BARS • First Round
In a minimalist concrete basement in the heart of theatreland, Freud has been serving strong drinks at decent prices since 1986. It claims to be ‘Britain’s first cafe-bar,’ and while that’s no longer a revolutionary idea, there still aren’t many places doing it better than Freud. The art on the wall is ever-changing (and for sale), but the drinks list displayed on a towering blackboard behind the bar and the crowd have, over the years, stayed much the same.
That blackboard may as well be the Rosetta Stone of mixology. It’s occasionally updated, but if you ask for anything off-menu, odds are Freud’s experienced bartenders will make it without batting an eyelid. Established classics like daiquiris, Manhattans, and sidecars rub shoulders with white ladies, june bugs, and cheeky monkeys. Every base spirit or liqueur has its own section of the blackboard, and (from many evenings of research), I can heartily endorse the zombie, Jamaican mule, and holy Freud.
Clock the ivy-covered facade, descend the narrow iron staircase and (unless you have a show to get to) work your way down that blackboard, and stick around for much longer than intended. –David Bard
→ Freud Cafe Bar (Covent Garden) • 198 Shaftesbury Ave • Sun-Fri 4p-late, Sat 12p-late.