Capitano
Carlton's Capitano might not look it, but this small Italian restaurant on the corner of Rathdowne and Palmerston serves up some of the very best drinks
PDT
PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) is one of the original Manhattan bars modelled on Prohibition speakeasies. This one is a rather wonderful cocktail lounge,
Byrdi
Byrdi is a bar unlike any other, pulling the concepts of seasonality and locality together with culinary techniques, in a venue that is both day and night,
Ladder Shed at Chiltern Firehouse
This hotel, restaurant, bar and cobbled garden courtyard are housed in a former Grade II listed gothic Victorian fire station on the eponymous upmarket
Claridge's Bar
Tucked away under the staircase of Claridge's lobby is this quaint lounge bar, which acquired its warm Art Deco look in 1999 when the hotel embarked on
Tayer + Elementary
At first glance, this is yet another brutalist Shoreditch/Hoxton/Old Street bar with bare concrete, exposed aircon ducking and raw steel trunking. But
The Dartmouth Castle
The Dartmouth Castle is a classic neighbourhood boozer that's been gentrified by brothers Richard and George Manners and their Orange Giraffe Pub Company.
Door 74
For our review of Door 74, please see our Amsterdam’s 10 best cocktail bars page.
Dry Milano
When Dry opened its doors it was the first Cocktail bar in Milan to offer the combination of cocktails and food. Which food could not be better than Pizza!
Le Lion - Bar de Paris
Widely recognised as being one of the world's 20 best bars, Le Lion lies behind a locked door and buzzer system but is open to anyone who makes a reservation.
Kwãnt
You can take the boy out of the five-star hotel but you can’t take the five-star hotel out of the boy! Erik Lorincz’s new bar, Kwãnt, operates to
Flesh & Buns
The basement site that was formerly Freedom Brewing is now a buzzy and happening New York-style Asian fusion drinking and dining concept. A large sharing
Le Cellar at Galvin
Although practically hidden in the basement of Galvin Bistro De Lux on Baker Street, and reached only via a tiny stairwell from the middle of the dining
Cantina OK
When travelers think of Sydney bars it's often big corporate-owned waterside venues which snarl at open shoes and uncollared shirts. Cantina OK is here
Harry Gordon's Bar
Take the escalator down to the lower ground floor of Selfridges to find its spanking new drinks department, with a bar nestled in the middle. Named after
Victoria
Victoria lies on a street where you wouldn’t expect to find such a cool, upmarket lounge bar. Perhaps this helps explain the diverse crowd of mature
Vesper Bar
For our review of Vesper, please see our Amsterdam’s 10 best cocktail bars page.
The Botanist
Another from the Tom and Ed Martin stable, the Botanist is slap-bang on Sloane Square. Named in honour of Sir Hans Sloane, a botanist, it is brightly decorated
American Bar at The Savoy
Perhaps the most famous hotel in the world, The Savoy reopened in 2010 after a three-year, £100m+ refurbishment. While the rest of the hotel now sparkles
The Diner, Spitalfields
The seventh in the Diner chain, this new Spitalfields venue brings classic American dining to the Square Mile. Decked out in traditional diner garb, including
One Canada Square
Named after and located on the ground floor of One Canada Square, the iconic building many of us know better as the original Canary Wharf tower, this restaurant
The Beaufort Bar
The Beaufort bar occupied the space which was formerly the hotel's cabaret stage, previously graced by the likes of George Gershwin, who premiered Rhapsody
Meat Mission
This Shoreditch offshoot of Meat Liquor takes over a former church hall in this cobbled square next to Hoxton Square. There's less graffiti and it feels
Clover Club
Clover Club has the same owner as the Flatiron Lounge in Midtown Manhattan: there, Julie Reiner's drinks have a contemporary bent, but here in Brooklyn
Lucy's Flower Shop
A non-descript doorway leads to an unattended florist shop and then, when you find the door, this hidden basement cocktail bunker of a bar. Lucy's is
Milk & Honey
