Nine of London's Best Restaurants, Pubs and Bars With Fireplaces

The great chill is on its way, which means fluffy jumpers, hot toddies and crunchy leaves underfoot. Love or hate autumn, there is undeniable comfort to be found in sheltering from the cold beside a roaring fire. And fortunately, London is well-stocked with handsome hearths, whether you want to drop in for a pint or settle in for supper.

From Michelin-starred Italian cooking in Clerkenwell to a World’s 50 Best-awarded bar and several centuries-old riverside pubs, these are the places worth warming up in.

A table on the terrace, at this time of year? Trust us, an outside reservation at this Michelin-starred Italian is one of the cosiest places to be in autumn and winter. Sit in front of the roaring fireplace for parmesan fries and fresh pasta while letting one of the in-house pros choose the wine. Arrive early for a Negroni in the bar before dinner.

Google this King’s Road drinking hole and you’ll find it dubbed a “humble pub” – which it is, sort of, besides the stained glass bar, chandeliers and very impressive selection of top-shelf cocktails that cost as much as £30. Still, it’s Chelsea, and it’s welcoming nonetheless. The team pay restaurant-level attention to British pub staples including pies, fish and chips and Sunday roasts, accompanied by carefully kept beer and an impressive wine list.

This restored Victorian pub in Maida Vale spreads out over four floors, though the ground is where to stop for the liveliest fireside atmosphere. There’s Murphy’s, Portobello Pils and classic cocktails, as well as nostalgic picky bits including scotch eggs, pork scratchings and welsh rarebit. Once you’re all warmed up, head upstairs to The Library cocktail bar for live music from 7pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Noble Rot’s front room is where it’s at. The wine bar section of the space keeps a clutch of tables reserved for walk-ins, usually guarded all evening by savvy drinkers who arrive early enough to snap them up. Come to drink in one of London's best wine lists, stay for chef Stephen Harris’s brown crab mayonnaise on toast.

There are storied pubs, and then there’s The Mayflower. Its wood-panelled rooms (which were built in the late 18th century), low ceilings, pewter tankards and open fire overlook the Thames from the Rotherhithe site where the Mayflower ship was fitted out before sailing for America. The riverside terrace is glorious when the weather behaves, but in winter the small tables gathered around the hearth are much more appealing. Peckish? The no-frills pub grub will serve you well.

A vast open fire is undoubtedly the centrepiece of Scarfes Bar, surrounded by squishy velvet armchairs, towering bookcases and naughty caricatures of real and fictional characters by cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe. Tucked into The Rosewood hotel in Holborn, the sumptuous, drawing-room style space landed number 31 on the most recent World’s Best Bars list – and has an unforgettable cocktail menu to prove it. There is regularly live piano and singalongs which (beware) are all too tempting after two Martinis.

Nick Gibson, who runs The Drapers Arms, is up there among the best pub landlords in London – and he just so happens to know how to stoke a fire, too. Warm, friendly and always welcoming, he and his team know all there is to know about wine, as well – and they’ll guide you through the excellent selection. The chic, winding watering hole is also an excellent place to enjoy a spot of seasonal British cooking. And just wait until you see the Christmas tree in December.

With two fireplaces, mismatched furniture and brooding burgundy walls, The Eagle Ale House is a proper old-school boozer. The bar pours a broad rotation of cask ales – so many, in fact, that hundreds of different beers reportedly pass through its pumps every year. Food is not the main attraction, so come for a pint or four in lieu of a three-course dinner.

A narrow, weathered pub pressed against the Thames in Limehouse, The Grapes has been serving drinkers in one form or another since 1583. Charles Dickens knew it, and Sir Ian McKellen is now one of its owners. Downstairs, the fireplace, dark wood and maritime clutter are almost comically quaint, and out back, a tiny terrace hangs over the river. Head upstairs for a pub grub dinner or stay by the fire with a pint, admiring Gandalf’s staff behind the bar.