The Best Martinis in London

Cold, stiff and notoriously temperamental: few other things that share the qualities of an excellent Martini are quite so enjoyable. Capable of being bone-dry or faintly saline, austere or indulgent, it’s a cocktail suited to almost any mood or occasion.

Like all the best things, it’s incredibly tricky to master. Nevertheless, whatever your preference – be it wet, dry, quirky or ludicrously dirty – London has an expertly executed answer. Here are London’s best Martinis.

The Martini concocted by maestros Agostino “Ago” Perrone and Giorgio Bargiani at the Connaught Hotel’s shimmering art deco flagship bar is one of the most talked about on the planet – and for very good reason. More of an immersive experience than a regular drink order, it’s prepared tableside from a glossy black lacquered trolley with all the flourish of Rowan Atkinson in Love Actually.

The journey begins with your choice of gin or vodka (house is usually Tanqueray No Ten and Ketel One, respectively) before the bartender adds the bar’s vermouth blend and your choice of aromatic bitters, such as lavender, tonka bean or Perrone’s bergamot and ginseng blend. Always stirred and never shaken, the drink is poured from a dizzying height into a hand-etched glass, spritzed with lemon oil and finished with either an olive or a twist.

There is plenty to love at Dukes, the cosseting old-school bar where Ian Fleming reportedly came up with James Bond’s catchphrase, “Shaken, not stirred”. Here, legendary bartender Alessandro Palazzi and his smart, white-clothed team forego ice to conjure the purest possible iteration of the Martini. A trolley is wheeled to your blue velvet armchair carrying a frozen glass, freezer-cold Sacred gin or Potocki vodka, vermouth made with English wine from Three Choirs vineyard and enormous Amalfi lemons. The glass is lightly coated with vermouth and shaken to remove excess before the viscous, near-frozen spirit is poured directly from the bottle and finished with a fragrant ribbon of expressed zest. The result is extremely cold, exceptionally dry and famously potent – so potent, in fact, that Palazzi has introduced a two-Martini limit.

Dirty Martinis can be divisive, though even the most wholehearted hater would struggle to resist the complex charm of the one at Three Sheets Soho. Created by brothers Max and Noel Venning, this fruity yet somehow savoury Belvedere-based take stars a mix of the Rare Tea Company’s koseret tea and olive oil-washed vodka, as well as a swig of picpoul wine, a sprinkle of fleur de sel and three juicy olives. Sit at the gleaming marble counter to watch the masters at work, and add an £8 caviar bump if you’re feeling fancy.

For proof that bigger does not always mean better, head to Rita’s, where beverage aficionado Missy Flynn helped kick off London’s now-booming trade in miniature cocktails. Her £9 Mini Martini combines gin, vermouth and lemon oil, delivering three or four icy sips without derailing the rest of the evening. For another £4.25, add the restaurant’s jalapeño-popper gilda, which skewers an anchovy, chilli and a blue-cheese-stuffed olive. The fat, salt and heat of the snack play beautifully against the clean, botanical drink.

There is arguably no better place to enjoy a Vesper Martini than Raffles at the Old War Office, where The Spy Bar, its sexy subterranean speakeasy, occupies rooms once used by MI5 and MI6. Its ode to the cocktail, invented by Ian Fleming for Casino Royale, mixes No 3 gin with a house-made London Honey distillate, Raffles’s house vermouth flavoured with elderflower and fennel pollen, and quassia bark – the latter of which adds the distinctive bitterness once lent by Kina Lillet, which was used in the original drink but discontinued in the 1980s. The whole thing is, of course, shaken, just as Mr Bond would have wanted.

It takes the utmost bravery to ingest Monica Berg and Alex Kratena’s One Sip Martini in a single gulp – plus, it’d be rude not to savour it. The Old Street bar’s shot glass-sized blend of vodka, ambrato vermouth and fino sherry is pre-batched, frozen and served in a ribbed veladora glass accompanied by a plump Gordal olive stuffed with blue cheese.

No Martini enthusiast’s bucket list is complete without a visit to The Donovan Bar, where Salvatore Calabrese is the supremely suave man in charge. The celebrated bartender, known as The Maestro, invented the famous Dukes Martini back in 1985 when a regular guest challenged him to concoct a drink that was infinitely colder and drier than a typical Martini. Today, in Brown’s Hotel, he uses the same technique (no ice; spirits and glassware from the freezer) and either Belvedere vodka or Tanqueray No Ten to quench visitors’ thirst in a similar way. Calabrese also invented the Breakfast Martini, a zesty mix of gin, Cointreau, marmalade and fresh lemon juice, which is a delicious bet for round two.

For great value and raucous vibes, there’s no better place than Rasputin’s. At the Mare Street dive bar founded by the team behind Dom’s Subs, you can enjoy an £8 Martini while a B-movie horror plays on mute in the background. The pre-batched, freezer-cold concoction features slightly more vermouth than usual, making it ever so slightly sweet. The clincher? It arrives in a coupe complete with a generous stack of five deliciously salty olives. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking that they count as dinner.

New York institution Dante has brought its brand of Italian American glamour to Claridge’s. While there are several variations on the classic cocktail to explore, the classic Dante Martini is the place to begin. Featuring a bright mix of Grey Goose, Bombay Saphire, Noilly Prat and Dolin Blanc vermouths, Nardini Acqua di Cedro liqueur, and lemon bitters, it’s pre-batched, glacially cold – and always goes down well with oysters. Mini versions are £10 each between 3pm and 5pm daily.

For superior Martinis, fries and people watching, pitch up on Monmouth Street outside the Covent Garden Hotel during the warmer months. Whether you’re seeking a wet, dry or extra dirty Martini, the bartenders at Brasserie Max will concoct your drink to exacting standards with your choice of spirits. Plus, between 5pm and 6pm from Monday to Friday, the team serves £14 Martinis accompanied by free chips.

Purists: look away now. At Ryan Chetiyawardana’s ’70s-style subterranean Shoreditch bar, Seed Library, the Dirty Mezcal Martini swaps the usual gin or vodka for Del Maguey mezcal, giving the drink a uniquely smoky, earthy backbone. Rather than relying on olive brine for its dirty, savoury edge, the team uses bright, acidic fermented tomatillo as well as a dash of vermouth to soften the punch. The result is saline, green and a little bit funky, with just a hint of smoke that lingers after each sip.