Ruby’s

This hidden basement bar in Dalston is a treasure well worth seeking out. Down a dingy staircase under the old cinema sign at 76 Stoke Newington Road, it’s all mismatched furniture and inventive blends from £8.50. 

rubysdalston.com

Whistling Shop

The Worship Street Whistling Shop in Shoreditch invites you into a Victorian-era subterranean drinking den, where cocktails are mixed with out-there ingredients such as aubergine crisp. Really. From £8.50.  

whistlingshop.com

Cocktail Club

The London Cocktail Club specialises in weird-sounding concoctions – think the cheese and pineapple martini or the oyster bomb (the latter is mixed with Jägermeister and Tabasco, ouch). From about £8. 

londoncocktailclub.co.uk

 

Photos: Tom Bowles