Looking for the best Shoreditch bars for decadent cocktail-fuelled nights in quirky London spots? Here’s where to start.
Gather round, we’re about to let you in on a little secret.
The bars in Shoreditch are some of the best in this little town called London.
OK, maybe that wasn’t such a big secret after all.
Pretty much everyone knows that drinking cocktails (as well as hunting out cool street art) is one of the best things to do in Shoreditch, as long as you play your cards right and, most importantly, go to the right bars.
Question is, which bars are the right bars?
In these days when quirky is the new cool, particularly in East London, you can barely take a stride without some fantastically decorated bar in Shoreditch popping out at you, hoping to lure your money into its coffers.
Truth is, some of those bars are great, and some of them are truly awful, specifically the ones that serve you a drink that’s mostly ice, with a measly serving of alcohol and a whole load of sugary grossness instead.
We have zero time for bars that serve bad drinks. A disappointing cocktail is like opening a particularly promising-looking present under the Christmas tree and finding a mouldy piece of bread there instead.
Moral of the story? Avoid the disappointment and head to one of these Shoreditch bars instead.
The best bars in Shoreditch: at a glance
Found
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In the spirit of all cool bars in Shoreditch, Found takes a little finding. A discreetly marked doorway at 5 Ravey Street, beneath sister restaurant Casita, is the only sign that yes, you’re in the right place. Once you find it, descend the steep stairs into what is about to become one of your new favourite drinking dens.
Headed up by the gregarious and very skilled Oskar Klimaszewski, Found is a mix of friendly local and stylish speakeasy. Think low lighting, pared-back decor and lots of cosy nooks that are pretty much perfect for date nights and quiet tête-à-têtes.
Nice as the decor is, it’s a poor bar indeed where the drinks aren’t the real star of the show. Luckily for all of us, Found is a bar that knows its way around an alcohol cupboard, and isn’t afraid to show it.
Feeling adventurous? Opt for the pleasantly punchy Heaven and Hell (cachaca, framboise, jalapeno agave, lime and raspberry), it has a kick in the sip and a sting in its tail, nicely but not overwhelmingly spicy.
Happiness Forgets
Happiness Forgets. This tiny little bar on Hoxton Square has a rather big reputation.
The result? It’s notoriously tough to get a spot at the bar, never mind a seat, unless you’re a) ridiculously lucky, b) there the moment it opens, or c) willing to beg your way onto a table with a few empty spaces.
However you go about nabbing a space, we’d highly recommend giving it your very best shot, because the cocktails here are worth the effort. Yes, it’s small, yes it’s packed, but you won’t care about any of that, because the cocktails are that good.
The cocktail menu itself is relatively restricted, around a dozen options, though there’s a note to say their liquor cabinet is large and they can probably rustle up your favourite if you have your heart set on it. Where’s the fun in that when there are intriguing tipples like Spruce & Root (gin, sherry, beetroot eau de vie, gentian and pine cordial) or the Underdog (cachaça, chestnut, Americano rosa, passion fruit and lime) to tempt you instead?
Old Street Records
A great Shoreditch bar with a happy hour? That’s Old Street Records.
Most of the time happy hours are too good to be true, because the bars that run them serve mediocre cocktails in the first place. Not so with Old Street Records, we’ve worked through their extensive cocktail menu both in happy hour and out and come up trumps every time. Two-for-one cocktails run between 5 and 8pm every day.
What’s the catch? Getting served during happy hour can feel like a marathon, one where the end feels tantalisingly close, until the person ahead of you orders ten cocktails, each in sets of two. But the music is great, the atmosphere lively, and the mixologists, once you reach them, are speedy. Probably not one for a cosy date, but perfect for a gossipy catch-up with a group of friends.
Callooh Callay
Callooh Callay, named after a line in Alice in Wonderland, serving all kinds of weird and wonderful drinks. It was always going to be a winner.
Callooh Callay was one of the first decent cocktail bars in Shoreditch when it opened in 2008, and it’s still flying that flag loud and proud well over a decade later.
We’ll freely admit that we love a design-based gimmick or two, it was a very clever person who decided to include a Narnia-esque wardrobe door as the portal between Callooh Callay’s front bar, back bar and the rather secretive Jubjub Bar. Access to the latter is members only, membership doesn’t cost anything but a love of cocktails, presumably demonstrated through the imbibement of several in Callooh Callay itself.
Tonight Josephine
No doubt the sassiest, campest bar in Shoreditch, Tonight Josephine isn’t the ticket for quiet, sophisticated drinks. Instead think hen dos and parties of glammed-up ladies, or drag queens cosmo in hand, singing their heads off to Dancing Queen, don’t judge.
You’ll also be genuinely taken aback by the interior. Not a single piece of this bar has been allowed to stay mute, neon pinks, glitter and disco balls are the go. The outside world seems depressingly dull after a night at this Shoreditch bar.
The Cocktail Trading Co
The Cocktail Trading Co is all those things that so many bars in Shoreditch aspire to be. Effortlessly cool, always busy but not so busy that you can’t find somewhere to perch, and dishing out totally bizarre cocktails that actually work.
