South London has an agaveria serving crystal-clear margaritas; a botanical cocktail garden lit entirely by firelight; a couple of railway arches chock-full of 90s tat; and a wine bar inspired by an Ancient Greek philosopher…
…and they’re the less eclectic additions to our list of the best bars in South London.
Which happens to be right here:
–
Lyaness | South Bank
Lyaness is an inventive and devastatingly chic cocktail bar on the Southbank. It comes to us courtesy of world-renowned cocktail wizard Ryan Chetiyawardana, who only opened Lyaness because its previous incarnation, Dandelyan, hit No. 1 on the World’s Best Bar list. Yep, he’s essentially completed cocktails. So for the bonus tracks he’s put together a highly intellectual menu that dives into the history of flavours, with award-winning results like the Safety Frappé (mingling gin, shiso absinthe, mint, anise, & peach wine).
Details: Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground, South Bank, SE1 9PD | Book Lyaness
–
Hacha | Brixton
Dalston may claim the original, but South London boasts the flagship for this dynamite tequila bar run by agave aficionado Deano Moncrieffe. And if the words ‘tequila bar’ conjure some kind of nightmarish vision of overloading on shots and remembering very little the next morning, don’t be put off – in fact, it’s exactly the UK’s hideous misconception of tequila that the team are hoping to dispel here. At Hacha, the spirit is served to sip and savour, whether neat, from their rotating selection of 25 handpicked tequila & mezcal bottles, or whipped into cocktails like their award-winning mirror margarita.
Details: 12-14 Market Row, SW9 8LD | Make a booking at Hacha
–
The Midnight Apothecary | Rotherhithe
Sure, Rotherhithe might not be first on your list when you’re planning where to go for drinks in South London. But it’s worth making a pilgrimage to The Midnight Apothecary, a one-of-a-kind rooftop bar set in an open-air garden perched on top of Brunel’s tunnel shaft (a marvellous feat of Victorian engineering, obv). All the cocktails are made with botanicals harvested from the garden itself, and there are little campfires dotted amidst the shrubbery where you can toast your own marshmallows.
Details: Brunel Museum Rooftop, Railway Avenue, SE16 4LF | Book The Midnight Apothecary
–
Tap & Bottle | London Bridge
Set in a rickety old townhouse in London Bridge, Tap & Bottle is a cosy, Dickensian-feeling wine bar that specialises in wines on tap. The curation is tight, with just 10 available at any given time, but they’re well thought-out and change regularly. The environmentally-friendly tap system also means they’re happy for you to try out as many of the wines as you like, meaning you can try something new and only ever be pleasantly surprised. They also have a small but picturesque terrace tucked away at the back, ideal for al fresco drinking come summer.
Details: 64 Union Street, London, SE1 1SG | Make a booking at Tap & Bottle
–
Bar Levan | Peckham
Pretty much the Platonic ideal of a wine bar in the 2020s, Bar Levan comes to you from the stellar team behind the restaurant Levan next door. Drenched in Burgundy-red walls, it’s a teeny tiny bolthole for quaffing modish natural wines (with really fancy stuff available by the glass, thanks to their Coravin kit); sipping mezcal and aperitivi; and nibbling on charcuterie, croque monsieurs and bavette steak. You know, classic wine snacks.
Details: Unit 5, 12-16 Blenheim Grove, London, SE15 4QL | Book Bar Levan
–
Control Room B | Battersea
Control Room B is where to head when you fancy something a little different. Or a lot different. After all, it’s housed in the original hub of Battersea Power Station, where all the desks of complex buttons and switches that once powered South London are still intact. As part of the Cahoots family, the bar at its centre serves up some typically inventive and delicious cocktails. Plus, you can stand next to a wall panel and pretend to fiddle with the switches like a dispensable henchman from a Bond film.
Details: Battersea Power Station, SW8 5BN | Book Control Room B
–
Little Nan’s | Deptford
Minimalists, look away now. Little Nan’s is a glorious, unholy cacophony of kitsch and nostalgic tat, inspired by the founder’s Pat Butcher-loving nan. There are chintzy armchairs. There are fairy lights. There are Staffordshire china dogs wearing tiny sombreros. The menu – written exclusively in felt tip, with decoration by way of some free stickers from a Smash Hits mag – pours all this multi-sensory overload into liquid form, with numbers like the Sir Lionel Richie (containing two types of rum, vodka, strawberry, coconut cream and pineapple juice). There’s really nowhere else quite like it.
