![best gay bar london best gay bar london](https://irs3.4sqi.net/img/general/width700/9573740_jUJYFpIhd84PwOv3XHZzkLZ0w6OF6cNwE4BlZCH6yf4.jpg)
As befits its Bloomsbury surroundings, NBS is a little more distinguished than most London LGBT bars and operates an over-21s-only door policy. That’s a shame because New Bloomsbury Set has smart decor that nods to the literary clique it’s named after and a fabulous happy hour where you can get two cocktails or a bottle of wine for a tenner. New Bloomsbury Setīecause it’s a brisk 15-minute walk from Soho’s gay village, this small but charming basement bar often gets forgotten about. A second Ku Bar on nearby Frith Street offers a more sedate spin on the same experience. The ground floor offers a bright and modern bar space with video screens playing chart hits downstairs is a clubbier room where fresh-faced types of all genders cut a rug to pop and dance remixes. Ku is a little classier than local rival G-A-Y, but it attracts a broadly similar crowd and the young, up-for-it vibe is just as much fun. Occupying a prominent spot on Soho’s Chinatown fringes, this large LGBT venue is regularly voted London’s best. If you fancy dancing to Donna Summer while sipping (relatively) inexpensive prosecco, this place is an essential pitstop. The crowd here is LGBT in the broadest sense - anyone with a sense of fun will feel at home, whatever their gender and sexuality. Although the short cocktail menu has been the same for ever, the staff always seem perplexed when you order one, though that’s definitely part of the charm. Barbie dolls hang from the ceiling, there’s a big fishbowl in the middle and old movies are projected on to a back wall. Friendly Societyįriendly Society benefits from the power of surprise: after entering through a bland back-alley doorway, you’re greeted at the bottom of the stairs by Soho’s most idiosyncratic drinking den. BOi BOX, a monthly drag king talent contest hosted by scene heroes Adam All and Apple, is definitely worth popping in your calendar. Run by the team behind Ku Bar, SHE has a similar flair for laying on entertainment: as well as club nights, it regularly offers comedy, cabaret, karaoke and quiz evenings. Unless you identify as a queer female or arrive with plenty of queer female mates, you’re probably not going to get in. Shockingly, this cave-like Soho basement bar is now London’s only exclusively lesbian venue, and it takes this responsibility seriously. The Yard gets especially busy during warm summer evenings, when its airy ambience makes it a queer space you could even bring your mum to. There’s a pretty simple food menu but, realistically, most people come here to drink and mingle. The upstairs loft bar has smart leather sofas and a balcony that’s popular with smokers. The downstairs alfresco area boasts sedate lighting, wooden banquettes and a fair bit of flora, giving things an almost bucolic feel. The YardĪ courtyard and loft bar on a popular Soho street that attracts a mixed LGBT crowd. Located around the corner at 5 Goslett Yard, it offers a similar experience, but with a later licence and even louder pop songs. And fear not, because when this door closes, another opens at G-A-Y Late. Most Londoners over the age of 25 profess to hate it, but they’ll still end up here a few times a year, drinking a WKD-based ‘cocktail’ and dancing to Little Mix. It’s spread over three floors, with a dedicated girls’ room downstairs, and never seems to empty out. Soho’s world-famous G-A-Y has everything you’d expect: cheap drink offers on weekdays, a young crowd and plenty of Britney.