The best cocktail bars in London

What’s the vibe? Seriously laid back, and lively without being overbearingly noisy.

When to visit When you want to chill with a proper West End cocktail – but without paying Belgravia prices.

What’s on the menu? Flawless classics that don’t try to improve on what’s already perfect.

What’s the vibe? A down-to earth tiki dive bar in a converted store halfway down a traditional London marketplace.

When to visit When you want to drink cheap cocktails while soaking up kitsch beach bar vibes.

What’s on the menu? The £7 Ginger Mojito may not be the most sophisticated drink in the city, but we love it because it tastes great and comes without a drop of pretension.

What’s the vibe? Two star bartenders and their hotly anticipated two-part bar. Elementary is in the front, a laidback daytime hangout serving pre-batched party drinks. Tayēr is in the back and is like a very cool house party but with elevated tipples.

When to visit When you’re hungry. Past kitchen residencies include one from cult sando-makers Tā Tā Eatery.

What’s on the menu? It’s hard to pin down since it’s a constant evolution, particularly in Tayēr. But don’t miss the frozen cocktail in Elementary, which changes on a regular basis, or the One-Sip Martini, a riff on an iconic cocktail.

What’s the vibe? Upstairs is a light-filled aperitif bar, downstairs is a brooding basement with a whisky library. Both are brought to you by a world-class drinks team.

When to visit It’s great for a first date. If it’s going well, you can take it downstairs. Wink, wink.

What’s on the menu? The Sgroppino is a prosecco cocktail filled with lemon sorbet. Unmissable.

What’s the vibe? Lively and always busy, but quiet because of its size.

When to visit Early evenings are perfect for a cocktail before dinner in Soho.

What’s on the menu? Italian classics, short and strong. The Spritz never tasted so good.

What’s the vibe? Upmarket mixed drinks in a down-to-earth and devilishly cool location.

When to visit Thursday night; the weekend starts early here.

What’s on the menu? Some of the best cocktails to be found in Bethnal Green’s burgeoning booze scene.

What’s the vibe? Diminutive Dalston bar and café run by by brothers Max and Noel Venning and filled with friends.

When to visit When you fancy cocktails on a laidback, neighbourhood level and lit by candlelight.

What’s on the menu? Seasonal drinks with cute little tweaks, like a perfect, pre-batched French 75 poured from a champagne bottle at your table.

What’s the vibe? From the team who brought you White Lyan, Super Lyan and Dandelyan, here comes Lyaness. Mr Lyan’s latest bar occupies the same spot as Dandelyan but has a radical new approach to cocktails.

When to visit When you want drinking to be a nerd-out experience.

What’s on the menu? The whizz kids behind the bar have created seven new ingredients (‘infinite banana’ and ‘ultra raspberry’ among them) that form the pillars of a wildly inventive cocktail menu. The White Sbagliato is among our faves.

What’s the vibe? People-watching with the 1 percent.

When to visit As close to late night as possible – at least you can pretend you’ve got a room upstairs…

What’s on the menu? Make your first stop the martini menu. A trolley is wheeled to your table and the drink’s made right before you.

What’s the vibe? Edgy Bethnal Green setting with chic French influence and a gold-coin-covered bar.

When to visit Monday and Wednesday nights, when live piano music is paired with your cocktails.

What’s on the menu? The Champagne Piña Colada is the stuff of local legend. But drinks made with calvados (French apple brandy) are worth seeking out, too.

What’s the vibe? If Rick James and Jay Gatsby got together to throw a bash, it would probably look like this hotel bar.

When to visit Head here to kick off an evening on the tiles.

What’s on the menu? The Vesca Negroni is an instant London classic.

What’s the vibe? Eye-opening dusky glamour any time of the day.

When to visit To remind yourself that such places exist in your city. Make the most of them!

What’s on the menu?
 Champagne cocktails. Loads of them. What more of an excuse do you need?

What’s the vibe? A home away from home with chummy staff, a wall of vinyl to be treated as your own hipster jukebox and a ‘fam’ photo wall.

When to visit When you’re seeking neighbourhood vibes in the centre of town.

What’s on the menu? The FAM margarita, which is made with white grapefruit and agave. 

What’s the vibe? A child to South African restaurant Kudu, which has relocated to – strangely –  flouncy dress brand Rixo's King's Road store in Chelsea.

