We love a good martini here at Hot Dinners, ordering one pretty much everywhere we go as a levelling test to see how well a restaurant or bar can make a classic drink. So we do feel pretty well qualified to point you towards some of our favourite places to enjoy a martini around London.
Martinis by Bond's barman at Kwãnt
Kwãnt
Mayfair - 52 Stratton St, London W1J 8LN
If you want the same serve that 007 enjoys, then you can't go wrong with Kwant in Mayfair. Having served Bond producer Barbara Broccoli one night in a previous bar, owner Erik Lorincz ended up as drinks consultant on Skyfall. Shaken or stirred, he and his team will serve it any way you want. Just know that you're getting one of the best in town.
The martini menu at NoMad
Twenty8 Nomad
Covent Garden - 28 Bow St, London WC2E 7AW
The restaurant at NoMad has always been known for a great martini and that continues with their recently revamped restaurant and bar Twenty8 Nomad. You can come to the bar here even if you're not dining, and many of their martinis are served straight from the freezer, making sure they're as cold as possible. They're available in mini and normal servings, with their version of a dirty martini being the signature, and served with olives stuffed with blue cheese. Our personal favourite is the twist on the Vesper, the Strawberry Vesper Martini, which adds a touch of both sweetness and citrus.
The Nearly Dirty martini at Wildflowers
Wildflowers
Belgravia - 57 Pimlico Road, London SW1W 8NE
While most of the critics' plaudits for Wildflowers were about the food here, it's also very useful to know that there's a handy bar upstairs which is serving pitch-perfect martinis, among other cocktails. The Nearly Dirty martini is what you're looking for on the drinks list. It features olive oil fat-washed London Dry Gin, along with their own house brine and peppercorn.
Read our Wildflowers Test Drive
Dirty vodka martini at Duchy
Duchy
Shoreditch - 18 Phipp Street, London EC2A 4NU
Duchy's bar manager Ciaran is the person behind this exemplary dirty martini, which we enjoyed before our dinner at this Shoreditch restaurant. He makes it using the fabulous Konik’s Tail vodka with Dolin dry vermouth and Duchy's own olive brine. That's stirred and then put in a frozen glass, making it both a briny and ultra-cold delight - just how we like it. (And yes, we know that's a picture of a martini with a twist - they're also on the menu here),
The classic with a twist martini at The Park
The Park
Bayswater - 2 Queensway, London W2 3RX
We were among the first to enjoy the new cocktail menu at The Bar at The Park, as part of celebrations that it's now a bar in its own right (you can now drink there without having to eat in the restaurant). Based on our drinks there, we can attest to the perfect execution of the classic vodka martini with a twist. Here it's icy cold, as it should be, and we like the simplicity of the serve. They do also offer a smaller option that's more of a sharpener - ask for a Turf Club Martini if you fancy one of those.
The martini for two at 45 Jermyn St.
45 Jermyn St.
St James - 45 Jermyn St, London SW1Y 6DN
One of the first things you notice when you order a martini up at the bar at this St James establishment is that all the vodka and gins is kept in a freezer drawer. They know that temperature is the key component in a great martini and have planned ahead accordingly. For the 45 martini for two, you get a pre-batched martini made with ice-cold Hepple gin, Noilly Prat vermouth and - the cleverest touch - some Palo Cortado sherry for balance. It's served in tiny martini glasses with the rest in an ice bucket so the drink never goes cold.
The frozen (and dirty) martini at Larry's
Larry's
National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Pl, London WC2H 0HE
A much-deserved winner in the 2023 Hot Dinners Awards the McBean martini at Larry's Bar is pre-batched and frozen so there's less time between you deciding you want one and taking your first sip. It's made with vodka from Gattertop in Herefordshire infused with Welsh seaweed and some Highclere Castle Gin. There's just a drop of black olive oil added along with a generous spritz of Asahara Nigori Umeshu.
The 'slurpable' martini at Egerton House Hotel
Egerton House Hotel
17-19 Egerton Terrace, London SW3 2BX
This Knightsbridge hotel has made a name for itself off the back of its very good - and very generously sized - martinis. The 'Egerton Slurp' is the name given to the genteel sip you need to take from the glass before you can even lift it from the bar without spillage.
The Martini trolley at The Connaught Bar
The Connaught Bar
16 Carlos Pl, London W1K 2AL
The bar here is one of the truly great places to enjoy a martini in London and a regular high-flier in the World's 50 Best Bars list. The tableside trolley service is a theatrical delight and it's fun trying to decide which of their fruit or herbal vermouths you want to try each time. Total joy.
The One Sip Martini at Tayer + Elementary
Tayer + Elementary
152 Old St, London EC1V 9BW
Trust Tayer + Elementary to come up with a fresh take on the martini. Currently ranked second on the World's 50 Best Bars list, their One Sip Martini is a perfect post-work pick me up. Pre-mixed with sherry and vermouth it's poured out at -10C.
Salvatore Calabrese's martini at the Donovan Bar
The Donovan Bar
Mayfair - Brown's Hotel, 33 Albemarle St, London W1S 4BP
Back in the day, Duke's Bar's reputation as one of London's best places to get a martini (see below) was forged by the redoubtable Salvatore Calabrese running the show in the early 80s. As one of his key projects, he's responsible for the list at the Donovan Bar at Brown's Hotel in Mayfair, where the team serve out legendary martinis.
Old school martini at Bellamy's in Mayfair
Bellamy's
18 Bruton Pl, London W1J 6LY
It took us way too long to discover the bar at Bellamy's. Hidden down the same mews as The Guinea, this charmingly old-school restaurant and bar serves a wonderful martini that's practically a bargain for Mayfair. Good snackage too.
The two maximum Martini at Dukes Bar
Duke's
35 St James's Pl, London SW1A 1NY
Every list of London's best martinis includes a reference to the amazing martinis at Dukes in St James, which come with a whole lot of tableside theatre by Alessandro Palazzi and his team. They're delicious and quite lethal, which is why the bar cleverly puts a two-drink limit on them. We've also heard that you can ask for a smaller size, although we can't imagine why you'd want to.
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