The Guide to London Cocktail Week bars

From October 5, London Cocktail Week is back. This seven-day celebration (October 5-11 2015, various London venues) is your chance to sample the finest boozy concoctions and classy cocktails in London. Get into the spirit at bars and restaurants across the city.

White Lyan

It’s all-black with a minimalist New York ’80s sort of look about it. Instead of a back bar stacked with spirits there are big fridges holding the pre-made products of hours of labour by Ryan and his team – most of the hard work here is done before opening.

Trailer Happiness

This popular Portobello Road basement bar calls itself a tiki bar, but the hilariously dodgy decor resists simple categorisation. It looks like a suburban-American rumpus room circa 1964; even Alan Partridge might find it a bit much. But underneath the thick layer of kitsch is a very good cocktail bar. Staff go to great lengths to make sure you order the right drink for you, and the bartenders know their business. They also spin a great ’60s playlist.

Upstairs at The Ten Bells

The Ten Bells is best known as a classic East End boozer, a knees-up kind of place and a part of the Spitalfields set of grounded pubs with a bit of character. The interior still focuses on historic charm. Paintings on the wall and a neon light behind the bar are the only modern signals in an otherwise chintzy room with armchairs and warped wooden floorboards.

Satan’s Whiskers

The less intrepid Londoner may be put off by the street view of Satan’s Whiskers: it looks every bit a down-and-out dive bar. Inside though, it breaks the east London bar mould, with hip hop on the stereo, a smartly modish setting, vintage French posters on the wall and some of the best cocktails to be found in Bethnal Green’s burgeoning booze scene.