London Speakeasies & Hidden Bars: A Complete Guide
London is the city of shadowy alleyways, scandalous secrets, Jack the Ripper lore, and streets that literally rose from the ashes of the Great Fire. And if there’s one thing we know, it’s that the best cocktails are usually found where the lights are low and the entrance is questionable.
Ok, so this is going to be more about the fun side of London, but doesn’t the dark, seedy side sound fascinating?
Behind unmarked doors, down narrow staircases, and through the kind of “are we in the right place?” entrances we live for, London’s speakeasy scene is deliciously dark (like me) and just a little dramatic (like Peggy). Local purveyors of the drinking arts have made the Speakeasy scene fun and inventive and absolutely some of the best experiences to be had. The kind of spots that make you feel like you’re getting away with something…you know we’re in.
Arriving in London
A Chunnel train ride was not what was on my bucket list, EVER (a train tunnel high-speed underwater? NO, THANK YOU), but is the best way to get from Paris to London, so off we went.
We absolutely love London. It is such an amazing city. This being our fourth time in this city we decided to just skip all plans to “see the city” and just focus on bar hopping and hitting up some speakeasies. We did buy a 2-day pass on the Hop On Hop Off bus (the HO-HO, named after my sister) which covers an immense amount of London, so there was limited Ubering, Tube navigation, and no need to be driving.
It was a great decision and one we highly recommend.
The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town
With a name like that, how do you not want to go to this speakeasy! It just screams fun and the ability to not take themselves to seriously. And that is exactly what we found.
The Entrance
The Breakfast Club Spitalfields closes at 4 pm (but has great food and huge portions if you are looking for breakfast or lunch in London). If you show up after that, the restaurant will be dark, but there will be a doorman and a velvet rope inside the entrance. Tell him you are looking for the mayor. He will call someone to help you. Out pops our host, who then asks us if we know how to get in, because it’s a hidden secret, and it’s fantastically speakeasy-ish. We did know, but he will help you if you don’t. Hint: check out the oddly located item that doesn’t belong in the hallway.
The Experience
The doorway leads down a ramp into a brick basement (yes, London has a lot of brick buildings, obviously). Low ceilings, wooden bar, fabulously decorated with old signs, some slightly challenging your sense of decency. But luckily, there is a No Heavy Petting sign and a giant moose head. The brickwall has little gaps with little surprises stuck in them. The energy is low key, but the service is spectacular and engaging, they obviously love what they do here.
Great drink names like Eat the Rich, Wake Me Up and F*ck Me, and Pink Responsibly. They had fun making this menu, and put some great thought into their creations. Seating is tight, but on purpose, so you can mingle and meet your neighbors, interaction is encouraged. And the menu contains some basic words of advice to make your visit more pleasant, such as the Mayor demands the highest standards of self-deprecation, don’t leave through the entrance, and upon leaving they suggest you act nonchalant, like you’ve just had a pee (and leave your fly down to add to the charade). Oh, and PS, anyone named Garfield receives their first drink on the house (with proper identification).
So many great shaker locations to be had in London, this one gets a 5 shaker!
Sister Side Note (ssn) – we loved The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town – the entrance, the service, the other people and the vibe. Everything! Plus that smoked drink had the attention of the whole bar, they really know how to show off! Oh yeah – it is cash only!
I wish we could have stayed longer but we were on our way to our interactive Jack the Ripper Tour. Spoiler alert, interactive does not mean there is any actual murder.
Discount Suit Company
Unassuming, yet so well done. I immediately loved Discount Suit Company when I saw their entrance online. I don’t know why I was so drawn to this, but something about it screamed ‘YES, WE MUST’ to me.
The Entrance
An old abandoned-looking building with a big worn lettering falling off, declaring what used to be the Discount Suit Company. An obviously out of business industrial corner shop, and off to the side, just a plain black door. That’s it, it feels like you are in an old, run-down part of town. A “should I be in this area at night” kind of corner – but it is not in a sketchy area, and it is not an unsafe place to be (promise, mom, I didn’t even go down an alley to get here).
