Soho's basement bars: where the stairs lead and what to order

Soho keeps its best rooms out of sight. The pleasure of a basement bar is the descent: a red door, a dark corner, a staircase that seems to lead nowhere sensible. Here are four where the stairs are part of the evening, and what to do once you reach the bottom.

Swift, 12 Old Compton Street

Swift is a two-floor cocktail bar, and the floors are not interchangeable. Upstairs is the walk-in bar. Downstairs is reservations only, so book if the basement is what you want. Look for it next to Noodle Inn and opposite Bar Termini on Old Compton Street.

The downstairs room is darker and cosier, with a menu designed around nostalgia and a sense of home. The Nudge describes it as a snug with creative cocktails it calls relatively affordable, regular jazz nights and a strong whisky collection. It describes the ground floor as a glossy power bar for martinis.

Order: a martini if you are upstairs, a whisky or one of the creative cocktails if you have a table below. Book the basement ahead. It is one of the better ways to start a night on Old Compton Street.

Disrepute, 4 Kingly Court

This is the one for finding your own way. Disrepute is in a dark corner of Kingly Court, the courtyard between Carnaby Street and Beak Street. Go down the red staircase into a wood-panelled basement. The Infatuation points to the red staircase, and DesignMyNight says the space has been tied to the Profumo Affair since the Sixties.

Operator Nightcap Group calls it a sixties-inspired luxe members bar, and says it has regularly featured in the UK's Top 50 Bars. It is a space of roughly a hundred seats, with crushed-velvet loveseats and a menu on which every cocktail comes with a short story. Bookable online. The Infatuation puts it in its top price tier, so expect to pay for the theatre.

Order: from the story-led cocktail menu, and take a loveseat if you can. Opening hours differ between listings, so check the Nightcap Group page before you set out, particularly if you plan to go late.

Basement Sate, 8 Broadwick Street

Its own site calls it a hidden cocktail bar, down the stairs on Broadwick Street. The sign to look for is not a sign at all: an unmarked red door at number 8, then downstairs into a low-lit, candlelit room.

DesignMyNight calls the style Parisian chic, with plush leather armchairs, and describes a late-night lounge that pairs cocktails with French desserts. That makes it a good last stop rather than a first.

Order: a cocktail with a French dessert, and take an armchair. More detail is on the Basement Sate site.

Bar Lina, below Lina Stores on Brewer Street

The most theatrical entrance of the four. According to The Nudge, you knock on the right deli door after hours, and you are hustled past the kitchen and down the stairs into a plum-coloured subterranean speakeasy. A travel blog confirms the way in is through the Lina Stores deli, where staff at the back help you in, and the stairs are lined with Italian art on the way to the velvet below.

The drinks use only Italian spirits or ingredients made in-house. The Nudge also notes hot, carby snacks that are just right for half eleven at night.

Order: an Italian-spirit cocktail with one of those hot snacks, late. Find the full list in The Nudge's Soho bars guide.

How to find the door

• The red door: unmarked, then stairs (Basement Sate, Broadwick Street).
• The courtyard staircase: Kingly Court, between Carnaby Street and Beak Street (Disrepute).
• The back of the deli: knock, and staff will take you through (Bar Lina).
• Upstairs bar, downstairs by reservation: Swift, Old Compton Street.

Soho is said to have more bars per square mile than almost anywhere else in London, and it is one of the hardest places to navigate. Book where you can, go after work for the quieter rooms, and save the late ones for after half ten.