From a two-floor Soho bar to a martini trolley in Mayfair, eight places for a good drink and an evening with some life in it.
Saunter Drink · 19 October 2026London has plenty of cocktail bars, and the ones worth a night out do something the others cannot copy: a room with some life in it, a drink with a story, a place where you can still talk. These eight run from a busy Soho bar to a grand hotel room, with a martini made at your table somewhere in between.
They are spread across Soho, Mayfair, Shoreditch, the South Bank, Marylebone, Islington, the Strand and Holborn, so there is a good one wherever the evening starts.
Swift calls its Soho bar the place that started it all, and it works on two floors. Upstairs is mainly for walk-ins, for an early aperitif, a post-show nightcap or some people-watching; downstairs is reservations only, with a more involved menu in an amber-lit, panelled room. The whisky collection runs past 300 bottles, and there is live music on Sundays. It opens at 3pm.
Best for Two floors for two kinds of evening.
The Connaught Bar is built around ceremony, and the Martini Trolley is the clearest example: it arrives set with the makings of your martini, and you choose the bitters. Dark green leather chairs, mirrored panelling and marble tables set the tone, and the menu mixes rare vintage cocktails with new signatures added through the year. At dusk the curtain is drawn back on the Champagne Room, which can be booked privately. The bar itself does not take reservations.
Best for A polished occasion, made at your table.
Nightjar, on City Road, has spent fifteen years making theatrical, historically inspired cocktails from rare and vintage spirits, several of which have become modern classics. The room is dim and amber, with banquette tables and a long bar under pendant lights, and live vintage music is part of the evening. Tables are booked online only: if a slot is not offered, the bar is full.
Best for Theatrical cocktails with live music.
Lyaness sits in Sea Containers London with views of the Thames, and its blue lounge is built around the original green marble bar from Dandelyan. It pitches itself as a date-night or mates-night kind of place, and the menu is ingredient-led: tell the bar which flavours you like and it builds the drink. Walk-ins are welcome, subject to availability, and booking is recommended.
Best for A date night or a mates' night, by the river.
Artesian takes its name from the 360-foot well beneath The Langham. The current menu, Ultimo, is sixteen cocktails each built around a single ingredient, among them mulberry, kale and currant, preserved and transformed with careful technique. Head Bartender Giulia Cuccurullo has been at the bar since 2018. The room is chandeliers, a gilded back bar and purple banquettes, and the bar opens at 4pm.
Best for Inventive drinks in a grand room.
Photograph: courtesy of 69 Colebrooke Row69 Colebrooke Row calls itself the Bar With No Name, a cosy bar just off the main road in Islington. The 2026 menu is credited to Tony Conigliaro and runs from a house martini in four versions to an Apple Crumble Bellini and a Heather Negroni, with olives, taralli and anchovies on focaccia alongside. Live jazz, blues and rock and roll are part of the programme.
Best for A cosy martini with live music.
Photograph: courtesy of The SavoyOpened in 1893, the American Bar has welcomed everyone from Churchill to Hemingway and calls itself London’s original cocktail bar. The current menu is built on stories from the hotel, each drink tied to a Savoy moment: white port and rum for the doorman Tony Cortegaca, who has greeted guests since 1986; a rye drink for Claude Monet, who painted his London bridges from his suite; and one inspired by the 1950 Dior fashion show held in the hotel. It opens at noon every day.
Best for Cocktail history, told through the menu.
Scarfes Bar, in Rosewood London, is a clubby room with a lit fire, velvet armchairs and antique books, hung with caricatures by Gerald Scarfe, who has described its walls as his personal art gallery. Live music is part of the evening, and a lit whisky wall stands under an arch. The current menu, Heroes and Villains, gives each drink a restrained side and a louder one. It is walk-in, with tables held for an hour and a half.
Best for A fireside drink, with live music.
Some of these bars take walk-ins, some only bookings and some a mix of both. A table is easiest to get early in the evening, and a few have live music on certain nights. Hours, menus and booking policies change, so check directly with each venue before visiting.
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London, edited down to what's worth your time.
