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It¡¯s not hard to spend a lot of money on cocktails in London, but the city also has plenty of drinking dens, dive bars and wine bars that are hiding a bit of a bargain. These are the bars that not only serve a cocktail for under a tenner but that you actually want to hang out in too.
NINETYEIGHT BAR, SHOREDITCH
Sophie Knight, digital picture editor
‘One of the lesser-known bars in Shoreditch, Ninetyeight is found at the bottom of a hidden spiral staircase on busy Curtain Road. Sit around a grand piano, in a space covered in papier-mach¨¦ or under bright neon in the Tiki Tiki room. The whole place is kitted out with crazy kitsch memorabilia brought back from the owner’s travels: a wall of Barbies and dinosaurs, a rocking horse that doubles up as a seat, vintage furniture that’s been given a spray-paint revamp. Innovative cocktails priced at ¡ê10 are served up in treasure chests or old perfume bottles, and even set on fire ¨C anything goes.’ ninetyeight-bar-lounge.co.uk
CALL ME MR LUCKY, BOROUGH
Lauren Burvill, acting audience growth manager
‘The place to go when you want to escape the market crowds, this basement bar is hidden under the Breakfast Club with access only granted to those who tell the staff ‘I’m here to get lucky.’ Apart from the location, it’s the potent mezcal and tequila concoctions that are the main draw, with drinks such as a Pom Pom, made up of Mezcal Verde, pomegranate, grapefruit, orange and elderflower, costing ¡ê8. The vibe is cheap and cheerful with multicoloured lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a daily two-for-¡ê10 happy hour, so it’s very tempting to go in for one and not leave until closing.’ callmemrlucky.com
THREE SHEETS, DALSTON
Katharine Sohn, PA to the editor-in-chief
This is a seriously unfussy bar that has quickly become an East London neighbourhood favourite. Brothers Max and Noel Venning, who are also behind Top Cuv¨¦e in Highbury and Little Mercies in Crouch End, show off their mixology skills here with inventive riffs on the weekly changing classics. Drinks are broken up into three sheets and while the average cocktail price is around ¡ê10, the real treat is when you order two house cocktails before 6pm, for under ¡ê15. threesheets-bar.com
GOLDFINCH, TOOTING
Fiona Kerr, features director
‘Most of the bars I go to in London these days are near where I live in Tooting: I think you can call proper cocktails under a tenner cheap in the capital, and Goldfinch shakes a cracking White Negroni (¡ê9). Before continuing the crawl at nano bar Graveney Gin, which distills its own spirit in Tooting Market, it’s across to Unwined for interesting natural wines or to see what’s on the board at Tap 13, a zero-waste bar in neighbouring Broadway Market.’ goldfinchsw17.co.uk, graveneygin.co.uk, unwinedbars.co.uk, tap13tooting.co.uk
GORDON¡¯S WINE BAR, EMBANKMENT
Paula Ellis, art director
¡®Said to be the oldest wine bar in London, the old brick-lined cellar is just a tiny bit damp with aging pictures of famous people who have visited. Staff are friendly and brilliant at recommending something you might not otherwise try. There are real candles, and therefore dripping wax everywhere, and there¡¯s always a great atmosphere.¡¯ gordonswinebar.com
CAMPANIA AND JONES, BETHNAL GREEN
Charlotte Davey, fashion features editor
¡®Just off Columbia Road, this Italian bar and restaurant sits inside an old dairy building on a cobbled street, fitting East London’s historic-meets-hipster vibe. The best time to go is Saturday afternoon ¨C if you can get a table ¨C when the flower market becomes a bargain free-for-all and jazz trios busk on the pavement. A few new vintage stalls and trendier caf¨¦s have cropped up over the past few years, but this spot, labelled S Jones out front, has maintained an authentic charm. Order a burrata-and-tomato salad and a ¡ê6 glass of white and enjoy the people-watching.¡¯ campaniaandjones.com
CABLE CAFE BAR, KENNINGTON
Rosalyn Wikeley, creative content editor
¡®A moody coffee shop by day and gritty jazz bar by night, Cable Caf¨¦ Bar is a hidden gem sandwiched between off-licences and takeaway shops on Brixton Road. In the morning, its huge windows pull in shards of light that illuminate the dark wood and faces of punters savouring their ¡ê3 coffees (music to the ears of Londoners tired of paying ¡ê4.50 for a latte). The coffee is good, as are the toasties bought in from a nearby bakery, which make for the perfect lunchtime snack. And the soundtrack is usually jazz ¨C fitting, as on Tuesday evenings singers and bands tumble in to lift everyone¡¯s spirits. It recalls the spirit of small, pre-war Viennese caf¨¦s and Chicago piano bars ¨C a place to discuss culture and politics by day and forget them by night. The best thing? It refuses to bend to next-gen whims, so you can forget geometric tiles and avocado on toast and instead order a slice of cake or strong cocktail.¡¯ facebook.com/CableCafeBar
LITTLE NAN¡¯S BAR, DEPTFORD
Becky Lucas, digital editor
¡®Founded in 2013 in a Deptford club¡¯s back room, the first Little Nan¡¯s was Tristan Scutt¡¯s homage to his own late grandmother Jojo, filled with her kitsch belongings and furniture. His aim was to create a place where visitors would feel immediately at home, charmed and probably a bit confused. Today, in the two London bars, shed, ballroom, caravan and roving mobile bar, the 85-plus cheeky and very strong cocktails are named after celebrities (the Queen Cilla Black), TV characters (Lord DCI Burnside) and regulars (Uncle Jon from Jamaica), and mostly arrive in teacups or sometimes chintzy ornaments and vases. Nostalgic Eighties and Nineties favourites such as pineapple and cheese on a stick, giant Scotch eggs and French Fancies are included in the ¡ê35 bottomless boozy brunch, which should also involve time spent tipsily rummaging around in the costume room, while regular cocktails start at ¡ê8.¡¯
littlenans.co.uk
HEADS AND TAILS, WEST HAMPSTEAD
Sarah James, assistant digital editor
¡®Mint-green booths and a long terrazzo bar dominate the ground floor of this smart North London hangout. Happy hour changes seasonally, but nearly always includes brilliant classics ¨C a tart Negroni, a refreshing Aperol Spritz ¨C for ¡ê5 before 7pm on weekdays. Downstairs, there¡¯s a dark, moody whisky den (the eponymous ¡®tails¡¯ to the ground-floor ¡®heads¡¯), but I recommend bagging a spot in the peaceful courtyard out back.¡¯
headsandtails.bar
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