London Bars & Cocktail Lounges

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

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