The Best Bars in Peckham

Peckham Levels occupies the upper floors of the Frank's Cafe-era car park that defined the neighbourhood's transformation. Multiple bars across several levels, a mix of indoor and outdoor space, food traders on the lower floors. The rooftop terrace has unobstructed views across South London and gets genuinely atmospheric on warm evenings. Come early if you want a table on the top level — it fills fast after 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Order: Whatever natural wine is on the list — the selection here is better than it needs to be

Forza Wine is one of Peckham's best wine bars — Italian-focused list, aperitivo-heavy small plates, and an outdoor terrace that works in every season because the staff are not precious about it. The Negroni here is among the best in South London. The crowd is local and loyal; this is a neighbourhood bar that has kept its identity even as the neighbourhood has changed significantly around it.

Order: Negroni and whatever the kitchen is serving that day

Part off-licence, part taproom, entirely committed to interesting beer. The Beer Shop Peckham stocks a constantly rotating selection of small-batch UK and European craft beer to drink on site or take away, with a tiny seating area that fills with regulars most evenings. The selection skews toward the more interesting end of the spectrum — farmhouse ales, lambics, and whatever the owner has just been excited about.

Order: Ask what is exceptional this week — they will have a strong opinion

The Montpelier is a large Victorian pub with one of the best beer gardens in South London — genuinely spacious, with mature trees providing real shade in summer. The real ales are well-kept, the kitchen produces honest food, and the clientele is the kind of mix that makes Peckham interesting: artists, market traders, local families, people who have lived on the same street for thirty years. No gimmicks. A proper South London pub.

Order: Guest cask ale and stay for the garden

A small mezcal bar on Rye Lane that takes its stock with the seriousness the spirit deserves. Over sixty mezcal expressions, organised by producer and region, with a small cocktail programme built around agave spirits. The room is colourful and close — maybe twenty covers — and the staff know what is in the bottles well enough to walk you through them without a script. A genuinely excellent specialist bar in a neighbourhood that rewards specialist bars.

Order: Single mezcal tasting flight — three expressions across three styles

Zeret is primarily an Ethiopian restaurant but the bar aspect of the room — Ethiopian honey wine, tej, and injera to accompany whatever is on the menu that evening — makes it a genuinely distinct drinking experience. The honey wine is the reason to come: sweet, aromatic, served warm or cold. The community feel of the room is something that no amount of interior design can manufacture. Book ahead on weekend evenings.

Order: Traditional tej — Ethiopian honey wine

Brick Brewery is Peckham's home brewery and the taproom on Blenheim Grove is where to drink them at their freshest. The core range covers pale ales, porters and a session IPA, but the limited releases are the reason regulars make a specific trip. The space is industrial and unadorned, the pricing is honest, and the beer is better than most of what you are paying three times the price for elsewhere in London.

Order: Whatever limited release is available — ask before ordering from the core range

The Bussey Building operates as an events space and bar across several floors, with the rooftop terrace being the main draw on summer evenings. The programming changes — music nights, markets, pop-up bars — but the rooftop's position gives a genuinely unobstructed South London panorama. Natural wine and craft beer are the drink categories most represented. Check listings before going; events determine what is happening on any given night.

Order: Natural wine from whatever the current pop-up is pouring

The Gowlett Arms is the Peckham local that Peckham locals actually use — unpretentious, with a wood-fired pizza oven that has been going since long before pizza became a competitive sport in London. The beer garden fills early on summer evenings. The ale selection is rotating and well-kept. This is the bar you come to when you have already done the novelty options and want to spend a long evening somewhere that does not require a strategy.

Order: Cask pale ale and the pizza of the day

Pool tables, pinball machines, a decent cocktail list and a bar that stays open until 2am on weekends. Canavan's does not pretend to be anything more sophisticated than a very good late-night bar, which is why it has developed the loyal following it has. The cocktails are made properly — not as an afterthought — and the atmosphere is relaxed in a way that late-night bars rarely manage. One of Peckham's most genuinely fun evenings out.

Order: House Margarita — consistently the best thing on the cocktail list