Detour

You'll walk past this Seel Street spot three times before you find it, squeezed between bigger, louder bars that couldn't mix a proper drink if their lives depended on it. Inside, there's barely room for twenty people, which is exactly the point. The bartenders here treat cocktail-making like an art form without the pretentious performance – they know their spirits, they know their ratios, and they're not interested in Instagram-friendly garnishes that taste like nothing. The four-night schedule isn't laziness; it's confidence. When you're this good at what you do, you don't need to chase every punter in the city centre. Come Thursday through Sunday, settle in at the tiny bar, and let them build you something that'll remind you why proper cocktails cost what they do. It's the kind of place that makes you feel smugly superior when your mates are queuing for watered-down drinks elsewhere.