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The best bar in London in 2025, according to Time Out

The capital’s top drinking spot is an elegant Hackney Road listening bar that opened in 2023

Leonie Cooper
Written by
Leonie Cooper
Food & Drink Editor, London
Equal Parts
Equal Parts
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London is brimming with brilliant bars, and here at Time Out we’ve been drinking in loads of them in order to find out which one is the very best. 

After many cocktails and much deliberation, the new number one in our ranking of the best bars in London is Equal Parts in Hackney, which opened in 2023.

‘London has been overrun with ‘listening bars’ in the last couple of years, but few, if any, take such a fastidious approach to their drinks list as this Hackney Road specimen,’ reads our glowing review. ‘Partly inspired by Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, the decor in the corner bar is similarly atmospheric; all bare plaster walls, dark wood and mid-century furnishings.’ 

At Equal Parts, the cocktail list is divided into two main sections, with short, strong drinks made with equal measures of each ingredient, and a ‘signature list’ featuring more unique recipes. The bar was opened by Michael Sager of Sager + Wilde fame, and we like it very, very much.

Also making the grade in our brand new top 50 is the newly-opened Ellie’s in Dalston, which this weekend was the site of Charli xcx’s wedding afterparty (after she enjoyed a meal at Dalla, one of our top 50 London restaurants for 2025). Keith Floyd-core Covent Garden wine bar Le Beaujolais also made the cut, as did Peckham rooftop spots Frank’s Cafe and Forza Wine.  

The best bars in London according to Time Out

Here are our top 10 drinking spots in the capital right now.

  1. Equal Parts, Hackney
  2. Scarfes Bar, Holborn
  3. Jumbi, Peckham
  4. Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green
  5. Dram Bar, St Giles 
  6. Ellie’s, Dalston
  7. Forza Wine, Peckham
  8. Rasputin’s, Hackney
  9. Sweeties, King’s Cross
  10. Blondies, Clapton

Read Time Out’s full list of the 50 best bars in London here.

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