AMERICAN BAR

You're walking into one of London's most storied cocktail bars, tucked inside the Savoy on the Strand—and yes, it lives up to the hype. The room itself is all dark wood, brass fixtures, and that particular kind of quiet grandeur that makes you sit up straighter without meaning to. Order a properly made martini or something more inventive, and watch bartenders who actually know what they're doing (no faffing about with molecular gastronomy nonsense here). It's expensive—proper expensive—but the drinks justify every penny, and there's something genuinely special about being in a place where cocktail culture was basically invented. Service is attentive without hovering, which is rarer than you'd think.