What Laki Kane is, and who it's for.
Laki Kane opened on Upper Street in 2018 under Bulgarian-born bartender Georgi Radev, who built the bar around a no-sugar-syrup rum programme and a sustainability stance unusual for the tiki category. The World's 50 Best Bars placed Laki Kane in its 2023 Top 100 (Discovery list), and Class Magazine named Radev the UK's Bar Operator of the Year in 2022. The downstairs rum school — a hands-on session blending and ageing your own rum — is the bar's calling card.
The right visitor wants serious tiki without the kitsch overload of an Archer Street imitation — or wants a Saturday-afternoon group experience built around the rum school. The wrong visitor wants quiet, classic cocktails, or a beer list. Time Out London calls the room "the most genuine tiki bar in the city, by some distance."
The basics.
Islington · Highbury & Islington tube, 4 min south on Upper Street
The physical space.
Two levels: a ground-floor bar in palm-leaf wallpaper, with a counter that pivots toward the front window, and a downstairs tiki temple with carved wooden booths and a working rum lab. Difford's Guide describes the upstairs as "warmer than the average Upper Street cocktail bar; the downstairs as a Disneyland for the rum-curious." The fans, lighting, and bamboo treatment are well-done rather than ironic.
What to order, what to skip.
Order the Banana Daiquiri (£13) — Radev's signature, made without added sugar, and the drink the bar is most cited for. The Painkiller (£14) and the rotating tiki bowl (£48 for four) are the table orders. Class Magazine's 2022 profile of Radev highlights his no-syrup approach as the bar's defining technique — sweetness comes from fruit reductions, not added sugar. The rum list runs over 250 bottles.
Skip ordering a martini or a whisky cocktail — the rum programme is the entire point, and r/londonbars regulars note that the off-category builds are weaker. Book the rum school (£55, 90 minutes) at least a week ahead for weekend slots.
When the room shifts.
Wednesday and Thursday evenings read as Islington locals and cocktail-curious; Friday and Saturday tilt toward birthday groups and rum-school attendees making a night of it. The room shifts harder than most Upper Street bars at the weekend — tables get pushed back for dancing on Saturday after 22:30.
The recurring notes.
- "The rum school is the best birthday move in north London. Book the early slot, eat at Galeto after." — r/AskUK (2024)
- World's 50 Best Bars: included in 51–100 Discovery list (2023, 2024). Class Magazine Bar Operator of the Year (2022). — World's 50 Best / Class Magazine
- "The Banana Daiquiri is the cocktail to beat in the whole city for under fifteen pounds." — Time Out London
- "Loud after 22:00 on Saturday — sit upstairs if you want to talk." — Google Maps reviews
Match the night to the room.
- Right for:A birthday or hen-night group with two hours for the rum school.
- Right for:Serious tiki drinking without sugar-bomb syrup.
- Avoid if:You want quiet, a whisky list, or a Saturday after 22:30 conversation.
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