Drink
Recently renovated after more than five years in business, Clapton wine bar Nobody Asked Me is back pouring the good stuff for the people of E5. Natural wines from across Europe is the bar’s specialty and there’s a regularly changing list, plus cocktails, beers, ciders and softies for the wine-averse. You can buy bottles to takeaway and there’s also a small plates offering if you wanna drink in, with raceltte (plus pickles, sautéed onions, baguette, saucisson, taralli, Dijon sauce and garlic potatoes) served on Saturdays.
The Baring in Islington has been one of the biggest success stories among the new wave of London food-first pubs. It opened to rave reviews in 2022 and has been perennially booked out for its high-class Sunday roast. And now the team, made up of Adam Symonds, Rob Tecwyn and Jay Styler, have done it again, taking over The Crooked Well in Camberwell and reopening it as The Kerfield Arms (the pub’s original name). It’s got the same signature stripped-back style as The Baring, and the food is perhaps even stronger. Don’t miss the taramasalata with chunks of warm pizza dough; the Cornish squid and lardo shish with a pul biber chilli oil; and the crispy pig cheek and smoked eel croquette swimming in a warm tartare sauce; the Swaledale rack of hogget with violet artichoke and bagna cauda; and the outrageous strawberry and chamomile custard doughnut. The Kerfield Arms also has a whole section that’s more pub-like, which is saved for walk-ins only. So you could quite happily pop in for a pint of Deya Tappy Pills or Lost & Grounded pale ale whenever you please.
Most of the week Metropolis runs as a strip club but every Saturday it turns into a night club, so the punters can also get in on the dancing action. Expect house, disco and dirty pop until 4am at Club Metropolis, otherwise look out for guest DJs and residencies from the likes of Homoelectric.
If you’re after a pint and somewhere to watch the footy, the Shacklewell Arms is happy to oblige, but really this backstreet dive pub in Dalston is all about the music. It’s become one of the best venues in the city to catch alternative bands and artists before they blow up, and the club night are always a vibe (and very sweaty too). LNZRT is behind the music programming – the biz also does Moth Club and Wide Awake Festival so you can be sure it’s always on point.
If you’re after some late-night action in north London, Slim Jim’s Liquor Store is where to go. With free entry, regular live music from grassroots artists and extensive stock of whiskey (over 90 different ones from around the world), the dive bar has become a firm fave for the city’s rockers and rollers. There’s live gigs every weekend but the music never stops at Slim Jim’s, thanks to it’s killer jukebox. And it’s open all week long too, closing at 1am on Sundays, 2am on Mondays – Wednesdays and 3am the rest of the week.
Brunch isn’t just for the weekend at Millfields Coffee, it’s a daily occurrence. This Clapton coffee shop serves up it from 9am – 4pm everyday, so you can have shakshuka, waffles with spiced ricotta and seasonal fruits, breakfast bao buns, and baked avo with fried eggs and avo whenever the mood takes you. There are also pastries and sandwiches on the menu (the bread comes from Charles Bakery) and the coffee is from Dark Arts Coffee. And it’s open into the evenings on Fridays and Saturdays, doing wines, beers and Mediterranean plates.
Situated at an absolutely prime position, Between the Bridges is an open-air bar and events venue right next to the Thames, just in between the Southbank Centre and the London Eye. It’s free to enter, so you can walk up and grab a beer or a cocktail – or some street food – and soak in the skyline sights. There’s also a huge programme of events that runs throughout the summer, featuring a number of special guests. There’ll be music from the likes of Guilty Pleasures, Old Dirty Brasstards, Barrioke, and Swiftogeddon; drag brunches with drag superstars; Whitney bottomless brunches; and more.
If you’re catching a show this summer, head out to the Forza Wine terrace at the National Theatre for some drinks beforehand. An extension of the restaurant, you can get snacks and Italian-ish plates plus wines, spritzes, negronis and spicy Palomas to sip on out in the sun.
If you want a few beers, maybe a marg or two, a few tacos and a quesadilla, head to El Camion in Soho. If you want your night to go from relaxed dinner to big night out, head downstairs to basement bar The Pink Chihuahua. Open until 3am, it’s always a vibe in the bar, partly because it’s pretty small, partly because you need a membership to get in, partly because the music is fun but mainly because the drinks are killer. The Pink Chihuahua is the last place that legendary bartender Dick Bradsell worked and he was known for his mega espresso martinis.
A Bar With Shapes for a Name, aka Shapes, aka yellow triangle red square blue circle, is a regular on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars in the UK list. Run by Remy Savage and Paul Lougrat, it’s become beloved by regulars for its Bauhaus-inspired design, lack of branded bottles (spirits are chosen through blind tastings) and punchy batched cocktails made using lab technology. It’s open until 4am so if you’re out and about in Dalston and aren’t ready to call it a night, you can drop in here for some excellent drinks.
