![]() ![]() It takes its name from the US prohibition era slang word for a ‘den of iniquity’, but inside it’s a pleasingly sleek and polished speakeasy with stylish decor - dark leather seating, antique wood furniture, a mirrored ceiling and copper-topped bar. The award-winning Blind Pig bar is not hidden below but nestled above the Michelin-starred restaurant, Social Eating House - just look for the vintage ‘Optician’ sign on Poland Street and open the door beneath it with the cheeky hog-shaped knocker. The queue can get busier than a tube carriage in rush hour so make sure to book a slot in advance and you’ll be reserved two hours of jolly good revelry. The long cocktail list is plenty of fun with drinks served up in all manner of kitsch containers alongside the option of pies, crumpets and cheese toasties delivered in ration trays. ![]() Find the underground sign saying ‘To the Trains’ and be met at the door by a cockney train guard who’ll promptly take you down to the platform and, guess what, you’re just in time for cocktail hour! The experience is delightfully immersive with vintage tube signs, retro luggage, sandbags, Blitz memorabilia, menus served on old fashioned newspapers and even an old tube carriage you can sit inside. Nestled beneath Soho’s Kingly Court, the vintage bar is themed around a post-war underground station and it goes the full distance. CahootsĪfter a day of commuting, the last thing you might feel like is anything tube related, but Cahoots transforms the underground into a whimsically retro and charming experience. Thanks to its list of club rules, the ambience is always calm and refined, but not stuffy, with the classic prohibition decor of mahogany furniture, leather seating and flickering candlelight. To get in just find the tiny sign next to the buzzer on Poland Street. It’s in fact a members' bar but two of its three floors are open to non-members up until 11pm if you book. The quality remains high, with classic cocktails and their own creations made with alchemical perfection - the fruit pressed by hand, extracts made in house, hand-cut mineral water ice and cocktails shaken or stirred a specific number of times for the perfect flavour. ![]() Milk and Honey is the original secret speakeasy bar in London, serving up impeccable cocktails in a sultry atmosphere for the last seventeen years. Pair with their elegant cocktails and your sweet tooth will be well and truly sated. The menu contains such whimsical delights as smoked chocolate cigar - smoked dark chocolate, popping candy, chocolate whisky mousse and hazelnut praline crispy flakes served in a box of ‘San Cristobal de La Habana’ - or popsicle cheesecake with biscoff mousse and strawberry meringue. Dark woods, exposed brick and comfortable couches combine chic and comfort, but the detail is really in the desserts. It’s not the easiest of dimly-lit hideouts to locate - from Broadwick Street you’ll find an unmarked door with a gold plaque, go down the stairs, along a dark corridor and then a final unmarked door opens up into a Parisian den of decadence. Basement Sateīasement Sate is a hidden bar that unites two of life’s greatest indulgences: cocktails and desserts. The soundtrack is always on point and keep an eye out for live music nights too when things get especially busy. With the vast range of whiskies upstairs, the spirit features heavily on The Vault’s cocktail menu, served straight or smokily swirled into innovative cocktails, as well as other spirit options. Take a cosy seat among bare brick walls, deep chesterfield sofas and wooden tables, and you might even be paid a visit by the resident dog, Chester. Slip through the bookcase, tread lightly along the neon-lit hallway and down the stairs to the basement where you’ll arrive at brooding, candlelit speakeasy, The Vault. It’s what you’ll find at the rear of London’s oldest whisky shop and establishment, Milroy’s of Soho. The VaultĪ secret passageway through a bookcase - how intriguing, how mysterious, how very Scooby Doo. But shhhh, if anyone asks, we didn’t tell you anything.ĭue to the current circumstances, some of the sites mentioned below may be temporarily closed or have restricted opening hours. From a bar that once welcomed the likes of Marilyn Monroe, to a secret bookcase, to an underground tube stop, we’ve chosen the area’s most covert watering holes. Today it continues the trend with a distilled concentration of London’s most secret bars tucked away behind nondescript doors and down candlelit staircases. With its location smack bang in the middle of London and a history as London’s most rebellious, mischievous and alternative district, Soho has always been a place of bohemian hideouts, smoky clubs and hidden dens. Cari Thomas is a freelance writer and London explorer with a background in consumer publishing and copywriting. ![]()
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