Martinis are having a moment. Social feeds are overflowing with frosty glasses of crystal clear ice-cold spirits, garnished with a twist, an olive or three, or even a splash of olive oil. There's no better time than to explore how London’s best bars are serving this iconic cocktail.
A celebration of spirits in their purest form, made with the simplest roster of ingredients, there’s nowhere to hide with a martini. And whether it be gin or vodka, the key to a great one is the temperature. Martinis must be served ice cold; there’s a magical point when a martini gets below 10 °C where the liquid becomes silky smooth, crisp and unctuous.
But for something that looks so simple on paper, there’s still plenty of innovation, creativity and breadth to explore. So, whether you prefer them wet, dry, shaken, stirred, dirty, up or even on the rocks, here are some of finest in the city. Maybe you’ll even find a new favourite serve
The best martinis in London right now.
The Connaught
- Where is it in London: Mayfair
- How much does a martini cost here: £25+
- Why we recommend: The martini trolley at The Connaught is a must if you’re a martini fan. Choose your own bitters to add from a selection, or keep things classic. After stirring, their signature move is to pour the martini into the glass from a great height, and if you’re a fan of the lemon twist the oils will be expressed over the liquid as it descends into the glass, meaning the lemon oils are dispersed throughout your drink rather than simply sitting on top. The touch of theatre around your martini makes it a great choice for a special occasion.
The now world-famous martini cart at The Connaught.
- Where is it in London: St James
- How much does a martini cost here: £25+
- Why we recommend: The most iconic room to sip a martini in the capital, bar none. Fleming was a regular visitor and legend has it that Dukes is the reason James Bond has such a taste for the classic cocktail. Dukes is special, like entering a bygone era when you step through the door. A very unique way of serving their martinis (termed a ‘direct martini’) involves a swish of vermouth in the glass, ceremoniously discarded onto the carpet before your choice of ice cold gin or vodka is dispensed directly from the bottle, stored in the freezer to near sub-arctic temperatures. The result is nearly 120ml of ice-cold spirit in your frozen martini glass. An experience for sure, there’s a reason there’s a two martini limit per customer.
Lyaness
- Where is it in London: South Bank
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: Views over the river, excellent people watching and a menu featuring very unusual and out-there ingredients, Lyaness is always worth a visit. Their Unfiltered Martini featured on a previous menu but was so adored that it has remained in their ‘classics’ section. Not that this martini is particularly classic in any way: it combines Boatyard Vodka from Ireland with ‘really great potato’, an ingredient made by gently cooking russet potatoes before fermenting them for hours. Slightly cloudy in its presentation, oily, rich and rounded to taste, it takes just two ingredients and makes them so much more than the sum of their parts.
Archive and Myth
- Where is it in London: Leicester Square
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20 (less than £10 for the mini)
- Why we recommend: The Martini Mineraux at Archive and Myth takes Renais Gin and combines it with limestone, Chablis and lemon oils. Super minerally (as you’d expect from the name), but the key to this is a scent compound, sprayed around the base and stem of the glass, that reminds you of just-fallen rain. It subtly enhances the martini as you sip, giving your olfactory system a workout alongside your taste buds. I love their smaller serves, available for all their cocktails, which puts a mini martini at £9, perfect for trying something new.
The mini martini at Archive & Myth.
Viajante87
- Where is it in London: Notting Hill
- How much does a martini cost here: Less than £10
- While we recommend: Combination is the key for the Mini Glacier Gin Martini at Notting Hill’s Viajante87. A star of their menu’s classic section, it combines two gins (Apostles and Bombay Sapphire) with Barsol (a fortified grape juice), bianco white vermouth and Plum I Suppose from Empirical Spirits. And before your martini is poured, a spritz is applied to the inside of the glass, which evokes green mossy notes. Served at a crisp, very cold at -18C, this is a great martini to cleanse the palate before dinner.
Swift
- Where is it in London: Soho and Shoreditch.
