London has loads of lovely beer gardens, but there’s nothing like a rooftop bar when the temperature heats up. The combo of a killer view and a punchy cocktail sipped against the city's skyline is unbeatable. And that skyline looks pretty damn good from a Shoreditch vantage point, too. Here are east London’s brightest and best rooftop bars.
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Clamber up to the very top of the sleek, Scandi-style One Hundred Shoreditch hotel and you'll find a lush rooftop retreat called Kaso. Up on the seventh floor it's all terrazzo tiles, panoramic views, and of course cocktails. Chef Ilknur Celik serves up dishes inspired by Istanbul and drinks fit nicely; there's a Margarissa with tequila, harissa, lime and agave, and a Kasonist with Greek wine, vodka, watermelon shrub and soda.
A sprawling bar-club hybrid, with a rooftop that gets a new, ever-more-vibrant theme with every changing of the season. It's currently celebrating Latin culture, with tequila, tacos and - hopefully, a shed-load of sunshine.
This unsurprisingly popular spot also contains a hotel, restaurant, and a ground-floor brasserie. Aside from the wood-burning fire and the dramatic panorama of the City skyline after dark, there’s a weather-proof orangery with floor to ceiling glass walls, allowing the dining area to stay open in all weathers.
This dizzyingly high viewing platform-meets-cocktail bar can be found up in the Heron Tower, also home to Duck & Waffle. The outdoor terrace is a sight to behold, with an enormous tree sculpture that sparkles after sunset.
Culpeper – named after Nicholas Culpeper, the seventeenth-century English herbalist, who lived in nearby Spitalfields – is a tonic for any East Ender. A gastropub which grows its salads and herbs in planters on the roof garden, you can sit up there too, and eat from a seasonal menu under the sun while sipping wine. Ideal.
This 10th floor bar-restaurant with a roomy open-air terrace at Finsbury Square’s Montcalm Hotel has killer panoramic view, and was once hugely popular with the post-work crowd. Cuddle up on modernist furniture and sink spritzes till the sun don’t shine.
Looking for somewhere with a buzz? Well it’s all about the party at this quirky cocktail bar on Singer Street, just around the corner from Old Street tube. Check their listings for regular DJ nights and ticketed parties, with Afrobeats and house music a speciality.
Formerly a bog-standard boozer, now a wannabe-boho hangout off Hoxton Square, with pizza on the menu and beer-engulfed benches on the roof. Compared to some of Shoreditch’s busier, rooftop hotspots, this one is a bit more down-to-earth.
This Camra award-winning boozer with a traditional feel serves up craft beer and modern food – and it has a relatively green roof terrace hidden above it.
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