Drink
Not content with bringing us modern Peruvian food, pisco sours and cocktail slushies, NYC import Llama Inn is giving us a real Shoreditch suntrap. The restaurant’s terrace, which has room for 50, boasts uninterrupted City views and as much sunshine as possible thanks to a south-facing position. And with new dishes like lamb empanada with olives & aji chimichurri, braised leeks with aji gazpacho & yuzu, and grilled chicken with baby gem salad & aji crema joining classics like the scallop, yuzu kosho & nori ceviche and whole baked seabass, you’ve got even more reason to get up on that roof.
Mexican–Japanese fusion spot Los Mochis has opened a second site in the City, taking up residence in a 14,000 sq ft space on the rooftop of 100 Liverpool Street, comprising a dining room, an agaveria bar and lounge, two private dining rooms and a massive 3000 sq ft covered and heated terrace. Not only is it one of the largest outdoor terraces in the capital, it’s got a 3am license, so after feasting on tacos, kushiyaki and rare tequilas, you can party until the early hours.
THREE SHEETS SOHO
The original Three Sheets in Dalston is easily one of the best bars in London nd now founders Noel and Max Venning have just opened a white-hot new outpost in the heart of Soho. Three Sheets Soho is located on Manette Street in a nice old narrow site that’s been given a very plush makeover. Anyone familiar with the original will recognise the marble topped bar, dark green colour scheme and classy, minimal branding. The drinks menu is largely unique to Soho, with a short, sharp selection of elegant cocktails, including the Cherry Americano, the Mango Ice Tea (with Pickled Mango, Cloud & Lapsang Teas and Rum) the Sazzaquack, a spin on a Sazerac (with Seven tails XO, Mexican Oregano, Verbena Berry, Rooibos tea, and Lemon Absinthe) served in a glass with a cute little glass duck at the bottom! Three Sheets Soho also has a short food menu, courtesy of ex-Lyle’s chef and butcher William Blank, which includes some seriously good salt beef sandwiches, mustard-coated triple cooked chips, and fresh oysters. A breakfast menu is available until noon too, featuring pastries and Dead Good coffee.
THE BRICKLAYERS ARMS
Great staff, real ales on the bar, a pool table, screens for when the footy’s on, The Bricklayers Arms has everything you could want from a local pub. That means it’s a pretty popular spot but it always has a great atmosphere.
THE COCK TAVERN
This classic Irish pub near King’s Cross is perfect for escaping the hustle of the city. It’s specifically known for the atmosphere during a game, especially when Celtic is playing, along with friendly staff and an interesting mix of customers. Good prices and great pints, what more could you want?
THE CROWN
The Crown has a traditional and old-school vibe that locals love. They may not have the best selection of real ales but they pour a mean pint of Guinness, and they’ve got a dart board, the true marker of a proper boozer. If you don’t fancy a game of darts, there’s usually sport on the TV.
Enjoy a mean pint of Guinness and real ales on tap at this award winning traditional Victorian pub in South East London. Catch a game on one of the four screens, hang out in the child-friendly garden or warm up in the colder months by the fire. They’ve been named CAMRA South East London Pub of the Year twice so you can expect a great atmosphere along with qaulity bevs.
It’s only open three days a week but this wine bar and shop is worth seeking out for its organic and low-intervention wine. Pop in for a glass and bar snacks or book in for a dinner of European-inspired small plates (the white bean dip and the cheese & shallot galette are winners), or head in for one of the regular wine workshops. If you don’t feel like leaving the house, there is free shipping for most of south London or on orders of more than 12 bottles.
This proper Irish pub is in the heart of Shoreditch, underneath Richard Corrigan’s Daffodil Mulligan restaurant and claims to pour the best Guinness in London. The Gibney family is nearing a century in the pub business in Ireland and opened their London location in 2020. You can also find Gibney’s Stout, Irish whiskies, Irish liqueurs and cocktails on offer at the bar plus snacks like spiced lentil scotch eggs, black pudding croquettes and dressed oysters. Whether you pop in for the drinks, to dance to live music or catch the big game, you can be sure of receiving the very best in Irish hospitality.
At the end of Mare Street in Hackney, The Crown Pub is a traditional boozer with a well-stocked bar and a cosy pub garden. Attached to it is a guesthouse with seven rooms, so you can even bed down for the night. Whether you’re coming for a quick drink or sleeping over, The Crown hosts lots of events including sport on the TV, trivia every Thursday and live music on Fridays.
COACH & HORSES
This welcoming pub may be one of the smaller ones in Covent Garden but the atmosphere is always top notch, and it provides a safe haven amidst the sea of tourists. The Irish influence is strong here, so you can be sure of a cracking pint of Guinness, along with other beers and whiskey.
