Hawksmoor Seven Dials (bar)

Crafted by insouciantly stylish, but supremely savvy sipsmiths behind a butch, brooding bar, Hawksmoor’s devilishly good cocktails are as fine as any in Covent Garden. Magnificent mixes such as the brilliant blinker (rye, pink grapefruit juice, raspberries & gomme) or the Ford (a Hayman’s Old Tom martini with Benedictine & orange bitters) score straight sixes for technical merit & artistic impression, while cracking bar snacks are on-the-money, too: a burger with triple-cooked, beef-dripping chips (£15) is the stuff of hungry-belly dreams, or you might turn your gustatory attention to helpings of sticky Tamworth belly ribs or a slab of bone-in sirloin with a couple of fried eggs. Good wines, locally brewed London beers, great cocktails & possibly the comfiest swivel stools in town: Hawksmoor delivers on every level.