Hot new bar openings: April

Cahoots

Dynamic duo Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling, the boys behind Barts and Mr Fogg’s, have come up with a corker in Cahoots – a 1940s-themed bar set in a former air raid shelter off London’s Carnaby Street. Aiming to recreate the Blitz spirit, the bar has been decked out to look like the inside of a vintage London Underground carriage filled with old lampshades, chandeliers, clocks that tick backwards, bunting and sandbags. The dig for Victory-themed launch party served cocktails in tea cups, hips flasks and milk bottles made with ration book staples like powdered milk and treacle.

Cahoots; 13 Kingly Court, London W1B 5PG; +44 (0)20 7352 6200

5cc Singer Tavern

Housed in the former offices of the Singer sewing machine company, basement drinking den the 5cc Singer Tavern is the latest addition to Shoreditch’s burgeoning bar scene. The bar pays homage to its past via vintage Singer signs on the exposed brick walls. Among the libations on pour are the Knock Out, which blends rum, lime, strawberry and black pepper cordial with a soda top; and the East End Old Fashioned, featuring Elijah Craig 12 year old Bourbon, Lapsang Souchong cordial, chilli and orange bitters. The Three Martini Lunches are proving incredibly popular, but attempting an afternoon’s work afterwards might be tricky.

5cc Singer Tavern, 1 City Road, London EC2A 1AN; +44 (0)20 3752 2680

The Woodstock

A trend set to sweep London this year is that of izakaya bars where Japanese workers go after a day at the office for a beer or a saké and a few tasty skewers. Leading the way is The Woodstock off Oxford Street, which offers 20 skewers, from soft shell crab to pork belly, and a plethora of drinks, including Japanese craft beers, saké, shochu, umeshu and Japanese whisky. This June, Jason Atherton will enter the fray with Sosharu, an izakaya bar in Clerkenwell that will shine a light on Japanese whisky, beer and saké.

The Woodstock, 11 Woodstock Street, London W1C 2AE: +44 (0)20 7499 4342

Fu Manchu

Clapham-based dim sum fans rejoice! This month Chinese-themed dim sum and cocktail parlour Fu Manchu opens under the arches in Lendal Terrace. From the brains behind The Jam Tree, Fu Manchu is named after the moustachioed Chinese master criminal protagonist of Sax Rohmer’s early 20th century cult novels. Decked out like a Victorian opium den with a modern, gritty edge, the bar will serve a selection of dim sum in wicker baskets. Cocktails meanwhile, are crafted from Chinese tea infusions and Asian spices and include The Kiss of Death and Manchu’s Mind Control. Live DJ sets will keep the party people happy.

Fu Manchu, 15-16 Lendal Terrace, London SW4 7UX

Black Dice

Deep in the bowels of Momo on Heddon Street is a hidden live music bar called Black Dice, accessed via a secret red door, which you can only gain entry to if the man in the red fez likes the look of you. Inside, the rock ‘n’ roll joint is all racing green velvet and black leather. Heading up the bar is Ben Clarenn, whose bold concoctions pack a punch.

Among our favourites were the Black Flag, which blends Bulleit rye with Punt e Mes, amontillado sherry and charred pineapple; and the rhubarb and ginger Negroni, made with Botanist gin, Martini Rosso, Campari, and rhubarb and ginger jam. Stealing the show is signature sip, the Inked Daiquiri, made with Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum, noisette and Demerara charcoal.

Black Dice, 25, Heddon Street, London W1B 4BH; +44 (0)207 434 4040

Tonic & Remedy  

Seeking to serve drinks with medicinal properties is new bar Tonic & Remedy on City Road in Old Street, whose liquid alchemists have dipped into the history books to revive long-forgotten tonics used in cocktails that aim to revive and rejuvenate their imbibers.

Cocktails are the creation of herbal liqueur nut Jeremy Pascal, and include the Apothacary, featuring Benedictine, Chartreuse, Drambuie and homemade peach butterscotch jam; Patience & Thyme – a sour made with thyme-infused gin, Benedictine, raspberry, honey and smoked egg white; and the Bar’Rock’Ka, which blends gin, Green Chartreuse, an astragalus tincture, lemon juice, sugar syrup and a “tonic tablet”.

Tonic & Remedy, 151-157 City Road, London EC1V 1JT 

Joyeux Bordel

Photo credit: Matt The List

Meaning “a happy mess” in French, Joyeux Bordel has just opened in Shoreditch. The brainchild of The Experimental Group, founders of The Experimental Cocktail Clube and Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels, the ink blue walls are said to tip their hat to the creative minds that work in the area.

The low-lit, mirror-filled bar, whose focal point is a white marble bar modelled on a 1920s bathtub, serves French-inspired cocktails in cut glasses to a funk and soul soundtrack. Among the highlights are the Bric-A-Brac, made with Yellow Chartreuse, Lillet Blanc, elderflower cordial, sage, lemon and Champagne; and the Picotin, which blends Aquavit, Suze, Cocchi Americano, Maraschino and lemon.

Joyeux Bordel, 147 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3QE