Cocktails and Candlelight: London’s Cosy Autumn Bars
October is when London’s bars really earn their keep. As the evenings turn dark and cold, there’s nothing better than ducking into a warm, low-lit room for a proper cocktail.
The art of the cosy bar
London does intimate bars brilliantly. Think exposed brick, candlelight and a bartender who takes the drinks seriously. Autumn is exactly when these places come into their own.
Where to look
Soho and Shoreditch are packed with them, but some of the best are tucked away in basements and back rooms you’d never find by accident. It pairs nicely with bonfires and early dark evenings in November if you want to keep the theme going.
Settle in
This isn’t a season for rushing between venues. Find a good bar, get comfortable, and let the evening stretch out. That’s autumn in London done right.
What sets a cosy bar apart
The best autumn bars in London share a few things in common that are worth knowing when you’re choosing where to go. Lighting matters more than almost anything else; a room lit mostly by candles or low warm bulbs feels completely different to one with bright overhead lighting, even if the drinks menu is identical. Seating matters too, booths and armchairs beat high stools when the plan is to settle in for a couple of hours rather than have one quick drink and move on. A fireplace, real or a good electric imitation, is the final piece that tends to separate a genuinely great autumn bar from a merely decent one.
Menu-wise, this is the season bartenders get creative with warming ingredients, think whisky, spiced rum, mulled wine variations and cocktails built around cinnamon, clove or apple. A lot of the better bars run seasonal menus that only appear from October through to around February, so if a particular autumn cocktail catches your eye, it’s worth trying it during its actual season rather than assuming it’ll still be on the menu come spring.
Making a reservation actually worth it
Many of London’s best small bars don’t take bookings at all, operating on a strict first-come basis, which means arriving early, ideally right at opening on a weekend, is often the only way to guarantee a seat rather than standing room. Where bookings are available, particularly at the better known speakeasy-style venues, they’re worth making a few days ahead for a Friday or Saturday, since word travels fast about a good autumn bar and tables disappear quickly once the cold weather sets in properly.
Pairing a bar with dinner
Autumn is a good season to build an evening around a bar rather than treating it as an add-on after dinner. A lot of the best cosy bars are near equally good small restaurants, so scoping out both together and booking dinner first, timed to finish around when the bar starts filling up, tends to give the smoothest evening. It avoids the awkward gap of finishing a meal too early and having nowhere obvious to go while you wait for the rest of the night to properly start.
For more inspiration, take a look at our guide to Dining Out in Style: London’s Best Indian Restaurants.