Go through the door, down the dark staircase (maybe use your phone for light), and then BAM, I ran into a curtain that I didn’t even see because it was black and unlit, and well, a little sketchy feeling. But what the heck, go in anyway.
The Experience
Now, this is what you absolutely imagine a speakeasy was like in 1922. Dark, basement room, no fuss, just a wooden bar, wooden chairs, low tables and chairs in an old brick room. The cocktails are exquisite and worth the entire experience, there is nothing low key or understated about the Umbrella Vesper or their Moonstomp (homemade whisky, sake, toasted rice, mango, coconut, soda. Hello wheelhouse…nice to see you). These people know their way around mixology and are making fantastic concoctions!
ssn – Discount Suit gets a lot of attention online but it is not overhyped. Definitely the kind of place to settle in and hangout.
Bar Lina Soho
This one threw me off by the name. I feel like we have encountered Bar Lina before in other cities. But a bar in an Italian Deli sounds like a winner of a location to me.
The Entrance
The Lina Stores Delicatessen and Restaurants have several locations around London but four of them have “hidden” bars, Bar Lina. We went to Bar Lina Soho. And OMG, the deli itself is so cute. Just, why don’t I live in a town that has an Italian deli kind of cute! The meat and cheese case, the walls of snacks, crackers, pasta and biscotti, this would be on my weekly list of places to shop. But the lady at the back can help you gain entrance to the speakeasy in the basement. Down a flight of stairs, Italian art along the staircase, and into the intimate, velvet luxury of Bar Lina.
The Experience
The staff was knowledgeable and friendly, but were being monopolized by a loud touristy lady with her roller suitcase demanding attention and conversation. We would have felt bad for them but the rock and roll Ed Hardy T-shirt wearing guy with his clearly first Grindr date kept us entertained.
We settled on our standard wheelhouse drinks, but then minutes after our drinks arrive, the cute lady from upstairs appeared with our apertivo. They operate Bar Lina with a traditional Italian bar concept of small plates to compliment your cocktails. Bar Lina was definitely experience focused, we had a little mini panini with our drink, round two provides you with a cheese pairing for your cocktail, they embrace the Italian way of making drinking and event, not just cheap drinks to get you as drunk as possible. It was charming, and we felt so special at Bar Lina.
Archive and Myth
We had missed this on our original list, but luckily G, our Sofitel St. James bartender friend, recommended we pop by this spot, so we squeezed this in. Unfortunately, they were closed the night we were there. However, with the amazing help of the staff we were given an insider view and walk-through of the speakeasy. And just recently, Archive and Myth was named 2026 Venue of the Year by Bar Magazine.
The Entrance
Inside the Hippodrome Casino, right by the Magic Mike Show, you need to find a door. It’s a black door with patterns around the edges and a very fleur de lis style center with birds, very 1920’s design that has a 44, a 22, and a 33 incorporated into the décor. This is your entrance to Archive and Myth. In order to access the speakeasy behind the door, you have to know the passcode. You have to check their website, as the passcode does change, but it is always about knowing what order of pattern to tap the edge design symbols.
The Experience
Ok, the way to access the room is fun, it’s different, we liked it. Inside it is very typical speakeasy, black interior, a little dark and moody, yellow-ish bulb lighting, a brick wall behind the bar. Classic speakeasy cocktails with a twist in half-size and full-size. And you just know, just feel, how much of a party place this is going to be before and after a Magic Mike show next door! Definitely beautiful and intimate, but with a screaming energy that wants to show you how on fire it can be.
Spy Bar
This was number one on Peggy’s list of Speakeasy visits for London, and she was very correct in her listing of The Spy Bar.
The Entrance
It’s hidden, that’s for sure. Even the elevator was not an obvious find. Downstairs in the basement of the Raffles London OWO hotel (that’s the Old War Office building converted to a gorgeous Raffles hotel). You’ll first find the elevator, then walk down a long hallway of doors. Only one door has a little tiny number above it, Room 007.
There is nothing unique or outstanding about this big plain wooden door. You open the door to this little front office. Eugene is sitting at his old fashioned typewriter, and it is very 60’s and 70’s office décor. Eugene is absolutely lovely, until he places a sticker over your phone camera. That’s right, no cameras allowed.
