Drink
The Dorchester had a big refurb in 2023, part of which was the transformation of The Bar at The Dorchester into Vesper Bar. Redesigned by Martin Brudnizki as an ode to the glamour and style of the 1930s, and to the hotel’s links with James Bond, the ornate interior includes a ’30s palladium leaf ceiling, art deco carpets, rich furnishings and a cosy snug. The cocktail menu features a mix of both classic drinks and signature serves inspired by the hotel – and martinis, of course, with The Vesper Martini being a thing of beauty. Dress up and pretend you’re 007 for the night.
Run by Thea Cumming & Lucia Massey, the team behind London Mezcal Week and Dangerous Don, Doña is a must-visit for mezcal fans – the spicy Mezcal Margaret and the mezcal Negroni are not to be missed. The bar, decked out with velvet seating, low lighting and lashings of crimson and scarlet, also hosts a range of regular community events, including cabaret, comedy and club nights.
A four-time winner of the World’s Best Bar Awards, Artesian at The Langham has a lofty reputation, and it’s well deserved. The bartending team are some of the best in the business, the space itself (with its signature purple chairs) is elegant and luxurious, and the drinks are knockout. New and creative techniques are used to extract the most amount of flavour from the ingredients used, which include the likes of kale (in a Martini), cep (in a twist on a Negroni) and gooseberry (in a Daiquiri-inspired serve). Artesian also collaborates with leading chefs on its bar bite menu – Angelo Sato of Humble Chicken and Chet Sharma of Bibi have both done it – so it’s worth grabbing a snack too.
First opened in Soho in 2016, the multi-award winning Swift (including Best New Bar at Tales of the Cocktail and regular listings in The World’s 50 Best Bars) has grown to three bars, with sites in Borough and Shoreditch. All three showcase the team’s superb hospitality and devotion to craft – the Irish Coffee is iconic – but we have a soft spot for the Soho original, with its bright upstairs bar; cocktail list divided into Delicate, Bright, Stiff and Rich sections; and moody downstairs drinking den, where there’s also an extensive whisky list on offer.
Formerly known as Kensington Roof Gardens, and once home to a flock of flamingos, under the ownership of Richard Branson, The Roof Gardens is now a members’ club, or as it bills itself, a “social club in the sky”. The venue, occupying the top floors and rooftop of its address, boasts a Spanish garden, a couple of restaurants, member lounges, a great bar and a good crowd.
Underneath modern Georgian restaurant Kinkally, which specialises in khinkali dumplings, you’ll find the minimalist subterranean Bar Kinky. It’s an intimate space, filled with metal, red lighting and about six seats. It’s worth nabbing one if you can because the drinks list is inventive to say the least. Flavour combos include vodka, cherry, thyme and goat’s cheese; rum, miso and Greek yoghurt; and gin, leeks, sage and cacao, so go with an open mind and put your trust in the bartenders.
George Hartshorn, owner of The Farrier in Camden, has gone east for his newest spot Clara’s, and rather than being a pub, it’s a deli, wine bar and bistro. Clara’s runs as a cafe and deli in the day, serving speciality coffee from Extract Coffee Roasters, pastries and breads from Dusty Knuckle, sandwiches and salads. The shelves are filled with top quality produce from suppliers like Flourish, Provisions, HG Walter and Neal’s Yard Dairy, so you can stock up on charcuterie, tinned fish, meats, cheese and more. The space then flips into a wine bar and dining room in the evenings, serving Mediterranean-inspired dishes like manchego fritti and braised rabbit, and low-intervention wines from across the UK and Europe. There’s surprisingly few wine bars in Shoreditch so Clara’s is a great place to go for some snacks and a glass or bottle of natural wine, and drink somewhere low-key that’s not a pub.
Stable Wines, located in Islington, is a seriously cool wine shop occupying a slightly random little space on Essex Road , which, in its last life, was a donut shop we don’t think we ever saw open. But all is not what it looks like from street level. Head downstairs and you’ll find a huge basement that was once an old bank. What used to be the gold bullion room is now a cosy space with a big shared table, surrounded by a circular wine wall. It shares DNA with its sister sites Goodbye Horses and The Dreamery: excellent wines, a short, sharp menu of wine bar dishes and plenty of hype, so expect the possibility of a queue. You can book for tables of six and above; otherwise, it’s walk-in only. The short menu changes often but you can expect dishes like Guinness rarebit oysters, a steak tartare on toast, a tomato tartine, the cult Goodbye Horses cheese toastie, a whole fried wheel of Mont D’Or, and chocolate mousse. These guys know their low-intervention wines, with plenty by the glass and bottles priced at retail plus a £20 corkage. Frankly, wine is the only thing you should be drinking here. From crisp pét-nats to skin-contact oranges and chilled reds, this place has them all.
The name of queer clubhouse Roses of Elagabalus gives you some clue as to what to expect from this Dalston bar – Roman emperor Elagabalus, depicted as smothering banquet guests with roses in a painting by Dutch artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, was known for his debauchery and gender fluidity. A nondescript door on Kingsland Road opens up into a luxurious multi-room space, which designer Domhnall Nolan has filled with plush fabrics, soft lighting, mirrored fireplaces, leopard-print carpets, chequerboard floors and plaster busts. It pays homage to 20th century cabaret clubs whilst still remaining modern and fresh. In short, it’s sexy. The Counter Room bar opens the space, which leads into the Erotic Library and the Cabaret Room, a performance space that hosts dinner and a show nights. There has been a rotating selection of kitchen residents, including Pasta Slut, Kenneth Lam, Maison Kim and Flock, who are currently in house serving rotisserie chicken and fries. Downstairs, the Powder Room acts as a both a bathroom and hangout space, Bar Berini, another cocktail bar Subrosa, and the bathhouse-inspired dance floor The Tank.
