Celeste - Shisha & Cocktails

Head down to Unit 5 on King Street and you'll find yourself in Celeste, a basement spot that's become the place to actually want to go for cocktails in Reading. It's got that after-work vibe that somehow manages to feel relaxed rather than trying too hard—the kind of bar where your mate orders something complicated and the bartender nods like it's a perfectly reasonable Thursday night request. The shisha menu runs alongside properly crafted cocktails, which means you can actually settle in for an evening without it feeling like you're speed-dating the bar. The crowd's a mix of office workers unwinding and people who've genuinely heard about the place, which keeps things feeling genuine rather than performative.