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Satan's Whiskers

London

In a bar landscape populated by ever-more esoteric themes, Satan's Whiskers is the antidote, standing plainly and proudly as a cocktail bar, nothing less, nothing more. In focusing on the fundamentals of the bar experience, Kevin Armstrong's now 12-year old east London bar has become a beacon of how bars could – and to some, should – be run.

So expect the lighting and hip-hop soundtrack to be perfectly pitched, no matter where you're sitting. And if that's near the bar, behold some of the best drinks-making in the industry. This is fifth-dan bartending, where speed meets accuracy.

That means ice-cold cocktails delivered to your table within little more than five minutes. And because everything here is made fresh to order – not pre-batched before service as has become the modern trend – drinks can be personalised. So as much as the Satan's Manhattan is one of the best renditions around, if you want it made your way, the bartenders will do it without blinking.

The daily printed cocktail list rotates through many of the bar's 900-strong list of classics, but whatever you choose, it'll be a soft landing. For something fun, the very unserious Miami Vice (a strawberry daiquiri and piña colada sharing a glass in swirled pastel-coloured perfection) is serious business here. But the drink to drink is the East 8 Hold-Up (vodka, Aperol, pineapple, lime juice) a neo-classic invented by Armstrong himself. You'll have to ask the staff to tell you the story of its name – it's not repeatable here.

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