When to visit While you're picking up a new frock and need some booze to loosen up your wallet.

What’s on the menu? Reimaginings of the classics using ingredients native to South Africa, from a Braai Negroni with redberries infused smokey whiskey to a Cape Old Fashioned, with dark chocolate and smoke wood essence.

What’s the vibe? A veritable disco lounge with a stonking sound system courtesy of the musos behind Spiritland.

When to visit When you feel like getting into the groove as well as the booze, head on down on Wednesday to Saturday, 5.30pm to 7pm, for the capital’s most fun happy hour aka 'Aperitivo Hour'.

What’s on the menu? The cocktails here are either vermouth-heavy or a revamped take on one of the classics.

What’s the vibe? Undeniably cool yet unpretentious hangout along the Crouch End Broadway.

When to visit Visit when you’re in need of a fancy drink fix but could do without the pace of central and east London.

What’s on the menu? One of the best Bellinis in north London.

What’s the vibe? Casual, sunny and funny – and always vibey at weekends.

When to visit Weekdays are chill-days, but this is Notting Hill and a party is never far away.

What’s on the menu? Cheeky tiki drinks with a massive measure of fun.

What’s the vibe? Oskar Kinberg’s dark drinking den beneath Hide, a swanky restaurant from star chef Ollie Dabbous.

When to visit Head here when your tastebuds need awakening.

What’s on the menu? Cocktails with weird and wonderful spirits at their core. Holy Water is made up of a Macallan 12 year old sherry oak Scotch malt whisky, Companero rum, Amontillado sherry and palo santo. 

What's the vibe? A young crowd who know a good drink – and a good time – when they taste one.


When to visit On an east London cocktail crawl.

What’s on the menu? Cocktails are often served in unusual glassware (and ceramicware) with wacky garnishes, candy floss or noodles among them.

What’s the vibe? Ultimate self-indulgent luxury in three tiny, cosseting rooms.

When to visit A great place for a hot but quiet date.

What’s on the menu? All the classics, but it has to be a Martini. Just the one.

What’s the vibe? Big chill: laughing locals quaffing classy cocktails
.

When to visit On an East End night out that needs something a bit classy.

What’s on the menu? No-messing-about twisted classics, all done perfectly.

What’s the vibe? Prohibition chic with a tasteful infusion of twenty-first-century cool.

When to visit When you’ve got someone special to impress.

What’s on the menu? Bold drinks with a cheeky, anything-goes approach to ingredients.

What’s the vibe? Exotic-looking hotel bar filled with taxidermy/art as you’ve never seen before.

When to visit Make Waeska your show-off base – it’s ideal for meetings or rendezvous of the less formal kind.

What’s on the menu? Cocktails that looks as mad as the art, but taste impressively polished. Make mine a Voodo, with Frangelico, Baileys and maple syrup. 

What’s the vibe? A sweet and stylish cocktail boudoir owned by the team behind top restaurants The Palomar and The Barbary.

When to visit For cosseted drinking in among chic details and French-accented staff.

What’s on the menu? Achingly on trend tipples, from mezcal- and bourbon-based cocktails to rum and vermouth numbers.

What’s the vibe? Money without snootiness. It's pricey but not pretentious. 

When to visit Earlier in the evening to get a table without a long wait. Later in the day for people watching.

What’s on the menu? It pushes the envelope with some brave experimentation, but these eagle-eyed bartenders never miss the bullseye.

What’s the vibe? East London ‘agaveria’ Hacha channels a bit of authentic Mexico via its knowledgable owner, tequila ambassador Deano Moncrieffe.

When to visit When you want a laid-back education on mezcal and its saucy siblings.

What’s on the menu? The bar’s hot line-up of agave-based spirits is weaved into magical cocktails, including the dazzling Mirror Margarita – a see-through take on the classic.

What’s the vibe? A bar of two halves in West Hampstead: upstairs is a shiny spot serving low-abv bevvies, while the basement is a darkened whisky den.

When to visit This bar works for any mood, whether you’re playing the part of designated driver or party animal.

What’s on the menu? On our last visit we enjoyed The Everlong, an effervescent alcohol-free joy, and the Diamond in the Rough which contains three different whiskies.

What’s the vibe? Irish-run Homeboy is a packed and party-ready bar that serves sharp cocktails alongside pints of Guinness.

When to visit Bring your group of six – there’s plenty of room for a session on the craic.   

