Cocktail Bars in London: The Ones Worth Knowing

London has more good cocktail bars than any city in Europe, and the difference between them is less about the drinks than about the room. A bar built for conversation, a bar built for spectacle and a bar built for a nightcap are three different evenings. These are the ones worth knowing, by the kind of night you want.

The grand hotel bars

The Connaught Bar in Mayfair, with its martini trolley wheeled to the table, is the one most often named the best in the world, and expect around £25 to £35 a drink there. The American Bar at the Savoy has been serving since the 1890s and sits a little below that. The Beaufort Bar across the Savoy’s lobby is darker and more theatrical. These rooms are expensive, worth it once, and the right answer when you want an evening to feel like an occasion.

Book, and check the dress code: several still turn away trainers and sportswear.

The serious drinks bars

Nightjar in Shoreditch, with live music and a basement room, built its name on drinks nobody else was making. Tayēr + Elementary in Old Street splits itself in two: a standing bar at the front for a quick, perfect drink, and a seated room behind it. Swift in Soho does the same trick across two floors, the ground floor for an aperitivo and the basement for whisky and jazz.

The hidden ones

London’s speakeasy tradition is covered properly in our guide to speakeasy bars in London: bars behind fridge doors, down unmarked stairs and through back rooms. They are fun the first time and genuinely good drinking after that.

The neighbourhood ones

Satan’s Whiskers in Bethnal Green is the bartenders’ own bar, with a menu rewritten daily and no bookings. Bar Termini in Soho is a tiny Italian counter doing negronis and coffee. These are the places to go when you want a real drink without the production.

How to drink well in London

• Book anywhere seated. The best small bars fill by eight on a Thursday.
• Ask the bartender. In a good bar, saying what spirits you like and letting them choose beats reading the menu.
• Know the going rate. A neighbourhood bar is about £13 to £18, a good cocktail bar £14 to £20, and the grand hotel bars £24 to £35, with twelve and a half per cent service added. Happy hours at places such as Swift bring that down considerably.
• Go early for conversation. Most cocktail bars are quiet until nine and loud after ten.
• Check the dress code at hotel bars before you set off.

For a view with the drink, see rooftop bars in London; for the wider list, the best bars in London; and for dinner first, where to eat. If you would like company for the evening, our London escorts know these rooms well.

From the concierge: bars change their hours, menus and booking policies often, and some close for refurbishment at short notice. Check before you set off.