Some of the most unusual London bars are unique and quirky pop ups, which – assuming that they’re good (and they often are) – are regularly featured in The Nudge’s emails, and also found in our dedicated section on pop-up bars in London.
But what we’ve attempted here is to compile a list of permanently cool bars in London (that is, bars that are both permanent and cool, stylish and/or otherwise unusual). Bars which might, for example, see you sitting in a repurposed Victorian train carriage sipping smoking cocktails, or a low-lit basement where whisky flows out of a tree.
Enough said, these are they:
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Glade Bar at Sketch | Mayfair
The Glade room at Sketch is more than just a pretty face. It’s a pretty face with double-height ceilings and walls of hand-pasted decoupage wallpaper, a lush, forest-like carpet, exquisite cocktails… and a self-playing pink piano.
Details: 9 Conduit Street, W1S 2XG | No bookings
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The Last Tuesday Society | Hackney
Of all the dark, occult-feeling bars where you can share a booth with a taxidermied lioness, sip absinthe cocktails and snack on platters of insects before descending into a bizarre basement Wunderkabinett filled with ancient voodoo dolls, two-headed sheep and Victorian sex toys… this is probably the best.
Details: 11 Mare Street, E8 4RP | Book The Last Tuesday Society
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Bar Crispin | Soho
Nothing’s edgier than zig-zags. And this place is full of ’em – as well as a neatly curated line-up of natural wines from sommelier Alex Price, and some particularly grape hooch-friendly small plates rustled up by ex-Frenchie chef Fabien Spagnolo.
Details: 9 Kingly St, W1B 5PY | Book Bar Crispin
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Bar Termini | Soho
Bar Termini appears to have gotten waylaid on the way back to 1950s Rome. But in reality it’s just a beautifully retro confection from Tony Conigliaro (of 69 Colebrooke Row), whose scientifically perfected negronis are poured here with jaw-dropping accuracy by white jacketed barkeeps.
Details: 7 Old Compton Street, W1D 5JE | Book Bar Termini
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Lost Property Office | Waterloo
Seek and ye shall find… a tiny, clandestine speakeasy headed up by the enormously talented mixologist Rich Woods, hidden within – of all places – a bombastic two-storey Brewdog pub in the middle of Waterloo station.
Details: The Sidings, Waterloo Station, London SE1 7BH | Book Lost Property Office
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Below Stone Nest | Soho
A seriously cool bar hidden right in the centre of town, with classic cocktails and quality DJ sets till late, that you’d never know was there… unless you make a habit of excavating beneath abandoned 18th century churches.
Details: 136 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5EZ | No bookings
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Ludo’s | Wood Green
Enjoy the retro experience of being (legally) allowed to get boozed on London transport: Ludo’s is a bar set in a salvaged double decker bus, parked up in a little enclave of artists’ studios up in Wood Green. There’s a decent line-up behind the bar for such a tiny space, plus a packed events programme including pub quizzes, live music and comedy nights that are quite literally top-tier.
Details: Blue House Yard, 5 River Park Road, N22 7TB | See what’s on
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Bobby Fitzpatrick | West Hampstead
Prepare to travel back in time with a man you’ve never met. A night at Bobby Fitzpatrick’s feels like a house party in a 1970s timewarp, with gloriously kitsch decor, retro cocktails, disco DJs and pizza for when you need a carb hit.
Details: 273 West End Lane, NW6 1QS | Book Bobby Fitzpatrick
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Doña | Stoke Newington
A subterranean agaveria that’ll keep you in the pink with kitschy decor (the bar is wearing a feather boa, for starters) and a series of knock-out tequila & mezcal based cocktails, often accompanied by local DJs and live musicians.
Details: 92 Stoke Newington High St, Clapton, N16 7NY | Book Doña
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Jumbi | Peckham
A vast warehouse-turned-church of music, with a double-height record library and a vintage sound system. The menu meanwhile brings together the culinary riches of the African diaspora, from rum cocktails to Fools Gold Fritters (with banana, peanut and bacon candy).
Details: Unit 4.1 Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Road, SE15 3SN | Book Jumbo
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Telli’s | Newington Green
If you fancy a drink in an unusual setting, have a butcher’s at this. Newington Green meat-slingers Stella’s swaps mutton for martinis at the weekend, when they wipe down the surfaces and set up a clandestine cocktail bar after hours.
Details: 101 Newington Green Road, N1 4QY | No bookings
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Control Room B | Battersea
Control Room B has a powerful claim to being one of the most unusual bars in London – given that it’s set within the former switch room of Battersea Power Station, and the original knobs, dials and buttons are all still in place orbiting the enormous central cocktail bar.
