and hang out across the venue’s two floors, dancing until the small hours as the space turns into a drag-fuelled disco.

Beer, wine and... cheese toasties? This cute little neighbourhood dive bar is the perfect stop off for one of those nights that starts with 'just one drink' before rolling into a chaotic evening that ends far too late (this is where the stomach-lining toasties come in handy). Decor is chic with a hint of goth, and there's a very decent cocktail menu too, with mezcal margs, chocolate sazeracs and cherry bombs on offer alongside more classic combos. 

Take a few flights up to Dalston Roof Park, a bar that hosts some pretty impressive daytime parties and DJ sets. The venue offers the shelter of a covered bar and a roofed area in front of the decks, so you can dance whatever the weather. 

‘Mezcal is going to be massive this year’: London drink experts have been saying that for what feels like a decade. Hacha should speed things up. This ‘agaveria’ offers mezcal, tequila, soto and raicilla drinks as well as their signature Mirror Margarita, a clear, dangerously smooth twist on the classic cocktail. 

Another jazz-club-meets-bar to suit the chin-stroking crate-diggers that have long frequented this part of town, Servant Jazz Quarters is situated just behind Dalston's cultural hub, Gillett Square. When the music isn’t in full swing in the downstairs basement, take your time mulling over the list of classic and original cocktails.

By day a bottle shop, by night a fairly chichi wine bar, Newcomer claims (and we’ve no reason to doubt it) to stock the biggest selection of Austrian wine and beer in London. The bar at the front pours a daily selection and is open until 11pm Thurs-Sat. 

Open until 3am on Friday and Saturday nights, Dalston Jazz Bar is the lowkey party spot that you need have in your back pocket for those 'where shall we go now?' weekend moments. Don't miss their fabulous fish either – there's a 'pay what you want' menu of oysters, tiger prawns, mussels and more, and you pay what you think it's worth to help cover the live music (and it's definitely not all jazz, btw). 

A friendly, vibey cocktail bar with famous Pamelas honoured in pictures on the walls. Cocktails are bright and summery and the beer list is down to earth. Best of all, if you can prove your name is also Pamela, your first round is on the house.