We’ve taken the liberty of compiling you a to-do list.
It’s made up of what we deem to be the best bars in central London – which includes suave speakeasies; a laid-back, buzzy theatre bar; a bar that feels like drinking cocktails in a study (with live music and a roaring fire) to a hotel lounge once voted No. 1 in the world.
Enjoy.
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AWARD-WINNING GLAMOUR: THE CONNAUGHT BAR | Mayfair
Topping the competitive World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2021, The Connaught Bar is the epitome of old-school glamour – lofty, ornate ceilings; glossy black accents; and big leather armchairs. The cocktails are a mix of signature creations, some of which are barrel-aged behind the bar, and slightly more classic drinks (although always with a Connaught twist). Like their Bloody Mary for instance, ‘pepped with home-made spices and…celery air’. They also have a world-renowned martini trolley which – wheeled up to you at your table – offers up seven different styles of martini to drink. You’ll be hard stretched to find anywhere better for a sophisticated drink in central London.
Details: The Connaught Hotel, Carlos Place, Mayfair, W1K 2AL | No bookings: find out more here
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WORLD-CLASS COCKTAILS BY THE FIRE: SCARFES BAR | Holborn
Yes, Holborn not only has a bar, but it’s one of the best in central London, too. Parked at the front of the exceptionally grand Rosewood hotel, Scarfes is styled after a gentlemen’s club, with expansive Chesterfield sofas, a roaring fireside, and a library spanning several walls. If that sounds a little old-school, the bar is nothing of the sort: live music most nights suffuses the place with atmosphere, while a boundlessly energetic bar team shake up a highly inventive cocktail menu that makes Scarfes a recurring feature of the World’s 50 Best Bars list.
Details: Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, Holborn, WC1V 7EN | No bookings
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FAIRY-LIT CAVERN: THE BLOOMSBURY CLUB BAR | Bloomsbury
The Bloomsbury Club Bar is a fills the wood-panelled vaults of its subterranean space with rare whiskey-filled cabinets, leather seats and live jazz, all fronted by a date-worthy terrace decked out in fairy-lights.
Tucked round the corner from The British Museum, the bar’s current cocktail list has been inspired by Ancient Egypt. ‘Open up and connect’ under the influence of Meri, the Universal Mother (and also a potent concoction of 10 year-old Bourbon, crème de cacao and Branca Menta); or ‘take a dramatic new direction’ with Anubis (channelled through cognac, dates and cardamom bitters). If it sounds difficult to choose, don’t worry – your decision will be left to the fates anyway, as you circle an amulet around the menu… shaped like a pyramid.
Details: 16-22 Great Russell St, WC1B 3NN | Book here
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PURE ITALIAN STYLE: BAR TERMINI | Soho
Our list of “Duos Who Have Made The World A Better Place” is long. But only the latest duo on our list – cocktailing supremo Tony Conigliaro and coffee king Marco Arrigo – have pooled their respective talents in order to create a tiny little 1950’s Italianate coffee and cocktail bar in the heart of Soho. Pop in to Bar Termini for an espresso with the paper during the day, or settle in at night to try each and every one of their negronis, poured with unbelievable precision to the top of your glass by white-jacketed barkeeps.
Details: Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 5JE | Book here (highly recommended – though they’ll always try to fit you in somehow)
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THE QUINTESSENTIAL SPEAKEASY: THE BLIND PIG | Soho
Technically speaking, The Blind Pig actually has two ‘i’s.
It’s the speakeasy at the top of Jason Atherton’s Social Eating House, sporting low-lighting, leather banquettes and a copper-topped bar that’s all very grown-up… until you get to the cocktail menu. The drinks are currently inspired by an unnamed animation studio – honestly, it could be any of them – featuring delicious (and non-copyright infringing) concoctions like the Poison Apple, combining tequila with apple liqueur and charcoal activation.
Details: 58 Poland St, W1F 7NR | Book here
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INVENTIVE DRINKS, TINY BAR: THREE SHEETS SOHO | Soho
You’re probably sick of reading the phrase ‘World’s 50 Best Bars list’ by now, but this is exactly why it’s so easy to find a good drink in central London. The newest addition to Soho is a sophomore branch for the award-winning Three Sheets in Dalston, whose cocktails are so good they only ever offer nine at a time. The Soho offshoot, housed in a buzzy, intimate sleeve of a space just off Charing Cross Road, has a slightly longer menu of reinvented classics like the Sazzaquack, whose whisky, cognac and absinthe are intensified with a dash of soy and five spice. It’s then served in a bespoke glass with a duck at the bottom, which we’re calling ‘the beaker’.
