Cocktail Bar in Soho London: Bar Termini Negronis

Bar Termini opens at 10am on Old Compton Street and pours four house Negronis at £9.50 each until closing. Tony Conigliaro and coffee specialist Marco Arrigo opened it in November 2014, and the room at number 7 still holds only about 25 seated guests. Anyone typing cocktail bar near me between Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road will find that this tiny Italian bar sells an espresso for £3 in the morning and a Marsala Martini for £15.50 at night.

Hot Dinners reported the opening on 22 November 2014, describing a joint venture in which Conigliaro, already known for 69 Colebrooke Row in Islington, ran the cocktails while Arrigo, founder of the University of Coffee, oversaw the daytime espresso. Time Out reviewed it five days later and gave it five stars. By 2018 the bar had reached No. 6 on the World's 50 Best Bars list, according to The Nudge.

The name points to Roma Termini, the main railway station in Rome, and Hot Dinners noted that the design pays homage to that railway theme. One 2026 Soho guide describes metal luggage racks fixed above the seats, which is where guests leave their coats. The Nudge calls the look a 1950s Italianate coffee bar, and the coupe and liqueur glasses used for the Negronis are handmade for the bar.

The current menu lists the House Negroni in four versions, Classico, Superiore, Rosato and Robusto, and every one costs £9.50. That makes a flight of all four the obvious first visit, and The London 100 names the Superiore as its favourite. One 2026 guide notes that the Negronis arrive in small tasting glasses, so a first-timer who finds the bitterness too much has not committed to a large pour. Time Out adds that the four can be bought by the bottle through the bar's online shop, Untitled Drinks.

Cocktails all sit at £15.50 on the current list. The Marsala Martini mixes Beefeater gin, Marsala Dolce, dry vermouth and almond bitters, and Time Out's original reviewer called it one of the best cocktails in London. The Spritz Termini combines Beefeater, rhubarb cordial, Aperol and Prosecco, while Death in Venice pairs Campari and grapefruit bitters with Prosecco. Staff will also make classic cocktails from £15.50 on request.

Wine is brief: Prosecco Malibran, Soave and Montepulciano at £9.50 each, or Perrier-Jouët Champagne at £17. Skip the Peroni at £6, because a bottled lager in a room built around the Negroni misses the point of coming. Food is aperitivo scale rather than dinner, with burrata, olive oil, tomato and pane guttiau at £12, caponata at £10.50, and a board of salame or coppa at £9.50.

The doors open at 10am from Monday to Saturday and at 11am on Sunday, which makes Termini one of the few Soho cocktail bars worth visiting before lunch. The coffee list starts with an espresso at £3, then a bianco at £4, a caffe latte at £4 and a bicerin of espresso, chocolate and foamed milk at £4.50. An iced caffe shakerato costs £4.50, and a 70% chocolate drink costs £5.50.

Service is normally seated, but Time Out notes one Italian exception: guests ordering a single espresso can stand at the counter and drink it Italian-style before moving on. That makes the morning the easiest time to get in without a booking. Weekday bookings only start at 4pm, so before then every table is first come, first served, and a late-morning bianco is the calmest version of the bar.

Tables can be reserved through the booking link on the official site, from 4pm Monday to Thursday and from 3pm Friday to Sunday until closing. Each booking lasts one hour and covers a maximum of five people. The bar warns that booking several tables to fit a group of more than six is not accepted, because space is so limited. A table is held for only ten minutes, so text or phone 07860 945018 if you are late.

Walk-ins are welcome, Time Out says, but evenings fill fast, and The Glass Magazine advised booking in advance because of the evening crowds. When there is no stool and no booking, skip the pavement wait. Three Sheets at 13 Manette Street, the Soho branch of the Dalston bar from brothers Max and Noel Venning, is a short walk away and opens at 3pm on weekdays and noon on Saturday.

Time Out's 2026 guide calls Termini an always impressive date spot, and couples splitting a Negroni flight suit the small tables well. Another group is the first-timers: one 2026 writer had her first Negroni here and recommends it as the place to learn the drink. The third regular type is the morning espresso drinker, standing at the counter for a single espresso and leaving within minutes.

The London 100 describes being greeted by the whole Italian team as you come through the door, and that welcome is part of the house style. The unwritten etiquette follows from the size of the room. Hold your table for the hour you booked, keep groups small, and put bags on the racks rather than on a spare stool. A discretionary service charge of 14.5% is added to the bill.

Start with a coffee at Bar Italia at 22 Frith Street, which Time Out lists as open from 7am to 4am and recommends for people-watching with a solo beer. Then walk back to Old Compton Street for a Negroni at Termini. Should you want something stronger after your hour, Bar Lina sits in the basement under Lina Stores at 18 Brewer Street, with red velvet booths and Italian-leaning cocktails.

Time Out singles out the Bloody Martini at Bar Lina, made with vodka, vermouth and coffee-filtered tomato water, and first drinks come with snacks from the deli upstairs. Three Sheets on Manette Street is the better late choice on a Friday, open until midnight, and Time Out recommends its gentle house dirty martini. Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road are the closest Underground stations to Termini, according to Time Out.

Bar Termini is at 7 Old Compton Street, London W1D 5JE. The email address for enquiries is drinks@bar-termini.com. Official opening hours are 10am to 11:30pm Monday to Thursday, 10am to 1am on Friday and Saturday, and 11am to 10:30pm on Sunday. Bookings run in one-hour slots for up to five people, and late arrivals lose the table after ten minutes.

The menu was last updated on the official site in September 2026, and it now lists an alcohol-free spritz made with Everleaf Forest and Marine, rhubarb and a sparkling Blanc de Blancs. A Saturday visit at 3pm, when bookings open, is the easiest way to get a weekend seat. Budget around £25 for one Negroni and one cocktail, plus the 14.5% service charge.