Farm Shop is an excellent new food shop and butcher in Mayfair run by Artfarm, the hospitality arm of Hauser & Wirth. They also have The Fife Arms in Scotland, Mount St and The Audley just up the road, and their original farm shop down in Somerset, which is attached to their gallery and Durslade Farm. The shop upstairs is stocked full of their own produce and man there is some good stuff in there, from rhubarb curd and chutneys to chocolates, cheese, and fresh veg. All of which would be enough to recommend stopping by there, but we haven’t even mentioned best part yet – the cute wine bar downstairs, which is open from 12pm to 10pm every day apart from Sunday. It’s a nice casual space (especially for Mayfair) with terracotta tile floors, wooden bistro chairs, marble tables, and shelves lined with gleaming bottles. The wine list offers a solid line up of champagnes, old world classic wines, and even a few natural wines from around the world, and there’s a very respectable amount available by glass or carafe. There’s also a good selection of UK wines, including three wines from Artfarm’s own Bacchus winery in Somerset, and a superb pinot noir from Danbury Ridge in Essex. To eat, there’s classic wine bar snacking, including charcuterie, cheese boards, steak tartare, and pickles.
Over in Leytonstone, wine bar and shop Dina has been serving up seasonal and newly-released natural wines from small-scale producers since 2021. There’s always a reason to come back as the by-the-glass list changes daily and there’s a cold plates snack menu on offer, plus Dina also plays host to top-tier guest chefs for pop-ups and supper clubs. It’s exactly the kind of bar you’d want as your local.
Finley’s, founded by Sia Smith, is standing out from the crowd thanks to its focus on products from women-made businesses. All about celebrating the diversity of the local community, the Hoxton bar stocks an ever-changing range of wines from female winemakers, like Little Frances and Vins Et Volailles, as well as beers from Queer Brewing. Sommelier Eleonora Kausinyte (of Maison François and Brat) is in charge of the list so you’re in good hands when it comes to the vino.
FREDDLES
What do you get when you combine a half-French, half Vietnamese, graphic designer/computer science engineer/bartender with one of the most irreverent kitchens in London and a healthy amount of pink paint? The answer is Freddles. The intimate cocktail bar sits underneath Papi in London Fields with Thomas Auger in charge. Operating as a distinct venue (and not just an extension of the restaurant) Freddles is very much Thomas’s playground. There’s a red glittery floor and a hot pink bar. The lighting is as low as the pop bangers are loud. The menu is his imagination distilled into twelve drinks, like the Iron Bruda (made with peated scotch, Japanese plum, Irn-Bru and citrus), the Purple Heat (made with spicy winter veg, tequila, port and mezcal), and the Rhubarbie Doll (made with lacto-fermented rhubarb, vodka, vanilla, citrus and rose). And you can pair your bevs with bar snacks like curry corndogs and duck currywurst courtesy of the Papi kitchen.
BRUNO
Sager + Wilde founder Michael Sager is following up his Hackney cocktail bar Equal Parts with a new wine bar and bottle shop in Victoria Park Village. Bar Bruno, named for his father, has taken over the converted stable space held by the Place Next Door, and it’s an intimate little spot with candles on the go and bottles of wine lining the walls. The natural wines come from producers that Sager has a direct relationship with, so you can be sure you’re only getting the good stuff, and you can pair your drinks with charcuterie boards and filled soft pretzels.
YUKI BAR
Named after owner Yukiyasu Kaneko, who has years of experience as a sommelier and has worked at NOMA and P.Franco, this wine bar tucked into the railway arches in London Fields is his debut solo project. It’s an intimate spot serving up an interesting bottle selection featuring some of the best natural wines out there (including some rare ones) and a snack menu that has both Japanese and European influences.
THE DEVONSHIRE
The Devonshire was opened by publican Oisín Rogers, the recognisable face and name behind Mayfair’s Guinea Grill until his departure in 2022, and Flat Iron founder Charlie Carroll at the end of 2023 and became an instant hit. It’s based out of a historic inn on Denman Street that dates back to 1793, with a top-quality pub downstairs and a restaurant upstairs (headed up by Ashley Palmer-Watts of The Fat Duck and Dinner by Heston). The food’s all about the restaurant’s wood-ember grill – the menu includes beef chops and ribeyes, Iberico pork ribs, lamb hotpot, creel-caught langoustines, hand-dived scallops and prime day boat fish on offer – but there’s also a selection of bar food, like scotch eggs, bacon sarnies, sausage rolls and cheese & ham hock toasties. It’s also arguably got the best pints of Guinness in town, so it’s worth fighting for that spot at the bar.