The best new bars in London: 2021 edition

SOMA, Soho

Those who have dined at a branch of buzzy contemporary Indian restaurant Kricket may recall the stellar cocktail menu. Now, the duo behind the restaurant Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell have opened a speakeasy-style cocktail bar, SOMA, in the basement of Kricket’s Soho outpost. Accessed via a separate entrance, the slick, dimly lit bar sits most of its customers on a long metal counter, from where the mixing station is in full view. (Credit, here, to the impressively speedy team of seasoned mixologists shaking and stirring on our visit.) There are cave-like booths too, ideal for accommodating larger groups.

The menu comprises classic cocktails with an Indian twist. Riffs on the martini, margarita, old-fashioned and negroni all feature, each named after the eastern ingredient muddled with the more familiar flavours. The Leaf, a gimlet-style fusion of curry leaf, Opihr gin, kaffir leaf and pink peppercorn, is a star turn: innocently transparent in appearance, delicately sweet in taste and lent an exoticism from the lemony aroma of curry leaf oil dotted on top.

SOMA’s unusual menu will no doubt attract cocktail aficionados keen to sample concoctions that would be difficult to replicate at home. The only thing missing, at present, is a menu of bar snacks, pairing each tipple with a morsel from the kitchen upstairs.

Louche, Soho

Let’s be clear, despite its positioning on gastronomic Greek Street, the drinks themselves are not the main event at new bar Louche. As its tagline suggests, ‘live music, late nights and louche attitude’ are the focus here. It’s a bar for romantics disappointed with the polite domestication of present-day Soho, and for good timers willing to take a wild-eyed gamble on a night of spirited revelling.

Split over three storeys, with two bars and as many stages, the 260-seat venue hosts live bands, burlesque dancers and cabaret performers in a bid to reincarnate the Soho of the 1920s. It’s loud and busy (at least on Friday nights), and the atmosphere is heady, excitable, electric. Founder Howard Taylor (of Records Bars), has decked out the aspirationally sordid space with raffish interiors; on the walls hang portraits in tribute to Soho’s famous faces of yesteryear, among them socialite Philip Sallon and lesbian club owner Madame Louise.

Book in advance and come for the party vibes but stay for the cocktails. The watermelon mezcalita (a smoky, sugary muddle of mezcal, lime and the titular pink fruit) is as tasteful as those you’d likely find at Louche’s tamer neighbours.

Porte Noire, Kings Cross

When actor, producer and DJ Idris Elba opened a London cocktail bar, The Parrot, back in 2018, many blinked in disbelief as the star of The Wire and Luther turned his passion for proper cocktails into a business. The Parrot has since been shuttered, but Elba’s voyage into the drinks industry has continued. Except, he’s since changed tack, sailing into the world of fine wines with the help of Connaught Wine Cellars founder David Farber. Together, the pair have launched their own Provence rosé and blanc de blancs Grand Cru Champagne under the brand name Porte Noire. And to offer their clientele a dedicated space to drink it, they’ve launched a bar, also called Porte Noire, in a polished nook at the foot of the striking Gasholders just off Regent’s Canal towpath.

Here, customers can browse glossy cabinets of big-budget bottles, which can be enjoyed with a French brasserie-style menu spanning light platters of charcuterie and larger dishes such as oeuf meurette. If you like what you try, or would rather uncork a bottle in the comfort of your own home, you’re in luck: Porte Noire doubles up as a bottle shop.

Martinez, Soho

If you’ve ever turned up in Soho for an impromptu cocktail night only to realise that without a booking, there’s no room at any of its inns, a membership at Martinez – an Art Deco-style cocktail bar on lauded Greek Street – may sound appealing. The new members-only bar promises recruits a one-off £75 tab, bar access during opening hours and up to three guests per visit. Esteemed mixologist Dré Masso is in charge of the drinks menu, which is weighted towards vintage cocktails, such as the titular Martinez (a muddle of gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and orange bitters). Michelin-starred chef Hervé Deville has curated a menu of bar snacks fit to complement the cocktails. Arguably the biggest pull: members receive a one-on-one consultation with the bar staff upon joining, meaning the team will be clued up on your flavour preferences before you turn up ready to start sipping.

Membership costs £300 a year.

