Aiyaz Crystal Wine Glasses

Cocktail Martini

Londons Top Five Cocktail Bars

If there's one thing London isn't short of, it's a cocktail bar. They're everywhere and Martinis and Cosmopolitans are being mixed all over the city despite the credit crunch. Some are cheap, some are very expensive. Some of them are just right. Of course, it's not always easy to tell which ones are worth the money. This article looks at the Goldilocks of cocktail bars throughout the capital, without having to venture into a scary looking members club or swanky hotel bar.

1. Bourne and Hollingsworth – Rathbone Place

This tiny little slip of a place is just a newsagent to the naked eye. But once you spy the sneaky stairs, you're treated to a gorgeous 30s bar and some excellent cocktails. The £7.50 Sebastian Martini wins points for being the most divine – passion fruit, vodka and champagne in that ever important martini glass. (Cocktails always taste better in a martini glass, don't you think?) Think flapper dresses and feathers and you've got the look just right.

2. Bob Bob Ricard – Upper James Street

This new haunt is taking trendy Soho by storm. It's a breakfast bar, a diner and cocktail bar all rolled into one. How very U S of A. Press a dinky little button at your table to order more champagne (very nice touch) or have one of the charming waitresses bring you a rhubarb gin and tonic. It's not cheap though. Drinks are around a tenner. It's worth it; you're paying for style here.

3. Fluid – Charterhouse Street

Cocktails AND arcade games? Yes please! Throw in some sushi and this is a fantastic little find in Clerkenwell. With favourites like Space Invaders and Pacman on the old school arcade machines, you'll have a great time getting in touch with your inner child. They play great music and do a mean Polish martini. I'm more of a fan of their long drinks, but if you really really want to, you can have yourself a Wasbabi Martini. It's a pricey night out though – most cocktails are £7-8.

4. Lab Bar – Old Compton Street

This is one of the most popular cocktail bars in London and its easy to see why. The cocktail list is gigantic. You'd be very very hungover if you tried to work your way through it. It's not the cheapest cocktail bar – the drinks will set you back about £8 each, but the mixologists are some of the best in the business and if you can't decide what you want, you can always get them to whip up something new. Having your own signature cocktail is pretty cool y'know.

5. Freud – Shaftesbury Avenue.

Freud is very cool little place. It's not just a bar with an immense cocktail menu, it's also an art gallery. There's always something interesting going on here. You'll meet some very cool types here as well. Artists, writers and philosophy students mostly. The cocktails are mostly novelty, but it's that's your thing then you'll really like this quirky little bar. Expect to pay around £6 for your tipple.

When looking for entertainment and new places, it is easy to find hundreds of fantastic bars, restaurants and London hotels in one of the most fun cities of the world.

About the Author

Sian is a freelance journalist who specialises in writing about entertainment and events in London. She can often be found lurking around cocktail bars and drinking too much tea in little cafes. She is best approached cautiously, with a piece of cake.

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Cocktail - $6.99 Tom Cruise juggles Martini shakers and ice cubes as the materialistic Brian Flanagan, a bartender who drops out of school to search for the perfect "rich chick" who will bankroll him into luxury. Brian meets up with bar veteran Doug Couglin (Bryan Brown) and they put together a dance-duo bar-tending act, taking five minutes to a mix a drink as they dance and toss gin bottles behind the bar to cutting-edge rock music circa 1988. The patrons, instead of demanding the booze, are dazzled by their antics and cheer them on. As a result, the bartenders become wildly popular -- in particular, Brian, who finds the bar babes falling all over each other to hop into the sack with him. As a result of their bar-tending success, they get hired to tend bar at a swanky disco, but there Brian and Doug have a falling out, and Brian takes off for Jamaica. There he meets vacationing New York City waitress Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue) and the two fall in love. But then Brian meets rich New York fashion executive Bonnie (Lisa Banes) who wants to take Brian back to Manhattan with her to become her drink-mixing stud. When Jordan sees this, the love affair is put on hold. But not for long, as pangs of consciousness begin to filter through Brian's drunken haze. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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