Details: Battersea Power Station, London SW8 5BN | Book Control Room B
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City of London Distillery (COLD) | The City
COLD is an extremely cool bar. Floor to ceiling windows reveal the in-house distillery, in which two copper stills (Jennifer and Clarissa) patiently age gin. The same gin that you can then order from the bar, or try straight from the vats if you book a distillery tour.
Details: 22-24 Bride Lane, EC4Y 8DT | Book COLD
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Cahoots | Soho
Cahoots had very little competition when it came to Blitz era cocktail bars hidden within forgotten tube stations, with skiffle bands, swing dancing, and ‘Dig For Victory’ cocktails. So they’ve opened another one right across the street, and a 1940s post-office themed bar in London Bridge, just to keep themselves on their toes.
Details: 13 Kingly Court, W1B 5PW | 5 Kingly Street, W1B 5PF | 18 Stoney St, SE1 9AD | Book Cahoots
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Bruno’s | Islington
Hop aboard a low-lit barge moored on Regent’s Canal, and drink like a sailor: Bruno’s will happily furnish you with signature cocktails like the Below Deck (with blood orange & bourbon) to help you find your sea legs.
Details: 172 Shepherdess Walk, N1 7JL | Book Bruno’s
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Equal Parts | Hackney
While the other bars on this list are unusual, quirky, or a little eccentric, Equal Parts is merely… cool. It’s a laid-back corner spot from the Sager half of Sager + Wilde, and serves really, really good cocktails in a lazy, Havana-style setting with a retro vinyl soundtrack.
Details: 245 Hackney Road, E2 8NA | Book Equal Parts
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Evans & Peel Detective Agency | Earl’s Court
A secret West London speakeasy, where, after being led down to a softly-lit agency office, The Detective will usher you through a bookcase and into to a candlelit drinking den serving booze in brown paper bags.
Details: Earls Court Road, Earls Court, SW5 9BA | Book Evans and Peel
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BYOC | The City
An illicit drinking den that brings back the golden days of Prohibition… by not stocking any booze. Instead, you’ll bring a bottle of your desired poison, and, over the next two hours, your personal barkeep will supplement your spirit with bitters, infusions and syrups to create unlimited, entirely bespoke cocktails.
Details: 59a Carter Lane, London, EC4V 5DY | Book BYOC
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The Midnight Apothecary | Rotherhithe
As well as being one of the only bars in Rotherhithe, The Midnight Apothecary also happens to be one of the coolest – it’s set in a garden on top of a Victorian tunnel shaft, where Lottie Muir (a.k.a. The Cocktail Gardener) rustles up the growing produce into botanical-inspired cocktails, while you roast s’mores over the campfires.
Details: Brunel Museum Rooftop, Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, SE16 4LF | Book the Midnight Apothecary
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Bloomsbury Club Bar | Bloomsbury
Concerned that an Ancient Egyptian-themed cocktail menu (where you order by swinging an amulet over a pyramid) wasn’t quirky enough, BCB doubles down on its unusual bar status by serving them in a vaulted terrace lit entirely by candles and hundreds of fairy-lights.
Details: The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3NN | Book The Bloomsbury Club Bar
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Disrepute | Soho
A subterranean sleeve of a space fitted with seductive, conspiratorial nooks; jewel-toned velvet seating; mirrors; brass; and a cocktail menu that’s written entirely in the form of short stories.
Details: 4 Kingly Street, W1F 9BW | Book Disrepute
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The Sun Tavern | Bethnal Green
A sláinte-toasting, glass-clinking, Stones-playing drinking den that specialises in local brews, grown-up cocktails and the Irish spirit poitín – all housed in a brick-walled 1850s corner tavern, thanks to the team behind two other cool London bars, Discount Suit Company and Umbrella Workshop.
Details: 441 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AN | Book The Sun Tavern
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Black Rock | Shoreditch
A basement bar with a whisky library arranged conveniently by flavour profile… and a house blend that pours out of a felled tree.
Details: 9 Christopher Street, EC2A 2BS | Book Black Rock
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Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration | Charing Cross
True to their namesake, the Mr. Fogg’s bars have travelled across the city and can now boast eleven equally eccentric drinking dens across London. Just to make sure that they don’t all start feeling ‘samey’ (as far as a cocktail bar filled with bric-a-brac and curiosities from around the world, based on a fictional eccentric Victorian traveller can be)… they’ve fitted this particular branch out with a dedicated maps room (where you can plan your next voyage); a steampunk mechanical cocktail maker; and an entire, Orient Express-style train carriage in the middle of it.
Details: 1a Bedford Street, WC2E 9HH | Book Mr. Fogg’s Society of Exploration
Still looking for inspiration? Check out the Nudge’s guides to…
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The Best London Cocktail Bars | The Best Hidden Bars | London Bars with Live Music | London’s Top Activity Bars