The Dover – one of London’s sexiest restaurants – has opened a new spot just a stone’s throw from the original. And while The Dover is all about ice cold martinis and a grown-up, see-and-be-seen atmosphere, The Dover Street Counter has a slightly younger, more playful edge. Expect elevated Americana diner grub, like purple potato crisps served with San Marzano tomato salsa and lime sour cream, a French Dip, disco fries, and warm apple and rhubarb pie with custard; a long list of margaritas; and whispers of a hidden invite-only club downstairs (you didn’t hear it from us). It’s a reasonably priced option in Mayfair, which is a rarity, and the menu is familiar and not overly fussy. It’s the kind of spot you pop into for a quick bite and maybe one drink… and the next thing you know it’s 2am on a Monday and you’re stumbling out of the basement club. Guilty.
There’s been a pub on this site in Clerkenwell since 1809, going through several incarnations (including The Red Lion, the Bull, Queen Boadicea, and the Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker) before reaching its current form, Dame Alice Owens. As well as a range of beers on the bar, the pub has a decent wine offering – it buys in small batches to keep it fresh – and the kitchen turns out pizzas topped with the likes of guanciale, courgette & ricotta and Turkish spiced lamb, red onion & feta.
Wine bar Oranj has been pouring natural wines and hosting chef residencies at its site on Bacon Street since 2022 and now it’s made the move to a bigger, better space complete with an outdoor kitchen. But they’ve not going far, moving just down the road to the Truman Brewery and taking over the former Big Chill site next to Rough Trade. And it’s not just the venue that’s changing – Oranj now has its first permanent chef. The menu includes dishes like Cantabrian anchovies with ham fat and olive oil, grilled oyster mushrooms, with cured egg yolk and duck fat, charred leeks with bottarga and black vinegar sauce, and grilled trout with brussel sprouts and morels. As you’d expect, there’s a great selection of natural, low intervention wines on offer, curated by founder Jasper Delamothe.
As the name suggests, The Colombian Coffee Company is all about showcasing the best coffee that Colombia produces. There are always a few varieties of single origin coffees on offer in the cafes, as well as Colombian pastries like empanadas and arepas, and you can get their coffee on subscription too. The business supports coffee-growing communities in Colombia by paying above market price to the farmers they work with, educating them about accessing the specialty coffee market abroad, and investing in creative projects that tell the stories of these communities.
We’re sycophants for the Public House Group – we’ve been to all their venues and, quite honestly, we’ve loved them all. The latest one in Marylebone follows a similar formula to The Hero and The Fat Badger: a casual pub below and dining rooms above, with white tablecloths, roaring fires, country pub-style interiors, and elevated pub food. The menu at The Hart features familiar British pub dishes made with ingredients from British farmers, producers, and even fresh produce from their own Market Garden at Bruern Farms. The snacks are generous, so if you go heavy on them, you might want to share a starter. The sardines on toast, the Jenga-like stack of cheese straw, the smoked eel with celeriac, the kedgeree, the steak and potatoes, and the banoffee pie are all winners. You’ll want to have a drink pre- or post-dinner in the bar below; if you can get a spot, that is. Alongside some great British beers, there’s a very good champagne by the glass (this is Chiltern Street, people): the Devaux Cœur de Blanc, a label we’ve spotted on the list at a few other great places lately.
Located right next to Bunhill Fields and about halfway between the Barbican and Old Street, the Artillery Arms makes for a great post-work pint as it doesn’t get as busy as some of the other pubs further into the City. It’s got a smart interior, plenty of classic beers on draught and in the fridge, there’s regular stand-up comedy and pub quizzes, and there’s a toastie menu should you get peckish.
If you don’t know this Richmond pub by name, you’ll almost certainly know it as the pub that floods. When high tide rolls in, the outdoor area at the riverside pub floods, so you either wade through the water (or climb over the tables) to dry land or you sit and brave it while the wellied-up pub stuff keep serving. You really should experience high tide at least once but if you really don’t want to get wet, the pub’s got cosy fireplaces, proper pub grub (including Sunday roasts and sandwiches) made with seasonal British produce, and Young’s ales inside.
Dalston fave 40FT Brewery has gone east for site number two and joined the Blackhorse Beer Mile in Walthamstow. A much bigger space – room for 100 inside and another 100 in the courtyard garden – and opening in the brand’s 10th anniversary year, the new 40FT will be hosting everything from family-friendly daytime events and food pop-ups to DJs and comedy nights. Of course, it’s also a place to grab a cold one, with 40FT beers like Disco Pils, Dalston Sunrise, hazy IPA Main Squeeze, West Coast IPA Rewind and nitro-stout Deep available to drink.
The George in Borough is the last surviving galleried inn in London, so it really is a unique pub. It’s likely that Shakespeare drank in The George and the pub was mentioned by Dickens in Little Dorrit. Rebuilt after the Southwark fire of 1676, the former coaching inn was used as a depot by the Great Northern Railway, and now it’s owned by the National Trust. Once you’ve had a chance to soak up the history, you’ve got a fully stocked bar, a menu of pub grub, sports on the telly, and a big beer garden to enjoy.