The Lord Napier Star, Hackney Wick

If The Lord Napier sounds familiar, then you’ve been on the London circuit longer than we have. The Hackney Wick-based pub that seemingly every local graffiti artist has left a mark on poured its last legal pint 26 years ago. That is, until this summer. Now called The Lord Napier Star, the pub is reopening as the latest twinkle in Rob Star’s Electric Star Pubs group. As well as an 80-seater roof terrace, the pub also boasts two function rooms and a contemporary Thai menu from pop-up kitchen KraPow. Arrive early in the day for a cup of coffee or lunch, or later for pints and the chance to get your groove on to old-school R&B, soul, funk and disco.

The Top Hat, West End

A Monopoly-themed restaurant and bar might sound like the latest gimmick to swerve, but bear with us, because there’s likely to be a market for this. Called The Top Hat, the 70-cover restaurant and accompanying cocktail bar features a menu fashioned around the famous boardgame’s property hotspots. Sip on cocktails with names set to test your London trivia, including the Leicester Square Red Carpet Daiquiri and the signature Mayfair Royal Sours, which comes garnished with a sugar £50 note. Best of all, you can play a life-sized 4D game of Monopoly while you’re there: build houses, charge rent, escape  jai l and earn money by completing escape room-style challenges.

The Mulwray at The Blue Posts, Soho

If The Mulwray sounds familiar, chances are you visited the bar in its previous life. Stowed on the first floor of Layo and Zoë Paskin’s multifaceted venue The Blue Posts, The Mulwray was launched as a cocktail bar back in 2018, but has recently been taken over by über-cool, pioneering sommelier Honey Spencer, who also acts as wine director of The Blue Posts’ sister sites, exceptional Israeli restaurants The Palomar and The Barbary.

Natural wines are now the focus here, but Spencer isn’t jumping on the zeitgeist; she’s long been passionate about the movement, and even has a crop of vines growing at Tillingham, a wine estate in Sussex specialising in biodynamic production. She’s also passionate about educating her customers in the benefits of drinking chemical-free wine and if you’re lucky enough to have her service on your visit, she’ll enthusiastically take you through her vast collection, exhibited in a glass cabinet stretching across one wall of the elegant but simply dressed bar.

The menu is gloriously user-friendly, opening with a page of Firm Favourites, from which the Champagne Éclats de Meulière and a tart rosé from Austria – the sole pink on the list – are not to be missed. A second page, The Path Less Trodden, features wines from all over Europe as well as California. Wild and Free includes a selection of orange wines worthy of exploration and, at the back, a short selection of sake complements the Japanese cuisine being served by the Selby brothers downstairs at their intimate 10-seat restaurant, Evelyn’s Table.

A short selection of very reasonably priced bar snacks (do try the punchy Japanese pickles) offers the simple sustenance required to linger longer and sample one more glass.

The Duchess of Dalston

Richard Wynne, founder of Alice in Wonderland-themed bars Callooh Callay in Shoreditch and Little Bat in Islington, is inviting cocktail enthusiasts to travel down a third rabbit hole, this one pointing to his latest venture The Duchess of Dalston. Named after the pointy-chinned antagonist of the Queen of Hearts, the 70-cover bar features a revolving 12-drink menu designed by former Mahiki and Callooh Callay bartender Nazarath Rodriguez. Tipples are infused with herbs grown on the bar’s roof as well as ingredients linked in some way to the community.

Hacha Brixton

Dalston agaveria Hacha is living proof that you can build an entire bar on the back of one original drink. The case in point here being Deano Moncrieffe’s award-winning Mirror Margarita (pictured), a transparent, refreshing and dangerously drinkable riff on a classic marg that can be enjoyed with Patrón Silver Tequila or The Lost Explorer Mezcal. Now, Moncrieffe and the team are bringing the concept south of the river, opening a second Hacha in the gastronomic hub of Brixton Market Row.

The bar is split over two levels, with the ground-floor space a bottle shop dedicated to the lauded Mirror Margarita (the pre-batched concoctions a happy by-product of lockdown) as well as a bar. Upstairs, a larger, dimly lit cocktail lounge awaits, where you can sample the full menu of Moncrieffe’s tequila- and mezcal-infused creations.

Also on board with the move is Hacha Dalston's kitchen partners Maíz Azul, who will be serving up a selection of Mexican small plates to enjoy while you sip.

The Light Bar, Shoreditch

Bars and restaurants across the country are currently experiencing reopening jubilation, as the relaxing of lockdown restrictions allows them to get back to business. But for The Light Bar in Shoreditch, the wait has been seven years. The venue – which was built back in 1893 and is housed within the former Victorian Great Eastern Light power station – closed its doors in 2014, when redevelopment plans threatened its existence. Now in the protective hands of Hackney’s Shoreditch Conservation Area and in the physical hands of long-standing Hackney residents Morten Jensen, Darren Collins and chef Johnnie Collins, The Light Bar has reopened its doors.

