Swift Soho

Swift solved a problem most London bars ignore: that one room cannot do both halves of an evening. It opened on Old Compton Street in 2016 under Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston, both formerly of Milk & Honey, backed by Rosie Stimpson and Edmund Weil of Nightjar and Oriole. The result is two bars stacked on top of each other, each doing one thing properly.

Upstairs is bright, quick and walk-in. You come for one immaculate drink before dinner or the theatre, you get it in about ninety seconds, and you leave. It is the best pre-dinner drink in Soho precisely because it does not try to detain you.

Downstairs is the opposite: dark panelling, leather booths, live music at the weekend, and a whisky list running past 250 bottles. That room takes bookings and expects you to stay. Treating the two as interchangeable is the common mistake, and the reason people occasionally report Swift as either rushed or sleepy depending on which door they went through.

Our verdict: the most useful cocktail bar in Soho. Upstairs is the finest pre-theatre drink in central London; downstairs is a genuine late-night whisky room. Know which one you want before you arrive.

Go if: you want a perfect drink either side of dinner. Skip if: you need a table for a big group, which neither room is built for.

Walk in upstairs. Book downstairs. Old Compton Street, Soho.