10 unmissable London cocktail bars, according to the experts

Fancy a drink at one of the best cocktail bars in London? The Pinnacle Guide has announced its latest batch of pinned bars. Among the 61 additions across the world, 10 are found in London.

Not familiar with The Pinnacle Guide? It’s a lot like the Michelin Guide, but is focused on cocktail bars rather than restaurants.

Venues are awarded up to three “pins,” the team itself says these accolades are designed to highlight “excellent,” “outstanding” and “exceptional” spots around town.

Guess what? Of the almost 150 bars highlighted by The Pinnacle Guide, only one has a three-pin status... and it’s in London. That is Lyaness, a supremely creative cocktail bar found at Sea Containers, by London’s South Bank.

Today we’re more interested in The Pinnacle Guide’s new additions, though, and Lyaness has been a three-pin bar since October 2024 — not long after the first wave of pinned bars were revealed in May 2024.

Here are the guide’s latest recommended bars, starting with a pair of two-pin cocktail bars.

1. Dover Yard

1 Dover Yard, W1J 8DL

Part of 1Hotel Mayfair, Dover Yard serves classic and more creative cocktails in “nature-inspired” surroundings. Think lots of wood and some large plants — nothing too out-there. The menu is themed around “sustainability and native flavours,” and uses a bunch of British-produced spirits. Cocktails cost £22 a pop at the time of writing.

2. Murder Inc.

36 Hanway St, W1T 1UP

Soho’s Murder Inc. describes itself with a factor rarely mentioned in cocktail bar marketing: affordability. “Inexpensive, but not short-poured,” is part of the appeal here. You’ll pay £13.50 for a cocktail at the time of writing, while a beer is just a fiver. For Soho? A rare enough sight. The menu aims for “not over-complicated” recipes, but there’s some eye-catching stuff here. Its rum-based Bangers & Smash cocktail is described as “like being poked in the cheek with a sausage.”

3. Eve Bar

34 Southampton St, WC2E 7HF

Eve Bar in Covent Garden is a bar from Michelin starred restauranteur and chef Adam Handling — earned for his Tartan Fox Pub in Cornwall. The concept here is the cocktails are made, in part, using leftovers from the main kitchen, of the sister Frog restaurant.

“The parts of ingredients that can’t be used on the main Frog menu are used to create the snacks and smaller dishes for Eve and then we use those remaining ingredients to form the basis of our cocktails,” he says.

4. Florattica Rooftop

11-15 Minories, EC3N 1AX

Florattica is a rooftop bar in Aldgate — and it has one hell of a view over the city. It has a distinctive look too. A barrage of colour and texture, the bar’s style is “inspired by East London’s textile industry and the local 17th century French Huguenots’ silk woven floral patterns.” It serves £18 cocktails, including Smoky Valley, a mix of Montelobos, Espolon, fermented pear and a citric blend.

5. Scales

25 Duke St, W1U 1DJ

A soho cocktail bar styled as a speakeasy, Scales is found within a townhouse, underneath wine and spirits retailer Drink With Sasha. Among the menu’s favourites include Shiso Apple, made using Mikolasch vodka, Shiso leaf, green apple and Bergamot. Want one of the classic? You’ll find old favourites on the menu there as well.

6. Soma Canary Wharf

6 Frobisher Psge, E14 5HA

Found literally underneath the DLR tracks, Soma’s Canary Wharf venue is a walk-in small bar. But there’s also a 15-capacity Red Room space if you’re looking to book a party. Sat right near Canary Wharf Station, it’s a convenience winner, too. The main space is dominated by the big stainless steel bar, at which patrons sit on high stools.

7. Soma Soho

14 Denman St, W1D 7HJ

Both of Soma’s London cocktail bars have won a Pinnacle Guide pin. This is the original, based in Soho’s Denman Street. The menu features cocktail recipes inspired by “the Indian subcontinent and beyond” and it’s handily open until 3am on Friday and Saturday. Like the follow-up in Canary Wharf, the space is arranged around an expansive steel bar, letting the cocktail-making take centre stage.

8. The Cocktail Trading Company

68 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6GQ

This cocktail bar shrugs off the self-serious cool factor many cocktail bars have, to generate a more approachable and fun atmosphere. And all cocktails are priced at a flat £13.50, so no nasty surprises await. The menu also features recipes inspired by pop culture, including references to Grand Theft Auto and Dungeons & Dragons. Found in Bethnal Green Road, nearby to Shoreditch High Street station.

9. The Pisco Bar At Coya Mayfair

118 Piccadilly, W1J 7NW

A cocktail bar adjoined to the Coya restaurant, the Pisco Bar is feast for the eyes that serves Peruvian inspired drinks. The tagline is this is “where refined mixology meets the vibrant rhythm of Latin America.” As well as some seriously high-end drinks, the menu’s snacks are more interesting than the average too, including seabass croquettes and shiitake mushroom tacos.

10. The Royal Cocktail Exchange

31 Windmill St, W1T 2JN

A short stroll from Goodge Street station, The Royal Cocktail Exchange comes from the same people who run Murder Inc. in Soho. Like that bar, all cocktails are set at a flat price here, £14.50. It opened up in late 2023, and serves fun cocktails including Spacehopper, which marries Belvedere vodka with pistachio-shiso tonic and white chocolate foam.

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