Get us in your inbox

Search
Dona
Photograph: Pasco Photography

The best bars in Hackney for a big night out

Find the finest places to drink in London’s hippest borough

Leonie Cooper
Edited by
Leonie Cooper
Written by
Laura Richards
Advertising

It’s the neighbourhood where all the cool kids come out to play, so it’s hardly surprising that you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to drinking options in Hackney. Cocktail bars are cutting edge, but in a way that’s not too try-hard. Wine bars bring high-end vino down to earth. And some of the country’s best breweries are found in the area, with hip, hop-heavy taprooms for the beer-loving public to explore, as well as two of London's most hedonistic heavy metal dive bars. Browse through our list of the area’s best bars for boozing inspiration come day or night thoughout the Hackney – including Stoke Newington, London Fields, Bethnal Green, Hackney Wick and Dalston. If you're hungry, here are Hackney's best restaurants

RECOMMENDED: Try out the very best bars in London

Top bars in Hackney

Ridley Road Market Bar
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Dalston
  • price 2 of 4

If the thought of a tacky tiki bar makes you run for cover, know that Ridley Road Market Bar is a cool and endearingly shabby Dalston hangout that looks like a beach shack and that attracts a crowd of trendy young things who form a queue out the door on weekends. Weekday DJ nights span everything from indie sleaze to Steely Dan, while weekends are dedicated to dancing songs from all and every genre. Join everyone under the disco ball with a ginger mojito in hand.

  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Dalston
  • price 2 of 4

Three Sheets is the bartender’s hangout – some of the industry’s best shakers pick this Dalston drinking destination on any given night of the week to sip on flawless cocktails. The bar cleverly pre-batches its tipples, which are inventive numbers using all sorts of sciency techniques to make them. But they're presented without the slightest bit of showiness. Exceptional, down-to-earth drinking.

Advertising
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Clapton
  • price 2 of 4

Blondies is as close are you're going to get to a New York-style dive bar in London. This Hackney favourite has been going since 2016, and is a shrine to all things heavy metal – complete with rather demonic lavs. Beers, cocktails and shots are on offer, and there's regular live music, with hardcore, punk and thrash bands pitching up by the steamy front window to soundtrack the world's smallest, but most intense, moshpits. All hail Blondies. 

Sager + Wilde Hackney Rd
  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Hackney Road
  • price 2 of 4

Sager + Wilde just gets it. The bijou bar on Hackney Road serves up wine by the glass or bottle with serious finesse. You’ll probably discover grapes you've never even heard of and at refreshingly reasonable prices. Since its launch, a whole host of bars have tried to follow its stylish lead, but you just can’t recreate the feeling of sitting at a bar made from pavement lights, drinking incredible wine and munching on top-notch grilled cheese sarnies.

Advertising
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Hoxton
  • price 2 of 4

Years come and go, and Happiness Forgets still remains one of London’s luminary bars. It’s not being boastful about it though, just hiding out below Hoxton Square with very little giving away its presence. Find your way down there for friendly service and cocktails still up there with the best. Top tip: sit up at the bar for the best experience.

  • Music
  • Stoke Newington

Tucked away in Stoke Newington, you’ll find this brilliant basement venue, which is home to a whole host of music, cabaret, queer comedy and drag nights, as well as a bar stacked with all kinds of mezcal and tequila. It's lush inside too, all pink and red and plush.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • Dalston
  • price 2 of 4

This Dalston restaurant-bar has a strong Japanese theme running through it, serving dishes inspired by the country’s izakayas – small, casual pubs serving cooked snacks. There’s also regular live music (mostly jazz) and DJ sets played through a top-notch soundsystem. The cocktails are great (the negroni in particular) and they also serve beers from Camden Town and Five Points, as well as sake, European natural wines and several different mezcals. 

  • Bars and pubs
  • Breweries
  • Hackney Wick
  • price 2 of 4

This pizzeria and brewery is a popular spot in Hackney Wick that’s best suited to lazy, lingering weekend sessions. The beer, visibly brewed on site, is varied and tasty, with a good selection of international craft ales on hand to boot. Take your pint outside to the banks of the Lea where picnic benches overflow with heavily bearded locals.

Advertising
  • Bars and pubs
  • Hackney

A self-described 'occult rock bar', if you like your music loud and your bands bearded, Helgi's is the one. Swing by after the witching hour, as this place is open very, very late, every night of the week. While you're pondering your next sacrfice, drink a michelada, the mighty Mexican combo of beer, lime and clamato juice. 

  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Dalston
  • price 2 of 4

A venture from Brilliant Corners – Hackney’s Japanese-inspired hi-fi restaurant and listening bar – Mu is named after an early record by jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, and focusses on live music and fireside cooking from a robata grill.

Advertising
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Hoxton
  • price 2 of 4

Nightjar has been an icon on London’s bar scene since 2010. It’s a gorgeous, low-lit room with comfortable seating, smooth table service and a long, playful cocktail list divided into historical eras (pre-Prohibition, post-war and so on). Try something a bit experimental backed by a soundtrack of live jazz.

Netil360
  • Bars and pubs
  • Café bars
  • London Fields

Get high in Hackney at Netil360, the area’s premiere rooftop spot. Wooden benches and upcycled furniture isn't the most aesthetic look, but the panoramic, full-circle views of London make up for it tenfold. The drink selection is pretty stripped-back, but it seems most people are satisfied with soaking up the vibes instead. There are also rooftop saunas here, but we wouldn't advise mixing a drinking session with a steaming one.

Advertising
  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Bethnal Green

The lads that do Top Cuvée also have a cave. And this is it. You get to their Bethnal Green bottle shop, descend some stairs and there you are. It’s giving student kitchen. But in a sexy way. Food-wise you have some plump hotdogs and charcuterie to soak up the booze. It’s a place to hang out, drink wine and chat – this is that pared-back, casual spot that your mates told you didn’t really exist in London. 

  • Bars and pubs
  • Wine bars
  • Dalston
  • price 2 of 4

Weino BIB is cleverly championing box wine on the edge of Dalston. And before you cringe at the thought of many a ropey party or festival tipple, know that box wine is more friendly on both your wallet and on the environment, and bag-in-box technology means the product stays good and fresh for longer. Try several wines on tap from lesser-known producers near and far while you munch on fresh deli produce.

Advertising
TT Liquor
  • Bars and pubs
  • Cocktail bars
  • Shoreditch

From the Kingsland Road pavement, this bar on the Shoreditch/Hoxton border doesn’t look like much more than a cute little bottle shop. But wander on in and you’ll discover there’s a whole world of bevvying to be had inside this converted police station. The cocktail menu references different eras of barmanship with a lean towards gin, though the staff are more than happy to go off-road.

Howling Hops
  • Bars and pubs
  • Hackney Wick
  • price 2 of 4

The row of glistening vats that sits directly behind the bar at Howling Hops is enough to get beer geeks all sweaty palmed. The Hackney Wick brewery produces its signature hop-heavy beers in these, the powerful flavour a familiar thing to fans of US craft beer. They're best enjoyed tank fresh, so get your pint direct from the source and sip away on one of many picnic benches in what forms a sort of hipster beer hall.

Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Bestselling Time Out offers
      Advertising