What’s on the menu? Irish whiskey-based drinks, from an Irish Coffee to a Wogan.

What’s the vibe? Spitalfields hip meets City money, but the only sparks fly from the dreamy drinks.

When to visit For an evening of serious cocktail love, or just while waiting for a table at one of Spitalfields' finest. 

What’s on the menu? Serious, complex cocktails, with brown spirits prominent.

What’s the vibe? A west London hotel bar that’s actually buzzing. Oak-paneled, marble-topped, velvet-lined, classy as hell.

When to visit Make it an all-nighter at K Bar. You’ll struggle to find better drinks in the vicinity.

What’s on the menu? Dessert drinks for the dreamiest of nightcaps.

What’s the vibe? A quirky but classy hideout serving some of the best cocktails in east London.

When to visit: If you want to avoid the masses when out on a big one (or as big as it can get right now!) in the 'Ditch.

What’s on the menu? Flavours from all around the world. 

What’s the vibe? London Bridge’s very own tropical basement hideaway.

When to visit After dark when the disco-lounge soundtrack truly hits the spot.

What’s on the menu? Cocktails with a conscience – this bar operates a zero waste policy – and with a kick.

What’s the vibe? A subterranean hideout metres from the Old Street roundabout.

When to visit If you don’t want live music (and a cover charge), early evening’s best.

What’s on the menu? Some of the most madcap/inventive cocktails in London, which hark back to various drinking eras; Pre-Prohibition, Prohibition and Post-War.

What’s the vibe? A neighbourhood bar in Peckham with as much emphasis on big tunes as there is on big drinks.

When to visit Warm up for the weekend with a Thursday night trip. There’s no way of leaving without at least a light buzz from all that funk. 

What’s on the menu? Cocktails help you get funked up, too – from a Fela Kuti-inspired sour to a Holy Negroni.

What’s the vibe? A tiki paradise on Upper Street.

When to visit When you can no longer handle London’s grey skies.

What’s on the menu? Rum – and lots of it. Order in a punchy cocktail by using a buzzer at your table (told you it was paradise!).

What’s the vibe? A tiny little room with a loose Prohibition theme is low-key enough to let the focus fall on cocktail wizardry.

When to visit Later on in the week when there’s a bit more of a buzz about the place and flapper girl table service feels totally acceptable.

What’s on the menu? Mind-blowing drinks served in even madder glassware.

What’s the vibe? Unstuffy hotel bar with an English-gents-club-meets-library look, the cabinets filled with booze rather than books.

When to visit Early evening when a jazz duo twangs away by the door – pull up a stool at the bar for drinks with a view.

What’s on the menu? Drinks inspired by Tarot cards from 1910, which were designed by the bohemian occultist Pamela ‘Pixie’ Colman Smith. Magic. 

What’s the vibe? The London outpost for the Standard Hotel has a very cool bar despite its incredibly retro, TfL-inspired look.

When to visit The post-work King’s Cross crowd files in, but you should also time a trip to coincide with one of the lobby’s brilliant events – including live jazz and slamming DJ sets.

What’s on the menu? Rum punch on tap, a Bergamot Spritz and the Last Word, with gin, chartreuse, maraschino and lime.

What’s the vibe? Spend a night in the cells you’ll want to remember at this former police station turned cocktail bar and bottle shop.

When to visit Movie nights pair booze with blockbusters: sip white russians with The Dude.

What’s on the menu? Gin-leaning spins on the cocktail classics, from modern Gimlets to funky margaritas.

What’s the vibe? Drinking palace below Dishoom with just a touch of the speakeasy about it.

When to visit Off-peak times when you can sneak in for a gin.

What’s on the menu? Gin-based drinks with a warm and spicy twist.

What’s the vibe? A hotel bar and foliage-filled paradise just off the exhaust-choked corner of Trafalgar Square.

When to visit When your house plant collection is feeling a little lacklustre.

What’s on the menu? Tropical elixirs that suit the near-jungle-like surrounds. The Lion's Tooth is a concoction of beeswax washed Ketel One Vodka, Granny Smith and crab apple home-made cordial, dandelion infused pommeau and apple leather.

What’s the vibe? Victorian explorer’s curiosity-filled abode, with spiffing cocktails.

When to visit For a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.

What’s on the menu? The sense of frivolity extends to the cocktail menu, but all drinks are made with real skill.