London Cocktail Club

A club only in name (no membership is required), London Cocktail Club’s original location is a punk gin palace outfitted with graffitied images of swallows and wenches, shelves of dusty books and a snack menu offering “food porn” in B-movie poster format. Nothing is taken too seriously here, which is half the pleasure. Owners JJ Goodman and James Hopkins rose to fame after winning BBC’s The Restaurant with Raymond Blanc, so the cocktail focus is gastronomic, but not fussy. The prices are low, while the standards remain high.