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Dreambagsjaguarshoes
The bar's name is a lazy leftover from the names of the two shop spaces it now occupies, and this nonchalance is a typical example of the we-couldn't-care-less Shoreditch chic. Inside, the small space is filled with sofas and Formica-topped tables, the walls covered in drawings and graffiti, a DJ plays in the corner, lads wear the nu rave look and the gals are sleek-looking.
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Earl of Lonsdale
We love this place, especially after schlepping around the market all morning. Despite its being bang in the middle of the market, the Earl is peaceful during the day, with a mixture of old biddies and young hipsters who seem to cohabit happily as they munch the so-so fish and chips and burgers and sit in the private booths surrounding the bar. There are Samuel Smith ales, and a fantastic back saloon with huge leather armchairs to sink into.
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Edge
Overlooking Soho Sq in all its four-storey glory, the Edge is London's largest gay bar and heaves from the early evening until the early hours with preclubbing revellers fuelling up for the night ahead. There's a heavy straight presence though, as it's so close to Oxford St, but it's still a fun place to start the evening.
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Edinboro Castle
This beautifully attired, relaxed and welcoming pub has more of a Primrose Hill atmosphere than that of a Camden boozer. It boasts a full menu, gorgeous furniture designed for slumping, and a huge outdoor seating area that is perfect for summer evenings.
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Egg
Egg has the most superb layout with three exposed concrete rooms (across three floors), a garden and two gorgeous tropical roof terraces (relieving the edgy, exiled smokers). Located off York Way, the club hosts 'omnisexual' nights, with a mix of electro, minimal and house. At weekends, a free shuttle bus runs from outside American Carwash on York Way to the venue between and every 30 minutes.
Some say Egg would fit perfectly in New York's meat-packing district, but we're keeping it.
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El Vino
A venerable institution that plays host to barristers, solicitors and other legal types from the Royal Courts of Justice across the way, this wine bar (one of five in a small chain) has one of the better wine lists in the City and prices at the attached shops are reasonable. El Vino 'appeared' as the wine bar Pomeroys in the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey .
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Elbow Room
Don't be fooled by the row upon row of pool tables - this place is packed on the weekends with punters just as interested in the cocktails, beer, bar food and DJs. It's relaxed, unposey and reckoned by many to be a top place to meet members of the opposite sex. Entry on Saturday costs about £5 .
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Elk in the Woods
A wonderful take on a stylish countryside hunters' pub, this is by far the coolest bar in Islington and equally notable for its food. With its large, rough oak-wood tables, old mirrors, stuffed deer head and wonderfully friendly staff, this is a spot to savour.
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Embassy
It's been around for years, but Embassy's reputation and appeal just keep rising, so get there early on weekends and mingle with the cool music and media crowd and enjoy the good DJs. The darkened windows and black walls make it look secretive, but inside everyone's relaxing on the ubiquitous comfy sofas on the ground and basement floors. There's a cover charge (around £3 ) on weekends.
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End
The End is a glam club with minimalist industrial décor and a reputation for some of the city's best all-nighters. It's situated in a West End backstreet, close to its sister-bar AKA. Fridays and Saturdays are devoted to guest DJs, Wednesday's Swerve with Fabio is mega-popular, and the rest of the week includes Sunday's alternating electro tech house Superfreq and glam Clandestino.
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Fabric
This superclub is still the first stop on the London scene for many international clubbers. A smoky warren of three floors, three bars, many walkways and unisex toilets, it has a kidney-shaking 'sonic boom' dance floor. The crowd is hip and well-dressed without overkill, and the music - mainly electro, house, drum 'n' bass and breakbeat - is as superb as you'd expect from London's top-rated club. Queues are worst from about - .
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Favela Chic
Smaller sister of the original Paris club, this place profits from 'slum chic' just like the producers of Havaiana flip-flops did. It's a one-room bar/club with permanently long queues on Fridays and Saturdays and innovative music nights. The décor is very much about the vintage, distressed and flea-market pieces, though self-consciously so, but if you can endure the long wait and get past the high'n'mighty door whores, you'll have a good night.