Details: Arches 13-15, Deptford Market Yard, SE8 4BX | Book Little Nan’s
–
Funkidory | Peckham
Simply a really, really great neighbourhood cocktail bar. Where ‘neighbourhood’ could conceivably mean ‘all of South London’ – it’s that worth travelling for. There’s wine by the glass, vinyl spinning on the decks, and all kinds of quirky and locally-sourced ingredients making their way into cocktails like the Meadtini (featuring their own collab mead with Gosnell’s) and the Viper (with mastiha spirit, honey, and Kanpai sake brewed in Bermondsey).
Details: 42 Peckham Rye, London SE15 4JR | Make a booking at Funkidory
–
Diogenes The Dog | Elephant & Castle
Daniel Ogulewicz
Diogenes The Dog is a laid-back, leafy-green wine bar and bottle shop in Elephant and Castle, focused on championing wines from small vineyards and independent producers. The wine list is small but regularly-rotating, meaning there’s always something new to pique your interest. Plus they do an exciting range of Modern European small plates – smoked scamorza with sun-dried tomatoes and wild honey and anchovy fillets with crumbled blue cheese – meaning you can accidentally stay the evening and rely on being well-fed.
Also try… the team’s other wine bar, Aspen & Meursault, in Battersea.
Address: 96 Rodney Road, SE17 1BG | Make a booking at Diogenes The Dog
–
Swift Borough | London Bridge
There are some fantastic restaurants in London Bridge, and some excellent pubs, but the place is still pretty dry when it comes to great bars – which makes Swift’s South London bar something of an oasis. Like its siblings in Soho and Shoreditch, Swift nails amazing, original cocktails at prices that won’t send you packing after one drink. Its two storeys are there to receive you at any stage of the night, whether its aperitifs in the buzzy ground floor bar, or whisky nightcaps in the moody basement.
Details: 66 Borough High Street, SE1 1XF | Book Swift Borough
–
Lost Property Office | Waterloo
One of those secret bars you’d prefer to keep all to yourself, actually. You’ll find Waterloo station’s Lost Property Office hidden inside the gargantuan Brewdog pub in The Sidings, where, instead of forgotten brollies and gloves, you’ll find a stash of consistently incredible cocktails. Designed by mixology genius Rich Woods, they include the Roadie (a coconut fat-washed sazerac topped with a black tea foam) and the Dirty Martini, made downright obscene with wasabi and black truffle.
Details: Brewdog Waterloo, The Sidings, Waterloo Station, London SE1 7BH | Book Lost Property Office
–
Cahoots Postal Office | London Bridge
A fresh addition to the South London bar scene, Cahoots Postal Office is the latest invention from the Cahoots family… and it delivers. Swerving from its siblings’ Underground theming, the bar is dressed up like a Blitz-era post office, complete with a postbox entrance, pigeonholes stuffed with thousands of prop letters & envelopes… and an animatronic cat. And if you’ve never heard of the pneumatic tube system that used to whizz messages around big buildings back in the day, you’re about to find out in a very hands-on way.
Details: 18 Stoney Street, South London, SE1 9AD | Book Cahoots Postal Office
–
Jazu | Deptford
Jazu is riding the wave of listening bars sweeping London, offering stylishly relaxed interiors, great cocktails, and booze-friendly grub – which, as a combo, is hard to beat. The all-vinyl soundtrack sets the tone for a great night, bolstered by a heady drinks list of pickleback shots and mezcal negronis. And if you enjoy yourself a little too enthusiastically, it’s also an excellent place to return to the next day, with a weekend brunch menu of slap-up Full Englishes, bacon baps, and French Toast. Plus breakfast margaritas, because why not.
Details: 2 Deptford High Street, London SE8 4AF | Make a booking at Jazu
–
Four Quarters | Peckham
It’s a small, high-energy video game bar on Peckham’s vibrant Rye Lane. Downstairs you’ll find 15+ vintage arcade games – everything from Pacman to House Of The Dead 2 – whilst upstairs is kitted out with retro video consoles. Drinks-wise they’ve got two for £15 cocktails – which isn’t so much a happy hour as an ‘all day, every day’ kind of thing, – as well as 40+ draught, bottled, and canned craft beers, plus DJs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Details: 187 Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4TP | Make a booking at Four Quarters
After hitting the best bars in South London… you’ll be needing this guide to the best brunch in South London.