Drink
CLARENCE TAVERN
Clarence Tavern is the true definition of a ‘neighbourhood pub’ with a lunch and dinner offering that spans way beyond the realms of your average pub grub. Heady pub bangers are chalked up on the blackboard for you to dither and deliberate over each day. Some recent standouts have been braised pork shoulder with grilled radicchio & pickled damson, roast skate wing with purple sprouting broccoli & bernaise butter and fennel, Swiss chard & St James gratin. There are plenty of dishes for two like slow-cooked lamb and gratin dauphinois for couples who can’t resist the temptation of their partner’s plate. Not to mention orange wine by the litre for grape lovers who can’t get enough of the skin contact.
PECKHAM CELLARS
Peckham Cellars, the wine bar, bottle shop and restaurant in, er, Peckham, run by Helen Hall (who’s worked at Rovi), Luke West-Whylie (ex-Marcella and Jones Family Kitchen) and Ben McVeigh (formerly head sommelier at 28-50 Fetter Lane), with ex-Crispin chef Henry Freestone heading up the kitchen, has only been open since late 2019 but it’s already made quite the mark, winning a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the 2021 awards. As you’d expect from a wine bar, Peckham Cellars is well stocked with over 150 bottles available. There’s a particular focus on small-scale producers and their selection gets updated all the time, and if there’s something you really enjoy drinking in there are plenty of wines available to buy from the Peckham Cellars bottle shop should you want to continue the party at home. The food menu changes seasonally but always sticks to that simple style of cookery that lets the produce shine and is all about flavour rather than unnecessary bells and whistles – expect dishes like winter tomatoes & olive oil, butter beans with parmesan, burrata with pickled pears & walnuts, and mushroom & rosemary croquettes.
RONDO
The ground floor of The Hoxton, Holborn is home to modern bistro Rondo offering a menu of seasonal, pared back British dishes. All meals at Rondo should begin with the cheese straws, before tucking into the likes of Cornish crab with cucumber & saur-fennel salad; venison haunch with red cabbage & swede mash; and roast Sutton Hoo chicken with creamed corn & Jerusalem artichoke. Rondo is as much about the wine as it is the food, as evidenced by an impressive wine wall at the back of the space, championing some of the best creative winemakers, and natty wine bar Rondo La Cave in the basement.
SOMA
If you’re a fan of the cocktails at Kricket, next time you’re at the Soho restaurant be sure to head next door to their cocktail bar SOMA. Named after the Hindu Moon God, SOMA is a modern take on the speakeasy, with most of the space set aside for walk-ins and a closing time of 3am. The 9-metre-long stainless steel bar takes centre stage in the indigo-walled room, where the bar team shake up drinks inspired by the Indian subcontinent. The cocktail list makes use of seasonal ingredients and spices whilst still sticking to a ‘less is more’ ethos, so you can expect drinks like Gooseberry Chaat Margarita (tequila, mezcal, gooseberry salt & chaat masala), a Coconut & Jaggery Old Fashioned (bourbon, jaggery, coconut & mace bitters) and Pickled Mooli Martini (vodka, curry leaf vermouth & lightly pickled mooli).
RONDO LA CAVE
If you’re after natty wine and a real good time, head downstairs at Rondo at The Hoxton, Holborn to Rondo La Cave. The wine bar boasts a banging list, including London’s largest selection of bubbles with wines and ciders like Tempranillo Joven – a red from Rioja, a hazy white fruity Ciello Blanco IGP from Sicily, Angol d’Amig-Scaramúsc from Veneto, a juicy, acidic and tannic Pet Nat Perry Pear Cider, and an electric Grüner Veltliner Smetana from Slobodne. The bar is also running as an incubator space, meaning there’ll be rotating roster of chefs and pop-ups hitting the stoves (Adam Rawson kicked things off with his Cantina Valentina concept) and serving up snacks to go with all that vino. It’s late night VIBES at Rondo La Cave, so you may plan to pop in for one glass but you won’t want to leave.
THE AUBIN ARMS
After a nine-year hiatus, British menswear brand Aubin is back and to celebrate they’ve transformed an iconic pub just around the corner from the brand’s first standalone store in Carnaby into The Aubin Arms. For two weeks, the pop-up will host traditional pub games, a gourmet pie night, radio takeovers and live DJ sets, as well as a menu featuring Aubin’s takes on classic pub snacks. There’s even a FREE drink on Aubin if you make a purchase in their brand-new store just next door. Cheers. Stay tuned for the best London sample sales news coming soon.
Located within Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, The Magazine is a swanky new sustainable restaurant slap bang in the middle of The Serpentine Gallery. With Slovakian-born chef Tomas Kolkus at the helm, it features a contemporary menu that focuses on seasonality and minimum waste. Expect the likes of Wye Valley Asparagus with Miso Aioli; Rope-Grown Mussels with Urfa and Rock Samphire; Slow-Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpea Stew, Dulse & Sea Buckthorn; and Agar Panna Cotta with Elderberry Syrup & Blackberries for pud. There’s also a lush outdoor terrace to take advantage of those Hyde Park views.
HECTOR'S
Hector’s, run by former Hill & Szrok partner Jimmy Stephenson and his wife actor Anna Shaffer (along with the backing of current Hill & Szrok owner Luca Mathiszig-Lee), takes inspo from the bars of Paris, San Sebastian and Lisbon, and brings those European vibes to De Beauvoir. During the day it runs as a coffee shop, serving pastries and Climpson’s brews, and a bottleshop stocked with a range of classic and natty wines. In the evenings (from Thurs – Sun), it flips into a wine bar with vino available by the glass and bottle, alongside small plates like Cantabrian anchovies in olive oil, courgette carpaccio with fresh cheese, tins of sardines on toast, pate-en-croute and bocadillos like tortilla with red peppers and jamon con tomate, with guest chefs coming in to cook too.
