Guide by Vana

Where to drink in Mayfair

6 places to drink in Mayfair, each one on the Guide on merit.

1. 

   Bentley's Oyster Bar

   Oyster bar

   A marble oyster counter shucking since 1916, Richard Corrigan at the helm. Sit at the bar, not the grill room upstairs.

   Perch at the ground-floor marble oyster bar and let the shucker guide you rather than booking the grill upstairs.

2. 

   Eagle Bar at The Chancery Rosewood

   Rooftop bar

   Seventh-floor terrace on top of Saarinen's old US Embassy on Grosvenor Square. Brutalist bones, Manhattan posture, and somehow on no rooftop list.

3. 

   Farm Shop

   Butcher & wine bar · European

   An art-world deli and butcher in Mayfair hiding a 150-bottle wine bar in the basement.

   Skip the shop floor and head straight down to the lower-ground wine bar for charcuterie and a glass.

4. 

   Kwãnt Mayfair

   Cocktail bar

   Erik Lorincz left the Savoy to open this low-lit Mayfair basement, and it shows in every drink. Tiki cues, serious technique, no fuss.

   Book the corner room for Lorincz's full theatre rather than a perch at the bar.

5. 

   Stanley's

   Rooftop cocktail bar

   An intimate, understated rooftop bar above The Chesterfield in Mayfair, with a retractable roof and heated, blanket-draped seats that keep it usable year-round. A discreet alternative to the neighbourhood's statement terraces.

   No walk-ins at all, and reservations only open four weeks ahead. Sixty seats, so set a reminder for the date you want.

6. 

   Tosi Gorgonzola

   Wine bar

   A one-cheese obsession done with a straight face, and it mostly works.

   It hides on Bruton Place behind Berkeley Square, so book and look for the old garage frontage.