by Mark Mason

Sometimes a white wine down the pub just doesn't cut it. You need glamour, you need style, you need a little mixology in your drinking - yep, it's cocktail hour in the capital. Where do you head? Here are our tips for the coolest places to down a daiquiri or sip a seabreeze:

Oxo Tower
One of London's most fashionable restaurants (turn left out of the lift) has one of its liveliest bars (turn right). From the eighth floor of this converted wharf you'll gaze out over the Thames to the tree-lined Embankment and a beautiful stretch of central London. Inside, drinkers chat as live jazz tinkles sweetly in the background. If you're eating at the restaurant, you can enjoy your cocktail out on the terrace.
Drink: Voodoo Child (spiced rum and pear shaken with cinnamon syrup and lime, topped with ginger beer, £7.50)
Watch: the gorgeous sunset, then the twinkling city lights
Oxo Tower Bar and Brasserie, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, London, SE1 9PH. Nearest Tubes: Waterloo, Blackfriars. Tel: 020 7803 3888, www.harveynichols.com. Open: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 12pm-10.30pm

Match
Urban chic doesn't get more fashion forward than this. Clerkenwell is a hip, cutting-edge area of London; wear Diesel rather than Dior. The ultra-chilled feel finds its perfect home at Match - groovy music, trendy but not intimidating. Theme is The Magnificent Seven - post-modern prints of the film's stars line the walls, and some of the drinks (by New York cocktail king Dale DeGroff) are dedicated to Yul Bryner and the gang.
Drink: Any of the Matchnificent Seven - the Brad Dexter Mojito is particularly good (Havana Club Especial rum, fresh mint, lime juice, £6.25)
Watch: the print of Steve McQueen - ultimate eye-candy
Match, 45-47 Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5RS. Nearest Tube: Farringdon. Tel: 020 7250 4002, www.matchbar.com. Open: Mon-Fri 11am-12am, Sat 5pm-12am

Vertigo
Never before have the words 'Level 42' and 'must-see' been so right for each other - the forty-second floor of the old NatWest tower is now a super-cool champagne bar for City slickers. The views are unbeatable: as you gaze five hundred and ninety feet down to the streets below, it's not just the cocktails that'll have you feeling on top of the world. In fact the only way you can enjoy a higher drink in London is to fly over on your way out of town. Demand (and security concerns) mean you have to book in advance (if only on the day).
Drink: Kir Royale (Crème de Cassis and champagne, £9)
Watch: London...all of it
Vertigo, Tower 42, Broad Street, EC2N 1HQ. Nearest Tubes: Bank, Liverpool Street. Tel: 020 7877 7842, www.vertigo42.co.uk. Open: Mon-Fri 12pm-3pm (same-day reservations must be made before 12pm) and 5pm-10pm (reservations before 5pm)

Zinc Bar
Accessible elegance: the kind of place you can go for an afterwork drink and instantly feel a million dollars. Covent Garden's ornate seventeenth-century piazza, which used to house a fruit and vegetable market, is now home to shops, buskers - and, on the upper level, the Zinc Bar. The conservatory-style building gives stunning views of the Royal Opera House. (If the weather's good, head out to the terrace.) The crowd's a mix of office workers, people waiting to eat at Chez Gerard next door, and those heading for a Big Night Out.
Drink: Beautiful (Kalhua, Malibu, Baileys, pineapple juice and cream, £7.50)
Watch: the street entertainers working the crowds below
Zinc Bar, Chez Gerard, The Piazza, WC2E 8RF. Nearest Tube: Covent Garden. Tel: 020 7379 0666. www.santeonline.co.uk/chezgerard/locations/coventgarden. Open: Mon-Sat 11.30am-11pm, Sun 12pm-10.30pm

Akbar
Meejah, darling! Soho's the centre of the film and T.V. world, and underneath one of the area's best Indian restaurants (the Red Fort), you'll find the industry's movers and shakers in this terrific basement bar. Relax in a leather armchair, admire the exquisite rugs on the natural stone floor, and enjoy the spicy bar snacks (such as Makai Vegetable Tikki - fried sweetcorn patties to you) as you brainstorm your next pitch to Channel Four. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights a D.J. spins.
Drink: Amrit (Woodland Reserve bourbon shaken with fresh lemon juice, homemade palm and vanilla sugar, £6.50)
Watch: media networking at its most intense
Akbar, The Red Fort, 77 Dean Street, W1D 3SH. Nearest Tubes: Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus. Tel: 020 7437 2525, www.redfort.co.uk/akbar. Open: Mon-Sat 5pm-1am (happy hour 5pm-6pm - drinks two-for-one)

MJU Bar at the Millennium Hotel
This is as exclusive as it gets. Wear your gladdest of glad rags and feel like a film star as you mingle with Knightsbridge's glitterati. The perfect place to celebrate your designer purchases on Sloane Street. MJU (pronounced 'mew', derived from the Japanese for 'millennium') has an art-deco-updated-for-the-twenty-first-century feel, and the same philosophy of mixing old with new applies to the drinks: MJU prides itself on its 'twisted classics', such as the Chocolate Martini.
Drink: Spring Punch (42 Below vodka, creme de framboise, creme de cassis, lemon juice and raspberry puree topped off with Prosecco, £7)
Watch: the diamonds sparkling
MJU Bar at the Millennium Hotel, 17 Sloane Street, SW1X 9NU. Nearest Tube: Knightsbridge. Tel: 020 7201 6330, www.millenniumhotels.com. Open:Mon-Sat 3pm-11pm

Cuba Libre
The polar opposite of MJU. Swap your Manolo Blahniks for your dancing shoes, because the salsa never stops at this great Latin American bar. After 15 years Cuba Libre is an Islington institution, and the atmosphere just gets better and better. Hot and steamy - don't even think of going unless you're ready to party.
Drink: Castro Missile (Baileys, Grand Marnier and Kahlua, £5)
Watch: lithe limbs and sensuous steps
Cuba Libre, 72 Upper Street N1 0NY. Nearest Tube: Angel. Tel: 020 7354 9998. Open: Mon-Sat 11am - late (depends on when the dancing stops), Sun 12pm-10.30pm (happy hour 5pm-8pm, 12pm-8pm at weekends - drinks two-for-one)

Milk & Honey
Feel like you're a member of a private club without actually having to join one. Milk and Honey (sister club to an elite New York establishment) allows non-members until 11pm. You'll need to book well ahead, though. You'll also need to behave yourself: discretion is the watchword, celeb-spotters need not attend. The lighting (kept deliberately low to prevent rubber-necking) helps augment the 1920s speakeasy feel: pressed tin walls, leather booths, all set to the coolest jazz. A serious bar for serious cocktail drinkers.
Drink: Old Fashioned (scotch or bourbon, bitters, sugar cube, water, £8)
Watch: your step
Milk & Honey, 61 Poland Street W1F 7NU (but the number's not there - look for the double-fronted black door). Nearest Tubes: Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus. Tel: 07000 MLKHNY, www.mlkhny.com. Open: Mon-Fri 6pm-11pm, Sat 7pm-11pm

Prices and details are correct at time of publication