The Best Places in London
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A walled beer garden on Bermondsey Street is a rare thing, and The Woolpack has one, complete with picnic tables, bamboo fencing, and a parasol heroic enough to deny the British weather. Inside, the booths run along original tiled walls uncovered during a refurb, and the overall vibe is 70s utilitarian rather than anything a designer touched. A proper pub, unpretentious and unapologetic about it.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3 stars · Difford's Guide
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A narrow old pub on Wapping High Street that's been around long enough to have its own hanging judge lore, which the regulars will tell you about unprompted. Judge Jeffreys sentenced hundreds here in the 17th century, and the gallows sat out back. These days, that back terrace leads straight to the Thames, the view partly obscured, the atmosphere several centuries deep. One of the older riverside pubs in London, and the kind that earns the description without trying.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. Translate
Cocktail Bar
A hostel bar turned Shoreditch cocktail den, Translate keeps things unfussy: wooden bar, exposed brick, drinks on a blackboard. The cocktail list leans playful, mixing rum, chocolate milk, and whipped cream alongside tequila-coconut builds that suggest the bartenders are having fun. Kingsland Road's southern stretch draws a crowd that's here to settle in, not to be seen, which makes it a useful place to actually get a seat.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. UnderDog
Beer Bar
The entrance is a hinged picture frame in a stairwell that appears to lead nowhere, which sets the tone pretty well. UnderDog is a low-lit, deliberately scuffed speakeasy-style cocktail bar tucked beneath the Bethnal Green BrewDog, and the brewery doesn't advertise it at all. Just ask to be taken downstairs. The drinks lean toward beer, as you'd expect given the parentage, but the hidden-door theatrics justify turning up curious.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3 stars · Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. Vaults at Voltaire
Cocktail Bar
Nine vaulted alcoves run beneath the pavement near Blackfriars, each lined with digital wallpaper depicting Champagne cellars and sized for two to eight people, which covers a lot of ground socially. This basement cocktail bar sits below the Crowne Plaza and draws the post-work crowd into its main space, where a long bar, big banquettes, and a resident DJ keep things moving. One of the few places in central London where you can still smoke inside your private vault.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. Venn Street Records
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3 stars · Difford's Guide
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The lounge bar sits up a few steps to the right as you walk in, salvaged timber and exposed metal doing the heavy lifting on atmosphere. Village East was an early arrival on Bermondsey Street before the White Cube moved in and the expensive-small-thing shops followed, so there's a confident ease here that the newer neighbours are still working on. The restaurant fills the main floor; this is the bar, and it reads like one.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. Viva Tapas y Bebidas
Spanish
A Spanish cocktail and tapas bar on a Stoke Newington corner where the surrounding block runs almost exclusively Turkish. Inside, kitsch furniture and bare brick set the scene for a rum and tequila-forward menu that leans into the classics while making room for wilder combinations. The tables are small and close together, which means the room feels busy even when it isn't, and the low lighting at night does its job.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3 stars · Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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The Wheatsheaf sits right at the edge of Borough Market, which means the Friday afternoon crowd has usually come straight from a cheese stall. It's a pub with reclaimed wood tables on flagstones, pastel panelling that nods to a Shaker kitchen, and a vintage frontage that somehow outlasted Thameslink construction work overhead. The vibe is designer rustic, the pints are cold, and the location does most of the heavy lifting.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. York and Albany
Cocktail Bar
A long black-and-grey bar faces the door of this cocktail bar tucked into the foyer of Gordon Ramsay's Camden townhouse hotel, high-backed armchairs pulled close to a fireplace nearby. The 22-drink menu runs classic martinis through fizzes and long drinks, which is a sensible range for a room that pulls in both hotel guests and locals who've discovered the armchairs are quite hard to leave.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. Zenna Bar
Indian
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 513. Zigfrid Von Underbelly
British
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Ace Hotel Lobby Bar
American
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Apartment 58
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Archer Street
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Baccarat Bar
Cocktail Bar
A cocktail bar tucked inside Harrods, where every drink arrives in a crystal glass made by Baccarat, which you can then buy on your way out if the mood strikes. Velvet, chandeliers, and a tight menu of high-end cocktails set the register firmly at "what's another round." Small plates from the Harrods kitchen round things out. It is, in short, a bar that knows exactly what it's doing and charges accordingly.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Carom
Indian
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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From the outside it still reads as a pub, the kind that's been anchoring this Barbican-edge block forever, but step inside and you're somewhere considerably more considered. The Martin brothers have a habit of rescuing tired City boozers and returning them better dressed and better behaved than they found them. Difford's Guide has taken note. The crowd tends toward suits loosening their collars after six, which feels exactly right.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Eclipse, South Kensington
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Gaucho, Charlotte Street
Argentine Steakhouse
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Gaucho, Piccadilly
Argentine Steakhouse
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Gaucho, Tower Bridge
Steakhouse
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. HEJ Coffee
Swedish Coffee
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Homeboy Bar - Islington
Modern Irish Cocktail Bar
The Guinness is poured properly and the Irish whiskey list is taken seriously, which tells you most of what you need to know about this cocktail bar on Essex Road. Homeboy leans into modern Irish hospitality without winking about it, so expect a crowd that actually knows what they ordered. Live music most nights of the week, DJs on weekends, and rugby on a screen big enough to matter.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. House of Tippler
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. KPH
Diner American
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Laki Kane Cocktail Bar and Restaurant
Pan-Asian Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Lockes
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Milroy's of Spitalfields
Cocktail Bar
Four floors of whisky obsession in the shadow of Spitalfields Market, with a thousand drams on the ground floor and a basement cocktail bar, The Proofing Room, named for the bakery that occupied the space before the war. The cocktails lean on the original Soho location's Vault recipes, so the Coconut Butter Old Fashioned travels well. Above it all, a private members club with a cigar terrace, for those who like their evenings to escalate.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. New Bloomsbury Set
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Nine Lives
Mexican
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Northcote Records
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Novotel Tower Bridge - Elements Bar
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Pot Still Bar
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Ribiera
Latin American
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Roadhouse
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. Square Mile Distillery and Bar
Cocktail Bar
The copper and steel stills behind the glass wall are not props. Each one was carried down the stairs by hand, and they all still run, made by German craftsman Christian Carl with the kind of dials and levers Jules Verne would have sketched. This City cocktail bar leans hard into gin, with a menu built around it, though other spirits and a few beers are there if you insist on ignoring the obvious.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. The BAR at Courthouse Hotel
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. The March Hare
British
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 716. The Marylebone
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide