The best new bars in London: 2021 edition

The Mulwray at The Blue Posts, Soho

If The Mulwray sounds familiar, chances are you visited the bar in its previous life. Stowed on the first floor of Layo and Zoë Paskin’s multifaceted venue The Blue Posts, The Mulwray was launched as a cocktail bar back in 2018, but has recently been taken over by über-cool, pioneering sommelier Honey Spencer, who also acts as wine director of The Blue Posts’ sister sites, exceptional Israeli restaurants The Palomar and The Barbary.

Natural wines are now the focus here, but Spencer isn’t jumping on the zeitgeist; she’s long been passionate about the movement, and even has a crop of vines growing at Tillingham, a wine estate in Sussex specialising in biodynamic production. She’s also passionate about educating her customers in the benefits of drinking chemical-free wine and if you’re lucky enough to have her service on your visit, she’ll enthusiastically take you through her vast collection, exhibited in a glass cabinet stretching across one wall of the elegant but simply dressed bar.

The menu is gloriously user-friendly, opening with a page of Firm Favourites, from which the Champagne Éclats de Meulière and a tart rosé from Austria – the sole pink on the list – are not to be missed. A second page, The Path Less Trodden, features wines from all over Europe as well as California. Wild and Free includes a selection of orange wines worthy of exploration and, at the back, a short selection of sake complements the Japanese cuisine being served by the Selby brothers downstairs at their intimate 10-seat restaurant, Evelyn’s Table.

A short selection of very reasonably priced bar snacks (do try the punchy Japanese pickles) offers the simple sustenance required to linger longer and sample one more glass.

The Duchess of Dalston

Richard Wynne, founder of Alice in Wonderland-themed bars Callooh Callay in Shoreditch and Little Bat in Islington, is inviting cocktail enthusiasts to travel down a third rabbit hole, this one pointing to his latest venture The Duchess of Dalston. Named after the pointy-chinned antagonist of the Queen of Hearts, the 70-cover bar features a revolving 12-drink menu designed by former Mahiki and Callooh Callay bartender Nazarath Rodriguez. Tipples are infused with herbs grown on the bar’s roof as well as ingredients linked in some way to the community.

Hacha Brixton

Dalston agaveria Hacha is living proof that you can build an entire bar on the back of one original drink. The case in point here being Deano Moncrieffe’s award-winning Mirror Margarita (pictured), a transparent, refreshing and dangerously drinkable riff on a classic marg that can be enjoyed with Patrón Silver Tequila or The Lost Explorer Mezcal. Now, Moncrieffe and the team are bringing the concept south of the river, opening a second Hacha in the gastronomic hub of Brixton Market Row.

The bar is split over two levels, with the ground-floor space a bottle shop dedicated to the lauded Mirror Margarita (the pre-batched concoctions a happy by-product of lockdown) as well as a bar. Upstairs, a larger, dimly lit cocktail lounge awaits, where you can sample the full menu of Moncrieffe’s tequila- and mezcal-infused creations.

Also on board with the move is Hacha Dalston's kitchen partners Maíz Azul, who will be serving up a selection of Mexican small plates to enjoy while you sip.

The Light Bar, Shoreditch

Bars and restaurants across the country are currently experiencing reopening jubilation, as the relaxing of lockdown restrictions allows them to get back to business. But for The Light Bar in Shoreditch, the wait has been seven years. The venue – which was built back in 1893 and is housed within the former Victorian Great Eastern Light power station – closed its doors in 2014, when redevelopment plans threatened its existence. Now in the protective hands of Hackney’s Shoreditch Conservation Area and in the physical hands of long-standing Hackney residents Morten Jensen, Darren Collins and chef Johnnie Collins, The Light Bar has reopened its doors.

Spread across three spacious floors, the restaurant and bar features lovingly revived interiors by Macaulay Sinclair that showcase the building’s original mechanical pulley system, exposed steelwork and elegant sash windows.

The Light Bar is run on three simple principles: modern British cooking, relaxed drinks and a welcoming atmosphere. The in-joke-heavy cocktail menu features drinks named in honour of early 2000s parties that have since become legendary.