Details: 14-15 Manette Street, Soho, Central London, W1D 4AP | Book here
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DECONSECRATED DRAANKS: BELOW STONE NEST | Leicester Square
Here’s a bar that crypt up out of nowhere: Below Stone Nest is the culmination of the talents of Jackson & Frank Boxer (behind Orasay and Frank’s respectively). And as well as being a nice, under-the-radar bar in central London where you can sip a tightly curated list of cocktails, beers and natural wines before partying with DJs till the wee hours, it just so happens to be found underneath a 19th century church on Cambridge Circus.
Details: 136 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5EZ | No bookings – find out more here
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AN ITALIAN HIDDEN BAR: BAR LINA | Soho
Italians do it better. And when ‘it’ is a subterranean speakeasy in one of the busiest parts of central London, that means suave, burgundy interiors; a show-stopping, all-Italian drinks list; and an entirely unexpected location underneath a 75 year-old deli. Head there after-hours, and you’ll be led down to this moody den to sip Basilico martinis, while the shelves upstairs are raided to make snacks like ossobuco arancini and fried parmesan polenta.
Details: 18 Brewer St, W1F 0SG | Book here
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UNDERGROUND WINE BAR: FRANK’S | St James’s
Picture a wine bar in one of the most exclusive postcodes in Central London. Frank’s is nothing like that. Instead, it’s a sleek, slightly rebellious-feeling lair slung below the acclaimed Maison Francois. In a magnanimous turn, the wines aren’t just from France – spanning from California to Slovenia, their uniting characteristics are a biodynamic approach and a flair for the esoteric and unusual. It’s also worth knowing that you can come here for £9 cocktails after 9pm, following a few of which you might even be persuaded to order the ‘oeuf en gelée’…
Details: 34 Duke Street, St James’s, SW1Y 6DF | No bookings
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MINIMALIST DRINKS & MAXIMALIST INTERIORS: ARTESIAN | Marylebone
Named after a health-giving spring buried underneath the hotel, it would be a waste to come to the Langham’s Artesian bar just to take the water. Once voted best bar in the world for four years running, Artesian was recently a finalist for best cocktail menu, and no wonder: their future-facing menu transforms sustainable ingredients like kombu, amaranth and even crickets into finely tuned drinks. Plus, there’s a snack menu from Humble Chicken‘s Angelo Sato – so you won’t be getting wasted, either.
Details: Langham Hotel, 1C Portland Place, W1B 1JA | Book here
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A TRAIN JOURNEY BACK IN TIME: CAHOOTS | Soho
At Cahoots, it’s legal – nay, encouraged – to drink on the tube. This subterranean speakeasy is dressed up like a Blitz era underground station, complete with a revamped carriage you can actually sit in. Every inch of the place has been given immense attention to detail, from the PSAs playing in the bathrooms to the cocktail menu itself, printed as an old newspaper. A few of their Good Time Charleys (with whisky, vermouth and absinthe mist), and you’ll be ready to dance to the live bands and electroswing DJs who frequently grace the stage.
NOTE: For more train-themed tipples, there’s also Ticket Hall & Signal Station just across the path. It’s run by the same people, who appear to have a great track record in these things.
Details: 13 Kingly Court, W1B 5PW | Book here
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WORLD FAMOUS JAZZ DEN: RONNIE SCOTT’S | Soho
Ronnie Scott’s is one of the most beloved jazz bars in London – a low-lit drinking den with cabaret seating, where you can while away the evening eating and drinking while listening to incredible live musicians at the top of their game.
Details: 47 Frith Street, Soho, Central London, W1D 4HT | See what’s on here
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A LAID-BACK CREATIVES’ DEN: SOHO THEATRE BAR | Soho
The Soho Theatre Bar is a laid-back, inclusive theatre bar in central London, filled with creative types drinking and/or waiting on the next show. We like it because it sits in a nice middle ground between sticky pub, and buzzy pop-up. In fact, it’s hard to think of another place like it. Also, you’re almost always guaranteed a seat. See, even if you arrive when it’s full, it won’t be long until the next show – at which point everyone filters out and that booth you’ve eyed up in the corner is yours.
