Spiritland at the Barbican is a listening bar with lakeside views on Level 2 of the Barbican Centre on Silk Street. It’s free to enter, apart from selected talks and Q&A sessions, which are ticketed. Spiritland at the Barbican also runs a 5pm album playback each day it’s open, played on a Living Voice sound system with high-end audio equipment.
The Spiritland at the Barbican menu centres on drinks, bar snacks, small plates and weekend brunch. The food menu includes snacks such as anchovy and sage fritti, Spanish nachos with Manchego, Piquillo peppers and guindilla chillies, crudités with aubergine and miso dip, and a bar mix with roasted nuts, chilli broad beans, salami bites and Perello olives. Small plates cover kushikatsu skewers including mozzarella, aubergine, squash, tofu, quail’s egg, chicken and prawn, alongside dishes such as labne with flatbreads, chilli and crispy garlic, oyster mushroom fritti, smashed cucumbers with miso and sesame, green beans with shoyu and walnuts, pan con tomate, meatballs with smoked mozzarella, scallop and ‘nduja, and ponzu cured salmon with cucumber and ginger.
Signature cocktails are served alongside wines, beers and non-alcoholic options. A ‘sips’ section offers half and full serves of drinks such as a blue cheese martini made with Stilton and fino, while the longs and shorts include a clarified peach and tomato margarita and a hibiscus and seaweed highball. Whisky drinkers can choose from Scotch, Japanese, American, English and world pours, and there’s a run of mezcals too. The wine list has a strong Greek showing alongside Champagne and German Riesling, and beers include a Spiritland x Braybrooke lager.
The setting is built around music programming, with sessions spanning jazz, soul, classical and ambient. Regular talks, tastings, supper clubs and album playbacks take place here, so the format is geared to people combining a drink or small plates with a scheduled listening session or event. You can book a table online or turn up on the day, and space is always kept for walk-ins.
Spiritland at the Barbican is open until July 2027.