The Best Bars in Shoreditch

One of East London's most loved cocktail bars, Callooh Callay runs on a Lewis Carroll theme that sounds gimmicky and turns out to be genuinely clever. The bar is small and dark, the drinks are inventive without being absurd, and the team behind the bar clearly enjoys the work. The back room — accessed through a wardrobe — is worth booking for groups. Arrive before 9pm if you want a stool at the bar.

Order: Ask for the current seasonal cocktail menu — it changes quarterly

The Nightjar is the most accomplished cocktail bar in the Shoreditch area — arguably one of the best in London. The menu is divided by era (Prohibition, Post-War, Signature) and the drinks are constructed with a discipline that borders on scholarly. Live jazz most nights, no standing at the bar, reservations required on weekends. This is where you bring someone when you want to impress them, and it works every time.

Order: Anything from the Prohibition section — the sours are exceptional

XOYO sits at the intersection of bar and club, and does both well. The ground-floor bar operates until late with a tight spirits list and no-nonsense pours; downstairs hosts ticketed music events across house, techno, and left-of-field bookings. The bar crowd is mixed and unhurried on weeknights. Come for the music, stay because the drinks are better than you'd expect from a venue this size.

Order: House lager or a neat measure of whatever bourbon is on the rail

Down a flight of stairs from Wentworth Street, Discount Suit Company is small, dark, and serious about cocktails without making a fuss about it. The menu is short, the execution is precise, and the prices are reasonable for the quality. It feels like a bar that exists for the people drinking rather than for Instagram. One of the most reliably good finds in East London — and one of the few that hasn't changed since it opened.

Order: Old Fashioned — they do it properly here

Redchurch Street has become one of the most photographed streets in East London, but the Owl and the Pussycat has resisted most of the pressure to become a concept. It remains a proper pub — good beer, decent food, no room bookings — on a street where everything around it has been polished into a brand. The rooftop terrace, when the weather allows, is the best outdoor drinking spot in this part of Shoreditch.

Order: A pint of whatever cask ale they have on — it changes regularly

Happiness Forgets is a basement bar on Hoxton Square that has been one of the most consistent cocktail destinations in East London for the better part of a decade. It seats around 30 people, takes walk-ins until full, and produces drinks that are technically accomplished without being precious. The staff are knowledgeable and relaxed in equal measure. Go early in the week when the room is quieter and you can actually talk to the bartender.

Order: Ask what they're enjoying making this week — the answer is always good

The original railway arch bar in Shoreditch, Cargo is enormous by area but manages to feel less monolithic than it looks on a map. Multiple distinct spaces — courtyard, covered arches, inside bar — mean you can find a corner even on busy nights. The booking and music programming is better than comparable venues. Worth a visit specifically for their outdoor courtyard on warm evenings, which is one of the better casual drinking settings in E1.

Order: Draft lager in the courtyard — keep it simple here

Trapeze sits beneath a pub on Old Street and operates as a credible late-night bar and club space without the usual volume-venue problems. The basement is tight and atmospheric, the sound is properly managed, and the bar stocks a more considered range than the crowd might suggest. A good option when you want a late drink in a room that feels alive rather than merely loud. Open most nights from around 10pm.

Order: Mezcal and soda — drinks come quickly here and you'll thank yourself later

A relative newcomer that has quietly become one of the better wine bars in the area: a narrow room with good lighting, a thoughtful natural wine list that rotates properly, and small plates from a kitchen that understands what wine needs alongside it. Not a cocktail destination — come here for skin-contact whites and orange wines from producers you won't find on a pub menu. Excellent on a Tuesday when the energy is unhurried.

Order: Whatever the staff have open to taste behind the bar

Slightly outside the Shoreditch core but worth including: The Spread Eagle is a fully vegan pub that serves genuinely excellent beer and food in a space that feels nothing like an ideological statement. The rotating tap list includes some of the best natural wines and craft beers in East London, and the kitchen produces pub food that stands up to any comparison. The kind of local that makes you wish you lived around the corner.

Order: Current guest craft beer — the selection changes weekly