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Satan's Whiskers

London

This refreshingly themeless cocktail bar in Bethnal Green has become a bona fide bartender favourite. Why? Because it sees and celebrates the complexity in simplicity.

The drinks are all made à la minute, quickly, and with laser focus on the two most important elements: balance and temperature. The atmosphere is made by the pitch-perfect lighting, the classic hip-hop soundtrack that flows at just the right level out of every speaker, and the service, which is warm and attentive but never too fussy.

Between the team – led by Daniel Waddy, Jan Oliver Sagerstrom Blom and Keila Urzaiz de Calignon – little is left to chance, and there’s no better evidence of this than the ever-present line of visiting bartenders on stools facing the bar. You’re safe ordering anything here – all the renditions of classics have done their reps, but why not try the East 8 Hold-Up, a neo-classic by bar owner Kevin Armstrong where vodka, pineapple juice, Aperol, lime juice and passion fruit syrup combine to delicious effect. And ask about the name – there's a good, if unprintable, story.

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