Drink
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.
James Dye (co-owner The Camberwell Arms, Frank’s, and Bambi), Benjy Leibowitz, (formerly of JKS, inHouse and The NoMad in NYC) and Patrick Powell (ex-Allegra, Midland Grand Dining Room and Chiltern Firehouse) have restored historic Shoreditch pub The Knave of Clubs back to its former glory. Patrick and fellow chef Attila Gellen have created a concise menu of dishes that fit the relaxed vibe of the pub, including upgraded pub snacks (like venison sausage rolls and prawn scotch eggs) and rotisserie chicken. The birds, sourced from Turner & George, come in whole or half portions (we recommend getting it with the chermoula spices for an extra citrusy hit), are soft and succulent, and come with insanely crunchy roasties cooked in chicken fat, a sharp green salad, aioli and slices of baguette. The bar is stocked with beers from independent breweries, Guinness and Allsopp’s Double Diamond, plus there’s a short wine list on offer and they do a mean negroni too.
The Man of Kent team reckon that they do the best pint of Guinness in south London, so if you’re a fan of the black stuff, it’s gotta be worth a visit – for research purposes of course. If you’re not, there’s plenty more to enjoy at this Nunhead boozer, including sports screenings, karaoke nights, live music, picnic tables out front to soak up the sun (when it appears) and a decently priced beer selection on at the bar.
Nunhead may not have the same great weather as Spain but it does have the same great vermouths thanks to El Vermut. Naturally the bar on Nunhead Green has a cracking selection of vermouths, including Falset, El Bandarra, Fotil and Valdovinos, but it’s also got wines, beers and it does a mean negroni too. The bar also hosts regular supper clubs so its worth keeping an eye on out its socials to see who’s coming up next.
Completing the Goodbye Horses trio, made up of the restaurant and wine bar, and coffee shop Day Trip, is ice cream parlour The Dreamery. The space, dominated by a large stainless steel bar, is serving up a seasonally changing menu of ice creams created by Jack Coggins, Head Chef at Goodbye Horses, with flavours like Christmas pudding, gingerbread, mint chocolate chip, croissant, and custard. And if you want a drink to go with your scoops, there’s a selection of light glou-glou wines from small and indie producers on offer too.
Built in 1936 for Truman’s Brewery and now Grade II-listed, the Army & Navy is a proper old-school boozer. Not much has changed in terms of the look of this pub – yes there’s still carpet on the floor – except there are TVs inside now showing sports, and the big garden has been given lots of covering so you can enjoy drinks al fresco whatever the weather. The Army & Navy also hosts a cracking karaoke night so you can belt out your faves after sinking a few reasonably priced pints of Murphy’s. And if you have a feeling that you recognise the pub even if you haven’t been in before, it was used a filming location for Baby Reindeer.
Michaela Zelenanska has form when it comes to east London railway arches. She already runs Arch Deli, a natural wine and craft beer store, bar and deli, in one of the railway arches on Leytonstone’s Grove Green Road, and now she’s taken on another, just up the road by Leyton Midland station for natural wine bar Swirl. Opened in partnership with Pandemonium Wines, an importer that specialises in small-batch and low-intervention wines from Czech and Slovak producers, the bar features an interesting list with a great by-the-glass selection, and all the wines can be purchased to take home too. Swirl also serves a small plates menu to go with the vino (like Neal’s Yard cheese toasties, gildas, and tuna romesco with rosemary crackers) but keep an eye on the IG as guest chefs will be popping up here as well.
An open air bar in the courtyard of an old mechanics workshop, serving natural wine and Danish craft cider – Autopoul is as Copenhagen as it gets. Only open in the spring and summer, this is a brilliant place to stop for a drink on a sunny afternoon or evening. Drinks are ordered from the mobile trailer and tables and chairs are of the white plastic variety but what Autopoul lacks in comfort it makes up for with big vibes. There’s regular food pop-ups too, so you could easily spend a few hours here.
The Ned is full of places to grab a bite to eat or stop for a drink but Millie’s Lounge, set in the Grand Banking Hall, has got to be one of the most impressive. Settle into one of the comfy booths, order up some British classics like dressed crab, fish & chips with mushy peas, and chicken pie, or treat yourself to afternoon tea, and indulge in a spot of people watching.
Formerly hidden underneath Smithfield market, Oriole 2.0 is now open in Covent Garden. There is something for every taste bud at Oriole, with an impressive cocktail offering across both floors. If you’re upstairs in the Bamboo Bar, you can try some of their cocktails on tap or opt for the Chincha Alta, a light, fizzy and refreshing serve, with a side of juicy mango sorbet. Downstairs, the must-order has to be the Belle Mare. Best enjoyed with the live jazz, this cocktail is Oriole’s take on a martini and is very palatable. Not only does it taste good, it looks stunning too, coming in a shell-like glass complete with its very own rock pool garnish. If you’re dining downstairs and looking to enjoy plenty of food, opting for the bar’s three-course dinner and a show menu may be more savvy.
The Holly Bush is an old-fashioned pub right in the heart of Hampstead. The Grade II-listed building was built in the 1790s and started operating as a pub in 1928, and it’s been popular with locals for almost a century, including the likes of Liam Gallagher. The Holly Bush is now owned by Fuller’s (thankfully the charming interiors haven’t really been touched) so the bar is well stocked and the kitchen is turning out decent gastropub fare. It is on the top of a hill so you’ll work up a nice thirst on the way there, making that first pint taste even better.
There’s nothing quite like an afternoon in the pub after a long walk, and The Spaniards Inn is the perfect place to relax after doing a loop of Hampstead Heath. The Grade II-listed pub, at the top end of the Heath not far from Kenwood House, is one of the oldest (and most haunted – watch out for the ghost of Dick Turpin) pubs in London, having been established in 1585. Charles Dickens mentioned the pub in The Pickwick Papers, as did Bram Stoker in Dracula, and it’s allegedly the place where Keats wroteOde to a Nightingale, so it’s not short on history. With cosy interiors, an open fire, a walled beer garden, craft beers and cask ales on tap, a modern gastropub menu and a cracking Sunday roast, it’s got everything else you could want from a pub too. If you look in One Direction you’ll get a Style for the place – yes a certain Harry lives next door.
