Terraces with taste, cocktails with character, and the kind of al fresco energy that makes you forget you’re in a city at all.
Rotunda Bar and Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square
Elegant classics reimagined with quiet precision
At the Rotunda Bar, Head of Bars Michele Lombardi’s Savour The Season menu offers a quietly confident take on seasonal drinking. Rather than showmanship, you’ll find clarity and balance in every glass. Each cocktail strips things back to the essentials, using ingredients at their prime to deliver refined, grown-up drinks with global flair.
There’s a subtle sense of theatre in the details. The Fig à l’eau is a delicate Cognac-based fizz with jasmine and fig leaf soda; the Toasted Corn Sour recalls late-summer bonfires with bourbon, mezcal and just enough smoke. Even garnishes are carefully considered – jellies made from leftover hotel preserves and milk chips reimagined from the coffee service. The room itself, with its curved bar and warm-toned wood, lends itself to slow evenings and excellent conversation.
Yauatcha City & Soho
Rosé days and tequila evenings
Yauatcha’s Summer is Served offering is celebratory without being ostentatious. Set against the crisp geometry of its Soho and City terraces, the seasonal menu leans into Don Julio tequila and Champagne-led cocktails with composure.
The Rosado Spritz is a highlight – elegant, lightly bitter, with a nod to aperitivo hour. Meanwhile, the Watermelon Paloma brings a soft hit of summer fruit, cut with rhubarb soda. In June, Yauatcha City’s terrace will take on a sun-drenched, hacienda-style makeover, with spritz carts and tequila sorbet setting the tone. For those who prefer sipping under shade, there are iced teas, floral non-alcoholic mixes, and plenty of reasons to linger until the last light fades.
Pyro, Borough
Mediterranean ease with just the right dose of city energy
Bringing the relaxed charm of a Greek island beach bar to Borough, Pyro is one of London’s most exciting new openings. Chef Yiannis Mexis has created a menu that celebrates fire cooking and bold Greek flavours, designed to be shared over long, sun-drenched afternoons.
Surrounded by olive and fig trees, the outdoor space is effortlessly atmospheric. The Garden Bar is casual and inviting, ideal for cold beers, small plates and an Aperol that turns into three. Highlights from the adjoining food truck include potato pita fresh off the hearth, market crudités with roasted garlic tzatziki, and oysters that pair perfectly with something crisp and sparkling.
For a more elevated experience, the 60-seat Terrace offers restaurant service beneath soft pine and rattan lighting. Dishes like coal-seared seabass, pork souvlaki with prunes, and Yiannis’s signature spanakopita are best enjoyed with a bottle of Greek wine and the luxury of time.
Cocktails by Ana Reznik are quietly inventive. The Aegeas, a smooth olive oil–infused martini, and the Aegina, with pistachio Greek yogurt foam, are as playful as they are polished. Add in curated music programming, DJs from Wednesday to Saturday, and a weekly Greek Sunday Feast, and Pyro becomes the sort of place you’ll want to return to – often.
Three Sheets, Soho
Minimalist style, maximalist flavour
Three Sheets Soho is the rare bar that manages to feel both low-key and impeccably curated. The menu reads like a whisper but delivers on every note. The Champagne Breakfast is subtle and indulgent, built on brioche-infused vodka and topped with Moët. The clarified French 75 is clean and precise, touched with verjus and orange blossom.
Food is equally thoughtful. Think oysters with dill and hot sauce, Cornish lobster rolls and a salt beef bun that somehow feels entirely appropriate with your third cocktail. There’s no need to dress up for this one, but it does make you want to behave just a little better than usual.
Nine Lives, Bermondsey
Cocktails with a conscience and a beat
With its cobbled courtyard, glowing interior and commitment to sustainability, Nine Lives is the sort of bar that doesn’t shout for attention but rewards those who find it. The summer menu, developed by William Campbell-Rowntree, leans into vibrant, fruit-forward cocktails with a hint of tropical playfulness.
Try the Inner City 75, which blends Calvados with blackberry leaf, or the habanero-spiked Sweet & Chilli for something with a little more heat. The permanent kitchen, led by chef Ramon Ramos, delivers Guadalajara-inspired dishes that hold their own – especially the grilled prawn tacos and churros with dulce de leche.
It’s a place that’s relaxed yet exacting, where the cocktails are finely tuned and the vibe, whether inside or out, feels considered but never contrived.
Lowcountry, Shoreditch
Southern comfort, London attitude
Tucked beneath the refined Counter 71, Lowcountry draws from Savannah and the surrounding American South without ever leaning into pastiche. The bar is quiet, intimate, and just removed enough from Shoreditch’s chaos to feel like a genuine discovery.
Drinks focus on bourbons, ryes, and craft cocktails that favour structure over spectacle. The Fat-Fashioned, made with bacon-washed bourbon and maple syrup, is smooth and indulgent. The Gold Rush, with honey and lemon, is a timeless way to ease into the evening.
Chef Joe Laker’s bar menu is satisfyingly unfussy – popcorn chicken with ranch, seaweed-dusted fries, and a deeply nostalgic whiskey-sauced cheeseburger that’s anything but basic. Everything here feels deliberate, right down to the low lighting and pacing. You may come for one drink, but you’ll likely stay for the second – and possibly a third.
