The best cocktail bars in Chelsea

Three Darlings is an all-day restaurant, café, and cocktail bar in Chelsea, masterminded by renowned restaurateur Jason Atherton and his wife. Named in tribute to their daughters, the stylish venue has a warm, buzzy ambiance and is a great place for grabbing an expertly mixed drink. The cocktail menu features variations on classics such as spritzes, margaritas, and martinis, as well as an ample selection of mocktails.

As indicated by the name, the Beef & Bass restaurant revolves around two main ingredients – premium cuts and fresh fish, both grilled over charcoal to sear in the tantalisingly smoky flavours. The venue's name doesn't tell the full story, however, as there's also a stylish speakeasy cocktail bar on the premises, The Ember, where cocktails meet conversation in a hushed setting.

Little Lines is a Chelsea cocktail bar that does things a little differently than usual. The debut bar by bottled cocktail delivery company Black Lines is a refined spot with all the old-school glamour of a suave tipple station, but instead of bartenders juggling shakers behind the bar, all the cocktails come straight from a bottle, ensuring consistency in execution and flavour. The menu covers all the crowd-pleasing classics.

Jak's Bar in Chelsea pairs polished cocktails with a menu inspired by Mediterranean cooking. The interiors are sophisticated yet playful, layered with bold colours, eclectic details, and vintage flourishes that give the space real character. Behind the bar, inventive house cocktails sit alongside reimagined classics, and the experienced mixologists are also more than happy to craft a bespoke cocktails according to you do's and don'ts.

The original Callooh Callay in Shoreditch is an award-winning cocktail bar renowned around the world for its imaginative concoctions, and its Chelsea spipn-off brings that creativity to West London. Named after a line in Lewis Carroll's poem “Jabberwocky,” the literary-themed bar is furnished with bookshelves and cosy booths, serving forward-thinking cocktails, hosting masterclasses, and more.

Part of the same group as Mr Fogg's or Control Room B, the Barts cocktail bar in Chelsea is a similarly eccentric, themed affair. Taking guests back to the era of prohibition, it's conceived as a gangster's lair you can only enter after the doorman has given you the once-over through the peephole. Once inside, you'll find a glamorous late-night den with drinks and entertainment, as well as a secret garden area.

If you're a fan of tequila and mezcal-based cocktails, head to Ixchel. This beautifully designed Mexican restaurant and tequila bar boasts a sizeable collection of artisanal spirits from the Latin American country. The bar has developed bespoke cocktails as well as offering house takes on classic serves, while a unique after-dinner cocktail menu provides a memorable finale to a meal here.

Though New Forms wouldn't look out of place in East London, it's located right in the heart of Chelsea, just off King's Road. The geometrically designed bar has a pleasing aesthetic to it, with the atmosphere enhance further by the state-of-the-art speaker system, regular DJ sessions, and up-to-date vinyl record collection. Order one of the seasonal house cocktails, sit back, and listen. 

Located between Sloane Square and Chelsea Barracks, the Blood Orange Bar serves a curated assortment of cocktails in a hidden underground space beneath one of Cubitt Houses' pub hotels. The cocktail bar shows live sports, hosts live music and vinyl DJs, and has a 16-seater private space concealed by a velvet curtain, if you want a more intimate space for your party.

Established way back in 2002, Kosmopol is a sleek cocktail bar infused with understated Scandinavian flair. The award-winning venue pairs minimalist Nordic interiors upstairs with a lively basement club that comes to life on weekends. The drinks list covers a broad spectrum of well-executed classics as well as champagne cocktails, while late-night bites such as toasties and hot dogs help keep energy levels up.