Details: 21 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 3NE | No bookings – find out more, and see upcoming shows, here
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DATE-NIGHT WINE BAR: LADY OF THE GRAPES | Covent Garden
Lady of The Grapes is an intimate candlelit wine bar, focused on championing wines from female producers. It’s the perfect spot for a date, or a long chat with a close friend. They also have a delicious selection of French-inspired dishes to choose from, including cheese & charcuterie boards and an excellent fondue (made with three different types of cheeses, and served with plenty of crusty white bread for dipping).
Details: 16 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, WC2E 7NJ | Book here
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SUBTERRANEAN MARGARITAS: EL BAR DE CAVITA | Marylebone
When Cavita opened eighteen months ago, it instantly became one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city. And now it’s shaking things up, quite literally, with its subterranean cocktail bar, El Bar de Cavita. The menu features owner Adriana Cavita’s personal favourites, served alongside street food classics like ceviche tostadas and baja fish tacos bussed down from the kitchen upstairs. And with numbers like Corn Old Fashioneds and Watermelon Margaritas on offer, they’re rapidly going to become some of your personal favourites, too.
Details: 60 Wigmore Street, Marylebone, W1U 2RZ | Book here
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LIVE MUSIC & INNOVATIVE DRINKS: NIGHTJAR CARNABY | Soho
Live jazz. Candlelight. Piña coladas served from a toucan. Some combinations just never get old. And 14 years later, London still never tires of Nightjar, one of the city’s leading lights in the speakeasy revival. This central London sequel to the original Nightjar in Shoreditch offers a mammoth list of enticing drinks – organised chronologically from prohibition-era to post-war concoctions – including an oyster-topped salty martini, and the Barrel Aged Zombie, laced with three types of rum and Hendricks Absinthe. It’s also remains of the best bars in London with live music, with artists appearing several times a night on a stage just feet away from your table.
Details: Unit G15, Kingly Court, W1F 9PY | Book here
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HIGH-END COCKTAILS IN A TREE HOLLOW: HIDE BELOW | Mayfair
Hide Below is an incredibly handsome basement bar underneath Ollie Dabbous’ Michelin-starred restaurant, Hide. As well as its own walk-in wine cellar, it boasts a sweeping bar carved out of ancient burr oak, backed by a full-stocked, glistening jewel of a drinks cabinet, lit up in gold. The cocktails come courtesy of Oskar Kinberg, a long-term colleague and friend of Dabbous, who – above everything – knows how to mix a bloody good drink. There’s no theatrics here; instead the focus is flavour. Seasonal produce is used to create simple but delicious drinks, and we’re yet to taste anything to the contrary.
Details: 85 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 7NB | No bookings
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A BAR OF TWO HALVES: SWIFT | Soho
Swift Soho is a two-storey cocktail bar on Old Compton Street, brought to you by the folks behind both Nightjar and Milk & Honey. Upstairs is a slightly more laid-back, brighter space, focused around a small list of ‘light’ cocktails and oysters; downstairs on the other-hand is low-lit and moody, with a 250-strong whisky selection; a slightly lengthier (often whisky-based) cocktail list; and, occasionally, live jazz.
Details: 12 Old Compton Street, Soho, London W1D 4TQ | Book here
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COCKTAILS WITH A TWIST: SOMA | Soho
If you’re a fan of Kricket, then you’ll like Soma, the sister bar next door. In truth, even if you’ve never been to Kricket before then you’ll still like Soma, as it’s undeniably one of the most unique cocktail bars in central London. Pick from a dozen classics shaken up with Indian flavours (margaritas with chaat masala and gooseberry, old fashioneds with jaggery and toasted coconut and daiquiris with discarded banana rum and Indian spices) – and enjoy them either at the rather sexy 9-metre-steel bar or in a low-lit, curtained alcove.
Details: 12-14 Denman Street, W1D 7HL | Book here
Ticked off all the best bars in Central London? Check out The Nudge’s guide to the best restaurants in Central London, too.