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Fiesta Havana
The epitome of a cheesy night out, you'll have to be up for it (in every sense) to enjoy yourself at Fiesta Havana, a neonlike turquoise-and-mustard 'little bit of Cuba' that you couldn't miss even if you did blink. The music (groovy Latin beats) is great, happens almost nightly and there are free dance classes at the beginning of the evening.
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Fire
Sealing Vauxhall's reputation as the new gay nightlife centre of London, Fire is another expansive, smart space under the railway arches, hosting the infamous Rude Boyz for gay chavs and their admirers on Thursday nights, as well as centrepiece of the Vauxhall weekend A:M on Fridays, and Sunday all-nighter Orange.
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Floridita
This slick, glamorous, mirrored basement bar-restaurant should echo the Havana original, but it's a little more Terence Conran (the restaurateur backer) than Cuban and we're not sure Ernest Hemingway would have approved. Still, plenty of others do, arriving for the live Latin bands (always good), food (good, but not great value) and cocktails (variable). There's often an around £6 cover charge.
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French House
The French House is Soho's legendary boho boozer (with a good restaurant downstairs) with a history to match: this was the meeting place of the Free French Forces during WWII, and De Gaulle is said to have drunk here often, while Dylan Thomas, Peter O'Toole and Francis Bacon all frequently ended up on the wooden floors. Come here to sip on Ricard, French wine or Kronenbourg and check out the quirky locals.
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Freud
Make this the first stop on your crawl because there's no way you'll make it down the stairs (not much more than a ladder) after a few bevvies. It's a small basement bar/café/gallery with the sort of beige walls that could look just plain dirty, but there are purposefully arty pictures to head off scrutiny. The décor and punters are suitably scruffy and arty, and the cocktails are fat and fancy, but beer is sadly only by the bottle.
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Friendly Society
Definitely one of Soho's hippest gay bars, and thankfully one of the few fashionable queer drinking establishments that hasn't initiated a dubious door policy or membership scheme to ensure that only the rich and beautiful arrive. A fun and up-for-it crowd assemble in the early evening, drink beer under S&M Barbie and Ken, and chill out to live DJs all evening.
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Garlic & Shots
A fantastic place if you like your make-up pale and your hair raven black and your drinks laced with garlic, though it's equally fun for anyone who wants to have a drink while checking out London's Goth crowd. It's never too crowded here and you can get a seat at the cosy back garden on summer days or head down to the slightly scary bar where monster masks watch as you order.
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George Inn
The George is a rare bird indeed - a National Trust pub. It's London's last surviving galleried coaching inn, dates from 1677 and is mentioned in Dickens' Little Dorrit . It is on the site of the Tabard Inn (thus the Talbot Yard address), where the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales gathered before setting out (well lubricated, no doubt).
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Ghetto
In a sweaty basement, this leading gay club has nevertheless established itself as the hippest Soho has to offer, with its 1950s American milk bar-style white seats and red walls. The most talked about night is Nag Nag Nag, where both Boy George and Yoko Ono have appeared, followed by Friday's in-yer-face The Cock. There's also Thursday's indie-music Mis-shapes and Saturday's trashy Wig Out.
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Golden Hart
An unsurprisingly trendy Hoxton crowd mixes in the surprisingly untrendy interior of this brilliant Spitalfields boozer. As it's famously a hang-out for the YBAs (Young British Artists), you may well catch Tracey Emin expounding over a pint and chips, although most agree that the person to come and see here is the charming (and, yes, possibly bonkers) landlady, Sandra, who ensures that the bullshit never outstrips the fun. Smashing.
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Gordon's Wine Bar
We shouldn't really include Gordon's here - it's already too crowded as soon as the office hours are over - but it's simply too good to leave out. It's cavernous, dark and its French and New World wines are heady and reasonably priced, and there's bread, cheese and olives to pick on.
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Grapes
One of Limehouse's renowned historic pubs - there's been a drinking house here since 1583 - the Grapes is cosy and very narrow. Actually, it's absolutely tiny, especially the riverside terrace, which can only really comfortably fit about a half-dozen close friends. But it continues to radiate olde-worlde charm.
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Guinea
Top-quality Young's beers, famous autographs on the toilet walls and the whiff of money define this quiet and out-of-the-way pub in London's most exclusive neighbourhood of Mayfair. There are very few places to sit, though, and it sometimes feels little more than a waiting room for the rear restaurant (renowned for its pies).
