Callooh Callay

Callooh Callay is the bar that made the hidden-room trick work in London, and it has outlasted almost everyone who copied it. The name comes from Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky, and the Wonderland conceit runs through the whole place without tipping into theme-bar territory.

The front room is a busy Victorian-styled bar, good enough on its own. Behind it, a mirrored wardrobe door opens into a smaller back bar, and if you keep going upstairs on the right nights you reach the JubJub, a darker, neon-lit room that runs Thursday to Saturday. Three distinct bars, one address, and the pleasure of the place is working out which one you want.

The gimmick would wear thin if the drinks did not hold up, and they do. It has appeared on the wider 50 Best radar for years, and the list is more inventive than the whimsy of the branding suggests.

It opens daily at six and fills fast at weekends. Midweek is when you can actually get the wardrobe opened without waiting.

Our verdict: the original London wardrobe bar and still the best of them. Ask nicely and go through the door.

Go if: you want good cocktails with a genuine sense of occasion. Skip if: you find theming tiresome.

Opens 6pm. JubJub is Thursday to Saturday. Rivington Street, Shoreditch.