KOL MEZCALERIA
If you’re into tequila and mezcal, you need to get yourself down to KOL Mezcaleria, the bar underneath Santiago Lastra’s KOL. It’s a sexy basement place and really feels like you’re in Mexico City and not Marylebone. It’s all about agave spirits and the drinks from Maxim Schulte’s (former Head Bartender at The American Bar at The Savoy) cocktail list, like the Sloe & Grape Mezcal Negroni and the Sea Buckthorn & Corn French 75, are amazing. You can also snack on antojitos like mushroom adobados tacos, Kentish Oaxacan cheese quesadilla with fresh truffles, and octopus tostada with kombucha & pistachio whilst you drink – perfect if you haven’t managed to get a ressie for upstairs.
KRAFT DALSTON
KRAFT Dalston is now open at the new Kingsland Locke hotel and if you like your beer super fresh (and who doesn’t) then it doesn’t get much fresher than this. With an onsite microbrewery, there are several tanks on the basement level brewing different styles of tasty German beer which are then fed right up to tanks behind the bar, ready to pour into fresh, crisp pints and into your hand. Not only are these fantastic tasting beers, it’s also a very sustainable way of doing things with no canning, bottling, or transport necessary to get these beers into your glass. And as you’ll be no doubt be putting away a fair few pints once you’ve got started here, you will of course need some good drinking food – and luckily the boys at Le Bab are on hand with a brilliant menu of modern kebabs and mezze to see you through the night.
THE FOUR THIEVES
This place has got their own micro-brewery, a gin garden, a virtual reality games room, a retro arcade AND a totally bonkers racing car track so you defo won’t be getting bored here. This much-loved boozer is not only one of the best in Battersea but probably all of South London. Yeah, we said it.
Three friends teamed up to sail De Hoop (a 114-year-old Dutch Barge) from Holland to East London’s Hackney Wick, and after mooring up along the canal they’ve converted it into a floating restaurant and canal side garden which seats a whopping 300 people. Their menu focuses on street food classics, like buttermilk fried chicken burgers; bacon and sage scotch eggs; deep-fried apple tart; and roast beef buns, with locals East London Liquor Co, Beavertown and Three Choirs supplying the brews and cocktails. Whether it’s brunch, lunch or sometime in the evening, get yourself aboard.
THE LAUNDRY
Melanie Brown, the woman behind The New Zealand Cellar in POP Brixton, also runs all-day bistro and wine bar, The Laundry, just the other side of Brixton Village on Coldharbour Lane. She’s taken over Walton Lodge, which used to be a commercial steam press laundry (hence the name) but has kept the original brickwork, mixing in vintage furniture, antique mirrors, counter and banquette seating, and a wall stacked with wine. The menu is full of comforting classics with an Antipodean twist, like beets with apple aioli, prawn cocktail, and chicken Kyiv with caesar slaw, and there’s an interesting wine list to go with that – it’s also worth asking for recommendations as the staff know their stuff.
BLACKBOOK WINERY
Blackbook is an urban winery found under the railway arches in Battersea. These guys are all about making bloody good wine, sourcing their grapes from growers that are just hours away from the city. They focus on two varieties (chardonnay and pinot noir) but every now and then they’ll throw an experimental release into the mix – it all depends on what quality grapes they can get their hands on. You can take tours around their urban winery, treat yourself to a tasting experience where winemaker Sergio talks all things vino or just stock up on their pretty bottles.
SIPSMITH
Sipsmith needs no introduction. It was one of the first gin distilleries to call London home during the new wave gin-naissance of the early noughties and their signature London Dry gin is a firm fave amongst anyone who loves getting boozy. The Sipsmith distillery out west in Chiswick is the place to soak up everything you need to know about their gin and how they make it, and there are plenty of opportunities for you to savour the spirit too.
KANPAI
After taking a trip to Japan, husband and wife duo Tom and Lucy turned their spare bedroom into a sake brewery and later turned their home-brew hobby into a proper bricks and mortar brewery. Kanpai is London’s only sake brewery, producing this Japanese fermented bev for us thirsty Londoners. Pop down to Peckham to visit the taproom and sip on fresh sake, a rotating list of guest sakes from fellow brewers and other speciality Japanese brews. And opposite the brewery-taproom, you’ll find the Kanpai Kitchen hosting guest chef residencies.
PRETTY DECENT BEER CO.
This East London microbrewery opened up back in 2016, and now they’ve got their own taproom and bottle shop right next to Wanstead Heath. They offer a pretty wide range of beer, including a Milkshake IPA (packed with passionfruit, pineapple and fruity hops), a New England Pale Ale with a hazy finish (especially after your fourth or fifth can) and a Helles Lager that’s made for sipping in the sunshine. And for every pint, keg, can and bottle these guys sell, they donate to charity – so you can literally feel pretty good about being a Pretty Decent drinker.
EAST LONDON LIQUOR CO
The outdoor terrace of this distillery, bar and restaurant in Bow Wharf might be sitting in a car park but it’s a pretty one with a pergola structure, climbing vines and lots of lavender. Royale, the spin-off brand from Leroy is in the house with a menu that includes the likes of Provençal toasts, ratatouille galette, lamb croquettes and chickpea fries. And of course there’s a few ELLCo cocktails on the menu too, as well as wines on tap from Uncharted Wines and a spesh list of bottles from the Leroy cellar.