As Europe's largest capital, you'll find London boasts a vast array of bars, brasseries, bistros, clubs and restaurants - enough in fact, to cover every type of cuisine or alcoholic beverage on the planet! From Camden in the North to trendy Brixton in the South, you'll find it difficult not to find something stylish on every street - without relying purely on Soho and Covent Garden. Oh, and if you need a cultural fix don't forget that with the Millennium celebrations also came the Tate Modern, the London Eye and hundreds of other attractions, which should give you enough of an excuse to go there in the first place!

43 South Molton Street

43 South Molton Street
London, W1K 5RS
Telephone: 020 7647 4343
Hours: Member's Club open Tues-Fri 5:30pm-3am, Sat 7pm-3am

What to make of this sprawling venue combining chic London street style with eccentric country manor glamour? A four-floor member’s club, bar and restaurant set in a beautiful old West End building, the interiors by fashion designer Russell Sage say everything about its stylish weirdness: the café and restaurant on the ground floor resembles a hardware store with shelves packed with light bulbs, Marmite and Coleman’s mustard and clothing, while an upper floor trophy room is packed with stag horns, stuffed animals and oil paintings. Food is high-end European cuisine from a former chef at Marco Pierre White’s private club Drone, and the upper-floor bar menu created by Jasper Tay, formerly of Milk & Honey, specialises in classic cocktails with twists, including tributes to the world’s leading modern-day mixologists. Try the Fitzgerald, a Tom Collins with Bitters; and the Old Cuban - Mojito with champagne. The first and second floors are for members, there’s a ballroom-like dance floor, and romantics among you will enjoy the warm glow from the lamps and candles in the private dining space. Marvellous!

Vertigo

Level 42, Tower 42 25 Old Broad St
London, EC2N 1HQ
Telephone: 020 7877 7842
Hours: Mon-Fri noon-3pm & 5-10pm

Not the best place to be if you take to heights like James Stewart in Vertigo but if you’re after the most luxurious view in London this is it. Located on Level 42 of the former Nat West Tower, the pan-London skyline looks like something out of Bladerunner and you’ll feel like Bond if you’re observing it with binoculars and a martini in the company of a model. Chic décor, glamorous waitresses and much glass and steel compliment the classy cocktails and seafood and champagne menu. Not to be missed or dissed.

Eclipse Bar Notting Hill

186 Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill W11 2ES, tel: 020 7792 2063
Opening times
4pm- midnight Monday - Thursday
12pm-midnight on Friday
9am- midnight on Saturday
10am-10.30pm on Sunday

Located only a stones throw from Portobello Market, this friendly bar is a firm favourite with the locals and benefits from open double doors and outdoor seating in the summer and a cosy, roaring fire in the winter. Eclipse has recreated a sophisticated but laid back atmosphere in its Notting Hill bar. There is a delicious, home made menu on offer every day of the week including a wide range of burgers and other plates, and a full breakfast over the weekend.

Eclipse’s expert mixologists create mind-blowing cocktails using the highest quality ingredients and the very freshest of fruit; wines, beers and Champagne are found in the menu too.

Don't miss our Italian nights on the last Sunday of every month. Come and have an aperitivo with us and banish any Sunday night blues with a night full of Italian spirit.

AKA

18 West Central Street
London, WC1A 1JJ
Telephone: 020 7836 0110
Hours: M Closed Tu-F 6pm-3am Sa 7pm-3am

It's never a problem paying a little over the odds for excellence, and AKA does it all so smoothly and thoughtfully one is happy to pop one's card in the barman's top pocket and tell him to get on with it. It's large and airy in here, with a polished steel bar and excellent food, the menu of which changes daily. Good cold beers, too, and anywhere that comes up with a drink called a Jayne Mansfield has to be worthy of support.

Mac Bar

102 - 104 Camden Road Camden Town
London, NW1 9EA
Telephone: 020 7485 4530

Camdenites know a thing or two about happening bars and they’ve come up trumps again with the Mac Bar, a trendy cocktail bar with a laid-back, local feel – now there’s a novelty. The same could be said for the food, which is ingeniously served on food sticks – chunky, hollowed-out planks housing various meze, Thai and world fusion foods. Come the weekend and Sunday is the day to be seen here - if you can get in that is - as regulars soon fill the comfy leather sofas in anticipation of the famous Mac bar roasts.

Opium

1 Dean St
London, W1D 3RB
Telephone: 020 7287 9608

If you've survived an afternoon in the West End this new bar-restaurant should help you wind down. A sneeze away from Oxford Street it's easy to miss, but descend the stairs and you'll find all the trappings of the luxurious orient. Velvet and gold opulence reminds you this is another from the stable of Parisian Miguel Cancio Martins - he of Buddha Bar, Bar Fly and Man Ray. The service may be patchy and the bar prices suit only paper money but the menu has a good combination of flavours, so once it's up to speed it should become a firm favourite.

Bar Equal

68-70 Honor Oak Park
London, SE23 1DY
Telephone: 44 (0)208 699 6674

Way out in Forest Hill in SE23, Bar Equal is fittingly named: the equal of any classy lounge in Soho or West London. With six intimate booths in the restaurant and comfy sofas and chic interiors in the bar, you will be more than impressed with the interiors. The dining area to the side of the bar is geared towards the gourmet, with delights such as and Pan Seared Sea Bass and grilled Asian chicken with field mushrooms among the highlights, but it’s the bar that draws well-groomed regulars with dozens of imaginative martinis from lemon trees to strawberry shortcakes and Tennessee Blushes. Champagne cocktails such as bellinis and the signature Mercedes Silver are other hits.

Mandarin Bar

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park 66 Knightsbridge
London, SW1X 7LA
Telephone: 020 7235 2000

Despite it's name it actually feels more like a New York bar as they've wisely avoided the usual spread of overly lacquered replica oriental furniture. With muted lighting and comfy leather sofas it has its discreet corners but it's better to be out in the open for A-list celeb spotting. The Corrs, Pop Stars' Darius (eugch!) and R.E.M's Bill Berry have been seen whiling away the hours here. The staff are smart, attractive and polite - if occasionally forgetful but are well mannered enough to cope with your rising intoxication! Complimentary nibbles will help to cope with the bill if nothing but champagne will do and do be careful not to get lost on the way to the powder room.

Bed

310 Portobello Road Notting Hill
London, W10 5TA
Telephone: +44 (0)208 969 4500
Hours: Mon - Thurs 5pm - 11pm; Fri - Sun 12noon - 11pm

Part of the growing chain of Bed bars – this spot on terminally trendy Portobello Road offers even more opportunities for cheesy “Take Me to Bed” puns. Thankfully, the bar itself is not as cheesy as some chains, and the decadence factor that comes with any outfit daring enough to call itself Bed is more than fulfilled. Done up in much velvet plush, with dark red drapes and ornate chandeliers hanging from gilded ceilings, there’s a definite air of the Baroque bordello to proceedings. Set over two floors, the crowd is pleasingly unaffected, the restaurant offers up tasty Moroccan fare, and bar staff mix a plethora of strong cocktails. They have beer on tap too and a vast selection of vodkas. Okay, so here goes: Want to go to Bed with me?

Smoke bar and diner

14 Trinity Road, SW17, Tooting, London

Not a bad bar and it's certainly the best in Tooting - modern with retro fittings and fixtures and friendly staff. It looks small from the front but the back has just been extended making room for more leather sofas. A great meeting point for early evening drinks before heading down Tooting High Road - aka south London's Brick Lane - in search of curry (try Mirch Masala - there's often a queue outside but it's worth the wait).

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