Queen of Hoxton

You're walking into Shoreditch's best argument for why dive bars don't have to be depressing. Queen of Hoxton sits right on Curtain Road where it gets properly rammed on weekends, and the crew behind the bar actually know what they're doing with a bottle. It's the kind of place where your mate orders something weird, the bartender raises an eyebrow but makes it anyway, and somehow it works. The space itself is all exposed brick and low ceilings—packed shoulder-to-shoulder most nights—but that's the whole point. You're there for drinking and talking shite with people you came with, not for Instagrammable backdrops. Expect to wait for a drink on Friday nights. Worth it though.