Quirky Cocktail Bars to Try in London

Make like the 1940s and get down to Cahoots in Soho. Be sure to make a reservation and dress the part—all of the staff play up living and working in a 1940s train station.

The Luggage Room, which actually did serve as a luggage room at one time, takes you back to the giddy 1920s. Raise a martini glass and dance the Charleston to the sounds of early jazz in this high-class Mayfair speakeasy.

Evans and Peel is a 1950s-themed speakeasy cum detective agency, and as such, you will need to fill in the case file on their website to get a booking. Passwords and secret files abound, and you’ll be expected to help crack a few cases. Once you’ve done the hard work, you can kick back with an Old Fashioned or a Cold Fashioned, if you prefer.

Welcome to the ’90s in this over-the-top cocktail den in Dalston. Little Nan’s has taken over Rio Cinema (and pops up in other spaces) with their extensive list of cocktails, all served in teapots, and a selection of pic ‘n’ mix popcorn. Choose your two-hour slot, and revel in the kitschiness.

Come one, come all to this circus-themed cocktail bar in Shoreditch. Trapeze is set over two levels with a bar on one floor and a club on the other. Everywhere you look there’s circus paraphernalia, which is surprisingly trippy. Surreal parties tend to kick off with bartenders dressed as circus folk and endless sequins and capes.