A raucous speakeasy hidden inside a residents’ block.
A film noir detective agency serving a mean Old Fashioned.
A cocktail bar with two Michelin-starred snacks.
Choosing between those three is already hard enough – so peruse the rest of our guide to West London’s best bars at your peril…
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Amaro once ranked an impressive 45 in the World’s 50 Best Bars list… which means it has to be unequivocally one of the best bars in West London, too. And no surprise – at the helm is The Savoy’s former head mixologist, Elon Soddu. Here he’s carved out a sleek sleeve of a space on Kensington High Street, dominated by a gleaming black marble bar and an illuminated wall of spirits beyond – which find their way into reconfigured classics like the Fig Old Fashioned and Tomato Bamboo.
Details: 15 Kensington High St, W8 5NP | Make a booking at Amaro
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Sol’s | Bayswater
An East London wine bar with a West London postcode. Sol’s is an achingly trendy date spot combining softly retro interiors with a cellar full of hand-picked low-intervention wines, and a menu of Mediterranean small plates to complement them. In summer, the golden ticket is a couple of stools by the windowsill countertop, with just enough space for you and your skin-contact Macedonian. Oh, and whoever you’ve brought along with you.
Details: 25 Leinster Terrace, London, W2 3ET | No bookings
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Whiskey & Seaweed is the bar area at Core by Clare Smyth – but in many ways, it’s just a really great bar… that happens to have a triple Michelin star restaurant attached. Come here for elevated cocktails that mirror the creativity of the restaurant’s menu: the headline Whiskey & Seaweed is inspired by the Potato & Roe dish, and mingles butter-washed Irish whiskey, kelp, and black cardamom. Of course, if you’re after something neater, there’s an entire whisky cabinet to explore, with drams hailing from the Highlands to the Antipodes.
Details: 92 Kensington Park Road, W11 2PN | Make a booking at Whiskey & Seaweed
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You know that gorgeous little cocktail bar that feels like your own little secret? The one that’s hidden well enough that you’d never just stumble across it, but delicious enough that you always stumble out? That’s Twice Shy, run by award-winning Amaro founders Elon Soddu and Victor Maggiolo. And once you’re bitten by it, you’ll be thirsty for more…
Details: 14 Hogarth Place, SW5 0QT | Book a table at Twice Shy
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A secret West London speakeasy, where – after stating your case in the film noir, softly-lit office – The Detective will usher you through a bookcase and into a candlelit, live jazz-fuelled drinking den serving booze in brown paper bags.
Address: 310c Earls Court Road, SW5 9BA | Book a table at Evans and Peel
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If you want to both cause and cure a hangover, pop into Ria’s. It’s a gorgeous independent neighbourhood bar that specialises in two things: deep dish pizza, and natural wines. And never the twain shall be separated again. Start off with whiskey-drizzled haggis pops, continue with hefty slices of wild garlic & mushroom pizza, and end up inexplicably on the night tube after just one more glass of pet nat…
Details: 29 All Saints Road, W11 1HE | Make a reservation at Ria’s
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The first (and only) answer to the question ‘where can I find a subterranean lunar-styled lair with an extensive agave spirit collection and an array of cocktails inspired by intercontinental travels, such as an Elote Old Fashioned, made with elote corn and smoked hay?‘. Also, as the sibling bar to Los Mochis, the bar snacks are absolutely delicious, too.
Details: Basement, 87 Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 3JZ | Make a reservation at Viajante87
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Hidden away behind an inconspicuous black door in Chelsea is this eccentric, 1930’s-inspired drinking den. Get the password right and you’ll be ushered inside where – having raided their fancy dress box – you can work your way through their 40+ cocktail list, including sharing cocktails served up in full china tea sets, before dancing the night away.
Address: Chelsea Cloisters, Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, SW3 3DW | Book a table at Barts
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Don’t be fooled into thinking The Hawk’s Nest is a tiny little drinking den. It’s actually a sprawling semi-alfresco bar with room for 120, all tucked under a railway bridge in Shepherds Bush decked out with ferns, greenery, fairy lights and long sharing tables. Unwaveringly committed to good times, they have a pub quiz on Tuesdays, DJs on Friday and Saturday nights, and a frankly unreasonably good deal of a Margherita pizza and a Margarita cocktail for £12.50, on weekdays before 7pm. And as a kicker, there’s a fully retractable glass roof that allows you to booze come rain or shine.
Address: Goldhawk Road, London W12 8DF | Book a table at Hawk’s Nest
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New York does piano bars: friends squeezed around a grand piano in Greenwich Village, cocktail in hand, filling the room with Ratpack classics and showtunes. And West London does too.
Address: Royal Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, W8 4PT | Book a table at Piano
Making a night of it? Check out our pick of the best restaurants in West London, too.