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: With three sites across London, Swift bars are a great option for consistently excellent martinis that won’t break the bank. Your choice of gin or vodka is stirred with vermouth over hand-cracked ice in insulated flask stirring vessels. The control over dilution and temperature that this method provides means that I have never had a bad martini at Swift, and I have had many over the years.
Swift Soho's charming upstairs drinking area, made for martinis.
- Where is it in London: Dalston
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: Fans of the Dirty Martini need to head to Three Sheets for their very clever interpretation. A heart of vodka is complemented with koseret tea, which adds subtle notes of tomato vine, basil and lemon. A splash of Picpoul white wine and a touch of olive oil and sea salt rounds this out to be a lighter style of dirty martini that hits all the right notes for those who like their cocktails on the savoury side.
Satan's Whiskers
- Where is it in London: Bethnal Green
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: As a bar so passionate about the classics, Satan’s Whiskers makes an excellent, no-bells, no-whistles martini. Just great quality ingredients treated right, diluted and chilled to perfection, and poured into an ice-cold chilled glass. Perfection.
Silk Stockings
- Where is it in London: Dalston
- How much does a martini cost here: £10 or less
- Why we recommend: Silk Stockings has their house martini (a steal at £10), prebatched and ready to go in some serious freezers behind the bar. The result is that silky smooth pour that you’re looking for in the perfect martini - they’re able to serve it between -10 °C to -15 °C. Poured straight into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with your choice of lemon twist, olive or pickled onion, it’s great to see such attention given to the classic in this lovely neighbourhood bar.
Rules Bar
- Where is it in London: Just off the Strand.
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: Sitting above London’s oldest restaurant, Rules Bar has been serving up pre-dinner cocktails to whet dinner’s appetites for longer than most bars have been open. With simple elegance, Rules serves up a list of classics alongside their own takes in their ‘inspired variations’ section and some excellent dessert cocktails. The Rules Vesper is worth the visit alone. Whether you’re sitting at the dark wood bar or in their bright and airy garden room, it feels like you’re absorbing a little of London’s history with every sip.
Murder Inc
- Where is it in London: Fitzrovia.
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: The shaken or stirred debate is firmly out of the window at Murder Inc, where they are instead blending their martini. Using a super juniper-forward gin, they blend with vermouth and lemon. To serve a Martini slushie that 100% shouldn’t work, but 100% does. Perfect for when the next heatwave hits London.
Little Mercies
- Where is it in London: Crouch End.
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: Little Mercies is a wonderful little neighbourhood bar serving up excellent cocktails to Crouch End regulars and those who make the trip to enjoy their hospitality. Their martini mixes their own gin recipe with vermouth. Simple, understated, delicious.
A humble classic from the Little Mercies team, the Leaf Martini.
- Where is it in London: Peckham
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: Funkidory’s martini combines gin with a touch of fino sherry and oolong tea. The sherry adds a touch of salinity and crispness to the mix and the oolong gives a really pleasant dry finish. A simple but effective way to twist up a dry martini to great effect.
The Dover
- Where is it in London: Mayfair
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: The Dover has an entire menu dedicated to the Martini, from a Vesper (gin and vodka) and a Gibson (served with excellent homemade pickled onion) to their signature vodka martini with a touch of orange bitters. Little touches like your martini being refreshed into a new chilled glass to keep things frosty throughout, or it being placed in the freezer if you step away from the bar, make all the difference in this great new addition to the Mayfair Martini mile.
Nipperkin
- Where is it in London: Mayfair
- How much does a martini cost here: £10-20
- Why we recommend: The Nipperkin bar menu reads more like a restaurant menu, with beetroot and sake sitting alongside leeks and truffles, apricots and jasmine and cucumbers and wasabi. And from Head of Bars Angelos Bafas’ new book HYPER Drinks, comes the “Ramson”. Available at the bar, it combines wild garlic gin with dry vermouth and filtered water before being placed in the freezer, ready for super-cold serving during service. If you’re a wild garlic forager during the season, this is yet another way to preserve your stash for year-long enjoyment. Or just head to the bar and let Angelos do the hard work for you.