This is one hella quirky bar in Shoreditch when it comes to the cocktails. Where else would you get your cocktail served in a bottle enclosed in an airmail envelope with the instructions “post to oneself, enjoy on arrival”? Or served in a food carton topped with a layer of crispy noodles, which incidentally make for the perfect bar snack once you’ve finished slurping down your drink. It sounds gimmicky, and it would be, were the cocktails not so very, very good.
Bull in a China Shop
If you’re on Instagram, you’ll no doubt recognise Bull in a China Shop as the place with cool art inside.
So distracted were we by the quirky decor that we almost couldn’t focus on the cocktail menu. But we did, because we’re true professionals. Two things immediately sprang out. First, these are people who know their way around the world’s best whiskies, and second, we love whisky.
The bar bills itself as a specialist whisky bar (it’s also a contemporary Asian restaurant but you’re more than welcome to go in and soak up the booze without eating if you so wish).
Cocktails make innovative use of different whiskies, from the peaty flavours of Islay drams to the richer, smoother taste of Nikka. If you don’t like whisky, there are plenty of other cocktails to choose from too, but whisky lovers first.
The Well and Bucket
We’re divided on whether this one is more in Bethnal Green or Shoreditch, but their website literally says The Well and Bucket Shoreditch, so we’ll defer to them, they would know after all.
So what’s here? A really nice old pub with a great bit of history and some well-preserved decor. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a basement cocktail bar too. It strays from the vibe of the pub upstairs, and as much as we love the pub, we’re not complaining, the basement is a moody space with plenty of dark corners that make it perfect for date night.
Flight Club
Is Flight Club really in Shoreditch? Technically it sits on the Moorgate side, but we wanted to include it anyway, because which other Prohibition-styled bar could you quaff your drink and play a rowdy round of darts at the same time? Exactly.
Location aside, Flight Club is loud, boisterous and unashamedly so. Quiet date night it is not, boozy knees-up with a healthy dose of competition it is (it’s all friendly until the darts come out, that’s the moment everyone really shows their true colours).
Nightjar
Nightjar is renowned not only for being one of the best cocktail bars in Shoreditch but one of the best cocktail bars in the city, full stop.
Overall verdict? The cocktails are great and it’s genuinely atmospheric, though it can feel a little cramped when busy. Book a table in advance if you want a proper night of it, live jazz kicks in later in the evening, and this remains one of London’s most bucket-list speakeasies for a reason.
Black Rock
Don’t underestimate Black Rock, this underground Shoreditch bar has all the cool vibes and an extensive whisky menu to match.
Despite the excellent drinks on offer, the star of the show sits in the centre of the dimly lit bar: the trunk of a 185-year-old oak tree has been transformed into a whisky-filled table, sip cocktails and straight whisky from taps embedded in the oak, a genuinely striking way to drink. Opt for a Cherry River (American whisky and cherries) and you won’t go wrong.
Nikki’s
Girl power and hedonism are the names of the game at Nikki’s.
Be warned, this is not the place if you’re after a quiet drink, but if you’re in the mood to party, you’ll want to make a beeline for this quirky Shoreditch bar. With whole pages of the menu dedicated to vodka, whisky and tequila cocktails, you’re guaranteed to find your perfect tipple. We love the Blackberry Tangle, a mix of southern comfort, ginger, blackberries and soda, as well as the melon-liqueur-based Neverland.
Mikkeller Bar
Would you believe us if we told you Rick Astley co-owns one of the best bars Shoreditch has to offer? He really does.
Alongside Danish brewer Mikkel Bjergsø, Astley helped create one of the coolest bars in the capital: Mikkeller, housed in the former George and Dragon pub on Hackney Road. The menu is mostly beer, with some genuinely unusual options on tap, especially good for those who don’t love the taste of regular beer, take the blackcurrant brew, for example. Oozing with Danish flair, the bar feels properly hipster without the eye-rolling cringe.
Waltz
New for this update
Tucked away at 28 Scrutton Street, Waltz is an intimate Japanese cocktail bar from Gento Torigata that’s landed on the UK’s top five cocktail bars nationally in 2026, a genuinely serious accolade. The menu draws on the 72 Japanese micro-seasons, expect precise, seasonally shifting drinks and a proper matcha showing among them. Small, serious about its craft, and worth booking ahead for.
Sun Tavern
Wedged between Bethnal Green and Shoreditch proper, Sun Tavern comes from the same team behind TT Liquor, and takes its drinks just as seriously without ever feeling like hard work. It’s the kind of unmarked basement bar that rewards knowing where to look, come once the nearby Petticoat Lane traders have packed up for the day and settle in, though be warned, it fills up fast.
Tayēr + Elementary
Old Street’s Tayēr + Elementary has spent years near the top of the World’s 50 Best Bars list, and Elementary out front and Tayēr in the moodier back room remain two of the most talked-about drinking rooms in London when open.
Worth knowing before you go: the Shoreditch site is currently closed following fire damage, with the team running pop-ups elsewhere in London in the meantime. Check their site for the current pop-up location before making a special trip, but keep this one on your radar for when the original reopens.
The London x London Take: Happiness Forgets and Nightjar remain the two to book ahead for if you want a proper cocktail night out done right. Found and Black Rock are the pick for something a little less scene-y but just as good. And if you only have room for one genuinely new name on your list, make it Waltz, it’s landed on a serious national ranking for good reason.
