The brief is simple: great cocktails for £11.50 or less, in bars for all drinking ages. Because no price is low enough to make up for a vibe that feels like freshers’ week or a 10 am Ryanair flight to Magaluf, stag party in full swing. If your uni days are a distant memory but your salary hasn’t quite caught up—or maybe it has, but the cost of living still laughs in its face—these are the best bars to enjoy good, affordable cocktails in London.

Discount Suit Company

I don’t care that basement speakeasies are now passé, I just care whether drinks are affordable and actually decent. Located just off Petticoat Lane, Discount Suit Company offers a stellar cocktail menu, each one only £10.

The current menu features bitters in several of the cocktails, and I’m convinced that the best cocktails are made with bitter herbs. The Bad Moon Rising with bourbon, amaro, salt, and bitters was a favourite, but so were the Bobby Baccalieri – with smoky whisky notes, amaro, moscatel, and peach – and the Improper Dancing with vermouth, gentian, and melon. A bonus? The cocktail menu features an ‘If you like this, try this…’ recommendation for each drink.

As with almost everything in London, book a table to avoid disappointment.

Spitalfields, E1 | discountsuitcompany.co.uk

Rasputin’s Bar

If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. A classic martini is one of the simple pleasures in life – gin or vodka – it makes no difference to me, just make it perfectly. Brought to you by the people behind Dom’s subs, Rasputin’s offers a £7 martini with five olives, no less – that is perfection. I once thought a vodka martini with oysters, and live piano playing in the background, was a dream, but then I realised I preferred a dive bar awash in red neon and an £11 deal of a martini with two hot dogs.

Located on Mare Street, just one door down from the occult metal bar, Helgi’s, Rasputin’s now gives me a reason to stretch my legs by walking between the two, and so should you.

Hackney, E8 | @rasputinsbar

Upstairs at Swift

All three Swift locations (Soho, Shoreditch, and Borough) offer an Aperitivo Hour, Monday to Friday, until 6 pm, with all aperitivos £7 (full price ranging between a decent £10–£11). Whether finishing work early or having a day off, aperitivo is a culture I subscribe to. The Piccolina with sherry, white port, fig, and Angostura bitters and the Solstice with Campari, blood orange vermouth, and prosecco both taste like a golden summer afternoon in a glass.

You can try your luck by arriving early and grabbing a table – I’ve done this many a time at Swift in Soho when solo or with one other person, but again – it’s London – just make a booking.

Various locations | @swiftbars

Ridley Road Market Bar

Apparently, Ridley Road Market Bar is a great place for a catch-up over wine mid-week; I wouldn’t know as I only ever end up here late at night on a weekend, to dance under the disco ball on the chequered floor like I’ve time-warped to the ‘70s. While I’ve not always had my wits about me here, I’ve never missed the fact that the tropical cocktails are all under £10 and there’s a two-for-£11 deal which has seen me double fisting piña coladas while singing Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut” at the top of my lungs.

Dalston, E8 | ridleyroadmarketbar.com

Happiness Forgets

Another basement cocktail bar, this one located on Hoxton Square, deserves mention for serving quality cocktails at a still decently priced £11.50. There are a few cocktails that have remained on the menu over the years, but every time I’ve been, I was delighted by the current features. If it’s on the menu, order the floral and smoky Brighter Later, with umeshu plum wine, mezcal, dry sherry, and genmaicha and grapefruit cordial. Order the Fifth Avenue if you’re a fan of sweet Manhattans, and the French Queen if you like an Old Fashioned.

Hoxton Square, N1 | happinessforgets.com

Photobook Cafe

Popular with the Shoreditch post-work crowds on summer evenings and creatives with a soft spot for analogue photography. Photobook Cafe, a chill afternoon spot by day, gives way to overcrowding when the office workers are let out. Just wait for the crowds to die down for the two cocktails for £10 from 7.30 to 8.30 every evening.

The two-for-£10 deal includes classic cocktails, draught beers, and wine spritzers. Picante, Negroni, Paloma, Espresso Martini – they’ve got a classic cocktail for every type of Londoner.

FYI, there’s also a gallery space with regular fantastic photography exhibitions and events if you’re so inclined.

Shoreditch, EC2A | photobookcafe.com

AGORA

If you’ve dined at AGORA, everything from its cool interiors to the downright delicious souvla bar menu makes you think the cocktails will be tasty but pricey. I’m pleased to say that Agora’s cocktail menu features drinks at £10.50 or less – not that I needed any more reasons to love the Borough Market restaurant.

The plum and mezcal margarita is smoky, herby, and tart – a favourite. And the Lemongrass Paloma and Kiwi Sour were also standouts. Agora offers limited bookings, so it’s a good one for walk-ins, but it is Borough Market, so be prepared to wait at peak times.

Borough Market, SE1 | agora.london