Top London loo bars

A curious trend is flushing through the capital. In a bid to stand out from the crowd and save a little on rent along the way, spunky entrepreneurs are opening everything from grungy speakeasies to cosy wine bars in former public toilets.

The trend began a couple of years ago, but has since gathered pace, with WC in Clapham and the Bermondsey Arts Club both opening in former bogs in the last few months, while Ladies and Gentleman is in the pipeline in Kentish Town. Read on for our round up of the top London bars in converted loos – we can’t promise you’ll leave having only spent a penny…

The Attendant

Not for the squeamish, The Attendant opened in Soho last January having taken over a former Victorian gentleman’s toilet. Built in 1890, the space has been doused with bleach and lovingly transformed into a coffee bar with the original porcelain urinals lining the table tops to create mini booths.

Rammed with office workers at lunchtime getting their caffeine fix via cups of espresso made from Caravan single estate coffee beans by baristas obsessively committed to their craft, breakfast offerings include vanilla-dipped French toast and almond milk porridge, while you can nip in for soup, salads and sarnies at lunch.

The Attendant, 27A Foley Street, 
London
 W1W 6DY

WC Wine & Charcuterie

Clapham residents Andy Bell and Jayke Mangion came up with the cunning plan of converting a 100-year-old former public toilet into a swish wine bar. Housed below Clapham Common tube station, it took the pair two years to convert the 40-seater WC Wine & Charcuterie into a drinking den.

A number of the original features such as the mosaic floor and tube tiling have been kept with the old attendance office forming the framework of the bar. Love letters found behind the partition walls during the restoration are on display in the bar’s own toilets, which include two original Royal Doulton urinals. On pour at WC are a dozen red and white wines by the glass, classic cocktails and beer from the Brixton Brewery.

WC Wine & Charcuterie, Clapham Common South Side, London SW4 7AJ

The Convenience

Taking up residence in a public loo unused for over 20 years, The Convenience in Hackney has been lovingly converted into a café-cum-wine bar. Boasting a roof terrace fit for summer drinking. Run by local legend Nana, The Convenience aims to revive the community spirit of the East End and only works with nearby suppliers, employing ladies of a certain age to bake and serve cake.

Working as volunteers, after three months staff get a share of the profits. Local chefs are also encouraged to take over the kitchen for three-month stints. Best of all, the bar still functions as a public toilet for passers by.

The Convenience, Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA

Bermondsey Arts Club

This hip new dive bar on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey has done the impossible – turned a former bog into an Art Deco-inspired clandestine drinking den serving classic cocktails to the sounds of live jazz. If spirits don’t ring you bell then try a beer, which hails from local brewery The Kernel.

Open until 2am from Tuesday to Saturday, the 60-seater bar is decked out with marble table tops, emerald stools and a checkered tiling floor. The brainchild of art school graduate George Garnier, signature sip is the Succubus, made with Maker’s Mark Bourbon, blood orange, kumquat marmalade and bitters.

Bermondsey Arts Club, 102A Tower Bridge Road London SE1 4TP

Cellar Door, Aldwych

This dinky cabaret club in a converted Victorian loo is worth seeking out. Seating just 60, the club’s clever smoke and mirrors design makes it appear much larger than it really is. Offering a plethora of performance-based entertainment, from cabaret, crooners and drag queens, Champagne Charlie’s open mic night every Tuesday has become something of an institution, as have the club’s “snuff parties”.

A word of warning, Cellar Door’s loos are made of glass and at best only cloud over when locked, so keep the cocktails to a minimum unless you want to indulge in a little performance art of your own.

Cellar Door, Zero Aldwych, London WC2E 7DN

The Temple

Okay, so it’s not in London, but The Temple (formerly the Temple of a Convenience) in a converted Victorian loo in Manchester merited a place on our list. One of the city’s best loved bars, the graffiti-laden drinking den has a New York grunge feel evocative of the now defunct CBGB club in the East Village.

A duke box blasts out classics from Manchester’s finest, including Elbow, who name-check The Temple in the chorus of Grounds For Divorce. Adorned with racy black-and-white pictures of buxom brunettes in provocative poses, the loos are not to be missed, while the bar boasts a wide selection of craft beers.

The Temple, 100 Great Bridgewater Street, Manchester M1 5JW

Portside Parlour

Taking the toilet theme to a deeper level, gung-ho guests visiting pop-up bar Portside Parlour in Broadway Market has to enter a tiny cubicle and flush the chain of the old school cistern in order to be granted entry. Down the creaky staircase lay a nautical (but nice) rum shack complete with oil lamps and rickety tables serving top notch drops from the likes of Appleton Estate, Gosling’s and Mount Gay.

Having started life as a pop-up, the bar has since taken up permanent residence on Rivington Street in Shoreditch. Signature sip the Old Fashioned twists on the classic cocktail, replacing Bourbon with 12 Year Old Appleton Estate.

Portside Parlour, 14 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3DU

Ladies and Gentlemen

Keeping the converted loo bar trend afloat will be Ladies and Gentleman, which, all being well, is soon to open in a disused public loo at the junction of Fortess Road and Highgate Road in Kentish Town. The bar is the brainchild of Vestal Vodka tycoon Will Borrell, brother of Johnny “Razorlight” Borrell, who plans to turn the space into a chic, 45-seater cocktail bar boasting a grand piano and the loos original tiling and flooring.

The plan, which is still pending, has faced a number of complaints from local residents, though support for the project has been strong. We hope it goes ahead and Borrell is flushed with success.