Kettner's Champagne Bar

Launched in 1867 by the eponymous Auguste Kettner, chef to Napoléon III, this much-loved landmark in a quirky/quaint Soho townhouse still cuts the mustard. The Champagne bar’s list offers a broad range of celebratory corks to pop, whatever the occasion or budget: choose from eight (plus Nyetimber) by the flute, or blow your holiday money on a bottle of 1996 Krug (a mere £2,900). In today’s squeezed times, Prudence need pay no more than three score & ten for truly fab fizz: Pierre Gimmonet 1er cru, Henriot Brut Souverain, Drappier Rosé, et al. Upstairs, the artfully arranged 1860s-meets-1960s op-art Apartment, a wittily collated space that feels like a hip members’ club, is open to all with no fee attached. Go for cocktails, coffee & cake, or just a beer.