BLOODsports is the new American-inspired ‘watching bar’ with a 2am licence from the MEATliquor team. There are 30+ screens inside the bar so you can watch sports day and night, or catch a horror movie in between games if that’s more your thing. There’s also karaoke, pool, pinball, arcade machines and a Psycho-themed photo booth to keep you entertained. During the day Hideout Coffee will be serving up coffee and doughnuts, with MEATliquor burgers, Monkey Fingers, Chicago dogs and a deep-fried bacon-wrapped hot dog hitting the menu from lunchtime. As well as beers, boilermakers and boozy slushies, the bar is doing a ‘Bloods & Drips’ menu, which includes tomato-based drinks, like Bloody Marys and Micheladas to soothe hangovers, and drips like negronis and martinis to retox with.
Umbrella Cider House in Bethnal Green, London’s first and only working cider house, is the latest venue from the team behind The Sun Tavern and Discount Suit Company. Naturally there’s plenty of cider on offer at the bar, including Umbrella London presses brewed on-site, with flavours like rhubarb and blackcurrant, plus beers from Two Tribes, wines, and bottled Umbrella Workshop cocktails. There’s a pool table, dartboard and DJ booth inside the Cider House but the 60-capacity terrace is where you want to be on a sunny day.
The Malt Haus is a new venue, social hub and community space in Walthamstow from the Pillars Brewery team. Part of the working brewery, it’s also a bar that showcases malt-based drinks, including beers from independent breweries and whiskey. There’s also an iceblock ageing cellar on site and a kitchen, which’ll be hosting residencies from guest chefs. The team have taken inspo from 60s and 70s listening bars and cocktail lounges for the Malt Haus, and as well as taking design cues from that era, it also has a low-tech feel – it’s all about conversation, connection and enjoying hospitality here.
Not-for-profit arts organisation Studio Voltaire in Clapham is home to the fourth site from the Crispin team. Crispin at Studio Voltaire focuses on produce from the British Isles and small and independent growers, with modern takes on British and European classics, fresh pasta, charcoal-grilled meat and fish, and comforting puds. Alexandra Price, who curates the wine list at the group’s three other sites, is doing the same in Clapham with a selection of accessible and sustainable wines on tap and a bottle list that focuses on artisanal winemakers. The design plays off the fact that the 50-cover restaurant is housed inside a gallery, taking inspiration from 90s Terence Conran venues like Blueprint Cafe (also located inside a gallery) and featuring bespoke commissions by artists Miranda Keyes and Barnaby Lewis.
If you’re looking for somewhere to watch Spurs, The Beehive is pretty hard to beat. The pub shows a range of sports but the atmsophere on Tottenham matchdays is top and there are screens throughout the venue so you won’t miss a kick. Bruce Stove Kitchen serves up a menu of pub grub classics, including roasts on Sundays, and they’ve got a dartboard and a pool table inside if you wanna make your own entertainment. The large beer garden is also a great spot to be when the sun is out.
The 57-room Broadwick Soho subscribes to the more-is-more philosophy, with lavish and glamorous interiors courtesy of Martin Brudnizki throughout the property. The hotel’s rooftop bar Flute, so named because Broadwick Street was home to a noted flute-maker in the 19th century, features an onyx-topped bar, cork walls, mirrored ceilings, palm motif carpets and animal print upholstery. There’s plenty to look at outside too with the wraparound terrace offering views over Soho. The cocktails take inspo from the films shot in and around the neighbourhood, like Mrs Henderson Presents (with pisco, vermouth, cynar and bitters) and The Look of Love (with tequila, pineapple, fennel pollen, sherry, chamomile and lime). There’s a food menu that includes oysters, tuna tostadas, beef sliders and lobster rolls but really the drinks are where it’s at up here.
GALLERY AT THE SAVOY
Gallery opened at The Savoy at the end of 2024 and in the space that used to house the Thames Foyer, and the new look, including marble, gold and plush banquettes, is a hit. Open all day, Gallery serves everything from breakfast to afternoon tea to dinner, where you can get everything from a pizza and a burger to Beluga caviar with blinis and tomahawk steak with peppercorn sauce. Come nighttime, Gallery turns into a cocktail bar and it’s a very chic spot for a glass of fizz or a martini.
In 2015, the Antwerp Arms (aka the Annie) in Tottenham became the first community-owned pub in the whole of north London (though the site has been a pub, under various different names, serving locals since the 19th century). When the building was put of for sale and threatened with redevelopment, a successful campaign got it listed as an Asset of Community Value and then it was purchased by the local community. Close to White Hart Lane, the pub’s been a popular spot with Spurs fans but there’s a lot for non-footy followers to love too, including real ales from local brewery Redemption and a pub grub menu from That Cook Shop.