Spread across three spacious floors, the restaurant and bar features lovingly revived interiors by Macaulay Sinclair that showcase the building’s original mechanical pulley system, exposed steelwork and elegant sash windows.

The Light Bar is run on three simple principles: modern British cooking, relaxed drinks and a welcoming atmosphere. The in-joke-heavy cocktail menu features drinks named in honour of early 2000s parties that have since become legendary.

Bar Crispin, Soho

Bar Crispin is a new wine bar and restaurant from Dominic Hamdy and Oliver Hiam, the duo behind popular Spitalfields pop-up Crispin. A 150-strong natural wine list has been curated by in-house sommelier Alex Price (previously Annabel’s) together with Crispin’s head sommelier Stefano Cazzato (Londrino, Hakkasan). Brendan Lee joins the team as head chef and has curated a launch menu featuring native oysters with shallots, anchovy and potato focaccia with salsa verde, and black garlic ice cream with choc tuile.

Bar La Rampa, Fitzrovia

Reviving the flamboyance and culture of 1950s Havana in the heart of present-day Fitzrovia is a new cocktail bar and eatery from the MJMK group (Vinegar Yard, Kol), Bar La Rampa. Esteemed mixologist and bartender Marcis Dzelzainis (previously at Sager + Wilde, 69 Colebrooke Row and Dandelyan) is in charge of the drinks, serving up a menu skewed towards the rum-based cocktails that originated in Cuba between the 1920s and 50s, among them multiple variations of mojitos and daquiris.

Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng of TĀTĀ Eatery (remember the Insta-famous pork katsu sando?) are in charge of the menu, which focuses on reimagined Cuban cuisine.

With its panels of stained glass, tropical fauna, stylish rattan furnishings and pink booths, Bar La Rampa is a gorgeous space in which to dwell, made all the more so by the promise of live music including regular Cuban-themed nights.

St. Felix Place, Borough

From the team behind hip multipurpose venues Flat Iron Square and Goods Way comes St. Felix Place, a railway arch taproom serving beers brewed on site and street food ideal for soaking up hops. Taking over two arches on SE1’s The Low Line, the Bermondsey venue offers ‘year-rounders’ as well as seasonal brews, with the Lagunitas Brewing Company responsible for keeping the taps flowing.

Foodwise, two traders are in residence here. Texas Joe’s Adobe is serving up slow-smoked barbecue dishes sprinkled with Mexican flavours, while south London-based pizza company The Good Slice is dishing up its popular focaccia-style slices topped with fresh and seasonal ingredients.

DJ sets and live acoustic sessions have also been promised, along with a book-swap programme and music and publishers’ market to lend the space a community edge.

Homeboy Bar, Battersea

Ciaran Smith and Aaron Wall, the Dublin-bred, London-based bartending duo behind Islington’s acclaimed cocktail bar Homeboy, have opened a second site in Battersea’s Embassy Gardens. Take a table on the wraparound terrace and work your way through the Irish whiskey-focused menu (the Irish coffee is not to be missed), bar snacks and toasties, all of which comes served with a side of the brand’s lovable modern Irish hospitality.

London Bridge Rooftop

London Bridge Rooftop officially launched last December only to close almost immediately as the city was plunged into Tier 3 and then another national lockdown. Now the new rooftop bar has launched a second time with all heaters blazing. Look forward to celebratory cocktails, craft brews, Ginger Pig burgers and DJ sets as well as panoramic views of the higgledy-piggledy streets and train tracks below.

Limin’ Beach Bar, Southbank

If trips to tropical shores are out of reach, a newly opened beach bar on London’s South Bank is bringing Caribbean vibes to the banks of our very own River Thames. From the team behind Spitalfields’ Limin’ pop-up, South Bank’s Limin’ Beach Club is a food-focused beach bar; as well as spirited cups of rum punch, look forward to jerk delights, soft shell crab and coconut grilled prawns. Sink your toes into silky sand while you sip and allow a soundtrack of soca beats to whisk you away.

Spring in the Courtyard at Hackney Bridge, Hackney Wick

Unable to book a pub garden table for love nor money? Beat the crowds and park your clan at Spring in the Courtyard, an expansive new al fresco bar and street food hub that’s part of the Hackney Bridge complex – itself the latest destination from the team behind Pop Brixton and Peckham Levels. The bar itself can cater for a generous 400 covers, while the wider canalside location hosts pop-up markets and live events.