Fun fact – rooms 006 and 007 were actually used in the early 20th century and functioned as high security storage vaults for identity papers and mission reports of MI5 and MI6 agents
The Experience
Basically, we have no photos to show you how cool this place is. Everything is James Bond themed, including the Aston Martin above the bar. Black and white photos, dark wood, and a very intimate and vintage feeling. The drinks are all classified by Bond villains and characters and movie themed. It was upscale and worth the trip. Service was amazing, Eugene came back in to the room and chatted with us for a bit, and the entire hotel staff at The OWO was incredible and will go above and beyond any expectation for class and service. But you have got to have a reservation for this 5-shaker speakeasy. Get yourself a reservation and do not miss this.
ssn – Spy Bar earned my Favorite Speakeasy in our Best of 2025 Travel Awards. The folks at Raffles were exceptional and the experience was over the top, as I had hoped. It is definitely THE premier experience in London – but not in an unapproachable way. Spy Bar just has an air of secrecy and feels ultra exclusive. Which you know I love. Plus Eugene was amazing – he also landed on our list of Favorite people we met in 2025.
Cahoots Postal
This will forever live in our memories as one of our best speakeasy experiences. They make it a very immersive experience. We saved the best for last with this speakeasy guide to London.
The Entrance
Just outside Borough Market, you will see the sign for Cahoots Postal. It’s covered in plaques, advertisements and information bulletins, including one that specifically states “Definitely NOT a secret cocktail bar, please stop asking”. You will want to make a reservation. We were standing outside, waiting for them to open the door when a man in a 1920’s style outfit peeked out, looked left and right and then at us. He whispered “you haven’t seen any coppers around have ya? Didja make sure you weren’t followed?” in a heavy accent. We told him we had been careful and followed instructions.
We walked into an old fashioned postal office where he asked us if we were there to pick up a “parcel” and asked what name would it be under. Then he called to the back to see if our parcel was ready for pickup. While he was arranging our entrance the wall telephone rang, Peggy picked it up and it was a very British man congratulating us on entering the scoundrel network and directing us towards the back door. We are very impressed and excited at this point.
The Experience
Through the door at the end of the hallway, we go, and it is busy and chaotic, just exactly as you would expect the backroom of a post office to be. There are many open slots on the wall where letters are overflowing (do you remember that part in The Grinch, I was dying to start yelling “jury duty, jury duty, eviction notice, blackmail, pink slip”). The cocktail menu is designed like an old newspaper, with different sections for different drink styles and presentations.
Peggy ordered the P.A.M.E.L.A – which is a whiskey, bergamot, tart (like her) experience which is concocted by an automated “letter arranger” (Postal Automated Mechanical Electric Letter Arranger, to be specific), and she was given a token to put in the machine when it was time for her pick up.
I ordered from the Air Mail section a fruity Signed, Sealed, Delivered. The Air Mail section drinks are the coolest! The server gives you your “pick-up location” and in a few minutes you hear your pick-up being called and all of a sudden a tube is drifting through overhead pipes, down the wall to your station. Open up the tube (picture the drive in bank tubes), open it and inside is a flask with your cocktail.
The servers were fantastic, the drinks were fantastic, there is no way this is not an absolute 5-Shaker, MUST DO when in London.
There is another Cahoots location – Cahoots Underground. It is Tube themed and located in Soho. We tried to go but it was closed for a private event. From the entrance, it is equally as committed to theme and we are sure it is fabulous!
The Wrap-Up
We missed several places, several we were dying to hit, but I guess that gives us an excuse to go back to London. Anything else, let us know in the comments!
- The MacSmiths
- Evans & Peel Detective Agency
- Bacchanalia
- Scales London
- Sibin
- The Vault
London knows their drinking, they know their pubs, they love their history, and they are crushing the speakeasy scene. We have heard experts saying speakeasies are overdone, but we are here loving and living for an over the top speakeasy experience. Thanks for all the entertainment, London!
Other Posts
From this trip
Other London Posts
- (1) London Day 1
- (2) London Day 2
- (3) London Day 3
Other Speakeasy Guides
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