Sasha Petraske opened the original Milk & Honey in New York back in 2000. Many awards followed and it achieved legendary status in the bar world, spawning
Big Poppa's
Combing great bottles of wine with oodles of magnificent cheese is a bit of a no-brainer. The French, Spanish and Italians have been at it for centuries,
Prime Meats
With a relatively anonymous shop front - just an A-board announcing its existence on this leafy residential street - this restaurant is well known for
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
This old Creole cottage at the far end of Bourbon Street is steeped in history and atmosphere. Built in 1772, it is one of the few surviving examples of
Bacaro Risorto
Occupying a corner site just five minutes from San Marco, this tiny bar has little more than a meter wide corridor on both corners to stand in with shutters
Alberto's Lounge
In the no man's land that sits between the city and Surry Hills, dominated by unkempt carparks and gloomy office blocks, this late-night laneway diner
The Lucky Pig
A top-hatted doorman at street level marks the entrance to this new basement bar in Fitzrovia. Its name mixes up the moniker of 1920s racketeet Lucky Luciano
Zefside
Zefside is a semi-subterranean, long narrow space, which becomes party central on the weekend. Zefside is a name which I'm told doesn't actually mean anything
Trailer Happiness
In November 2003 Jonathan Downey, the man behind Match bars, took over this tiny basement space in the heart of Notting Hill and created a very special
Talea
In nature the Talea is a cut, a manual intervention to detach a part of the original plant and put it elsewhere to root. Talea is an experimental cocktail
Florería Atlántico
Cofounded by Ocho7Ocho's Julián Díaz, Florería Atlántico is another winning Buenos Aires speakeasy. A combination florist and
Nottingham Forest
The Nottingham forest was opened in 1970 by Carlo Comini, Dario’s father. In 1980 under the guide of Dario Comini the Nottingham Forest became one of
Hawksmoor Air Street
Hawksmoor's latest venue sees the steak-and-cocktails chain take over the former space occupied by Cocoon and brings it a prime West End site for the first
The Bon Vivant
Defined as a person who enjoys the good things in life, especially food and drink, Bon Vivant is co-owned by Stuart McCluskey - enough said. Lying on
Three Sheets
Brothers Noel and Max Venning opened this tiny neighbourhood café-bar in September 2016 and have since earned a well-deserved reputation for their cocktails
Anam Cocktail Lounge
A market street strewn with accompanying debris makes for an unlikely spot for a New York styled cocktail lounge with an equally unlikely name, apparently
The Culpeper pub
Brown and white factory tiles clad the façade of this Victorian boozer (formerly the Princess Alice) which sits on a corner site on Commercial Street,
Bread Street Kitchen
We first visited Bread Street Kitchen when it launched and despite the opulent setting and an offering of two bars, the cocktails were below standard.
Maybe Sammy
Maybe Sammy feels like a bar that's been cut straight out of a London hotel and set adrift to land on Sydney's shore. It's got the jacketed bartenders
Back Room Bar, London
Not an outpost of the New York speakeasy but The Hard Rock Cafe's much cooler venue hidden round the corner from it's Mayfair venue. We first visited mid-2012
A Bar Called Gemma
Gemma is the creation of regarded bartender Johan Evers who, with the exception of the electrics and plumbing, built everything you see in this bar himself.
The Corinthian Club
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The Connaught Bar
Formerly known as the American Bar, the Connaught was named World's Best Hotel Bar at Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans in 2010 and again in 2016. Head
Sun Liquor Distillery & Bar
Sun Liquor owns two venues in Seattle: one a lounge and the other this bar/distillery. A small copper pot and small column still can be seen through a
Alexander Bar at Hotel Grande Bretagne
Dress up this place is posh. The Alexander Bar lies off the lobby of the Grand Breatagne five-star hotel, in Syntagma Square. It's very classic in appearance
