The Best Secret Speakeasy Bars in London
The trend that started in the East End, as these things tend to do, has now swept across the city, with an ever-growing pool of speakeasy-style bars popping up behind nondescript doors, toilet walls and decoy fridges everywhere. Get ready to experience the prohibition years in suitable style, with our guide to the best of London’s American-inspired illicit drinking dens.
1. Order world-class cocktails at Callooh Callay
Bar, Cocktail Bar, European, Northern European, Seafood, Cajun
A cool spot even by Shoreditch standards, Callooh Callay once won Best Cocktail Menu in the World at the Tales of the Cocktail awards. There are three separate bars inside this Lewis Carroll-inspired venue, kept under wraps of varying tightness. Head to the back of the front bar, and you’ll find a wardrobe straight out of Narnia. Through there, and it’s into the Back Lounge. At the back of the Back Lounge, behind a curtain and up a flight of stairs, you’ll find the Jubjub bar. However, to crack your way inside the last Russian Doll, you’ll need a four-digit door code, and a membership to boot. Even if you don’t make it into the final bar, there should be plenty to satisfy you in the other two rooms, which are filled with cutesy, colourful furniture, plenty of mood lighting and an eclectic choice of killer cocktails.
2. Dress up while you drink up at Barts
Bar, Cocktail Bar, Contemporary
The Mickey Mouse wallpaper is the giveaway in this otherwise unassuming block of flats on Chelsea’s exclusive Sloane Avenue. This place really goes full pelt for the speakeasy vibe, with a sliding peephole, a treasure trove box full of fancy dress and menus hidden inside of books, which are stacked away in a ‘secret’ bookcase. Housekeeping rules include “act like a leading lady, drink like a chorus girl”, “if the cops come, bootleg it”, and “if you let anyone in, you’re out”, but it’s best to take the exclusivity with a pinch of salt as Barts is really best suited to large groups. How else do you expect to take advantage of the humongous sharing cocktails served in gramophones and top hats and still have enough spring left in your step in case of raids?
3. Pass an interrogation to enter Evans & Peel Detective Agency
Bar, Cocktail Bar, American
A basement bar in Earl’s Court, Evans & Peel is accessed via a unique, if a little inscrutable, charade. Customers are greeted by an intercom system before a secret entrance opens up (if you have made an appointment), leading to the office of a detective who probes you on the nature of your ‘case’. If your interview is successful, out swings the bookcase and in you go. No doubt ‘Evans’ and ‘Peel’ knew this was more than enough quirk factor to draw crowds to their West End drinking den, and the charade ends abruptly. Once inside, Evans & Peel is a dark and sultry bar, crafted from old church pews, serving London Pale Ale through an antique radiator and bottles enclosed in brown paper bags – in case of cops, obviously.
5. Indulge in dreamy cocktails at Nightjar
Bar, Cocktail Bar, Cafe, Contemporary
Bringing a touch of glam to the ‘illicit’ proceedings, this Old Street speakeasy has enjoyed an incongruous degree of renown since it opened in 2010 – so much so that it has now resorted to taking online bookings and charging for no-shows. The surroundings are a New York breed of sophistication, with live jazz and blues music. However, the stars of the show are 100 percent the bar staff, who dream up a ridiculously good mix of unique cocktails that are subdivided into historical eras, using some of the strangest ingredients we’re ever heard of, including tree bark, peanut butter ice cubes, sea plankton, mozzarella and even creepy crawlies — yes, real ones. Seriously, their Instagram page will knock your socks off.
6. Check into The Chelsea Prayer Room, the most heavenly of secret spots
Restaurant, Bar, Pub, Italian
7. Choose from decades-old libations at Experimental Cocktail Club Chinatown
Bar, Contemporary
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