Bar Crispin, Soho

Bar Crispin is a new wine bar and restaurant from Dominic Hamdy and Oliver Hiam, the duo behind popular Spitalfields pop-up Crispin. A 150-strong natural wine list has been curated by in-house sommelier Alex Price (previously Annabel’s) together with Crispin’s head sommelier Stefano Cazzato (Londrino, Hakkasan). Brendan Lee joins the team as head chef and has curated a launch menu featuring native oysters with shallots, anchovy and potato focaccia with salsa verde, and black garlic ice cream with choc tuile.

Bar La Rampa, Fitzrovia

Reviving the flamboyance and culture of 1950s Havana in the heart of present-day Fitzrovia is a new cocktail bar and eatery from the MJMK group (Vinegar Yard, Kol), Bar La Rampa. Esteemed mixologist and bartender Marcis Dzelzainis (previously at Sager + Wilde, 69 Colebrooke Row and Dandelyan) is in charge of the drinks, serving up a menu skewed towards the rum-based cocktails that originated in Cuba between the 1920s and 50s, among them multiple variations of mojitos and daquiris.

Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng of TĀTĀ Eatery (remember the Insta-famous pork katsu sando?) are in charge of the menu, which focuses on reimagined Cuban cuisine.

With its panels of stained glass, tropical fauna, stylish rattan furnishings and pink booths, Bar La Rampa is a gorgeous space in which to dwell, made all the more so by the promise of live music including regular Cuban-themed nights.

St. Felix Place, Borough

From the team behind hip multipurpose venues Flat Iron Square and Goods Way comes St. Felix Place, a railway arch taproom serving beers brewed on site and street food ideal for soaking up hops. Taking over two arches on SE1’s The Low Line, the Bermondsey venue offers ‘year-rounders’ as well as seasonal brews, with the Lagunitas Brewing Company responsible for keeping the taps flowing.

Foodwise, two traders are in residence here. Texas Joe’s Adobe is serving up slow-smoked barbecue dishes sprinkled with Mexican flavours, while south London-based pizza company The Good Slice is dishing up its popular focaccia-style slices topped with fresh and seasonal ingredients.

DJ sets and live acoustic sessions have also been promised, along with a book-swap programme and music and publishers’ market to lend the space a community edge.

Homeboy Bar, Battersea

Ciaran Smith and Aaron Wall, the Dublin-bred, London-based bartending duo behind Islington’s acclaimed cocktail bar Homeboy, have opened a second site in Battersea’s Embassy Gardens. Take a table on the wraparound terrace and work your way through the Irish whiskey-focused menu (the Irish coffee is not to be missed), bar snacks and toasties, all of which comes served with a side of the brand’s lovable modern Irish hospitality.

London Bridge Rooftop

London Bridge Rooftop officially launched last December only to close almost immediately as the city was plunged into Tier 3 and then another national lockdown. Now the new rooftop bar has launched a second time with all heaters blazing. Look forward to celebratory cocktails, craft brews, Ginger Pig burgers and DJ sets as well as panoramic views of the higgledy-piggledy streets and train tracks below.

Limin’ Beach Bar, Southbank

While trips to tropical shores are off limits for now, a newly opened beach bar on London’s South Bank is bringing Caribbean vibes to the banks of our very own River Thames. From the team behind Spitalfields’ Limin’ pop-up, South Bank’s Limin’ Beach Club is a food-focused beach bar; as well as spirited cups of rum punch, look forward to jerk delights, soft shell crab and coconut grilled prawns. Sink your toes into silky sand while you sip and allow a soundtrack of soca beats to whisk you away.

Spring in the Courtyard at Hackney Bridge, Hackney Wick

Unable to book a pub garden table for love nor money? Beat the crowds and park your clan at Spring in the Courtyard, an expansive new al fresco bar and street food hub that’s part of the Hackney Bridge complex – itself the latest destination from the team behind Pop Brixton and Peckham Levels. The bar itself can cater for a generous 400 covers, while the wider canalside location hosts pop-up markets and live events.

Currently in a residency is skin contact wine enthusiasts Silver Lining, who are running a three-month orange wine pop-up until Saturday 31 July.