Happiness Forgets
Every drink on the list costs the same, which Alastair Burgess did on purpose so people would order what they wanted instead of what they could afford (Difford's Guide).
Why go
Burgess opened this basement in 2010 for less than twenty-five thousand pounds, with no investors or brand support, no pouring deals or listing fees
, and waited tables part-time for the first eight months to keep it going (Difford's Guide). The strapline has been the same since day one: great cocktails, no wallies.
What it bought him was standing. Difford's Guide calls Happiness Forgets "the bartender's bar in London", and the awards back the reputation up: seven consecutive years on the World's 50 Best Bars with a sixth place in 2013, Best International Cocktail Bar at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in both 2016 and 2018, and GQ's Best Bar in 2016. The World's 50 Best had it at No.40 as recently as 2019.
The drinking is modern readings of classics, and the list moves. A Racketeer of Scotch, sweet vermouth, umeshu and amaro sits near a Bobby Burns built on Chivas, Bénédictine, angostura and Montenegro with a touch of raspberry. Bartenders will go off the card if you let them.
Downstairs is candlelight on red brick, red glass pendants and stacking chairs. You are met at the bottom of the stairs and served at your table, and nobody stands.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Perfect Storm, rum with honey, ginger and plum brandy, which is the drink every write-up reaches for. Then hand the list back and let the bar pick, because the price is the same whatever you land on.
- Avoid: arriving with a group at 9pm on a Saturday without emailing first. The room is small and seated, and when it is full it is full.
What locals & experts say
- Difford's Guide: "Happiness Forgets is not only a firm favourite with the eastern locals but has very much become the bartender's bar in London.
On the room:
the space is small, rough round the edges and utterly charming. Clientele is greeted at the base of the stairs, seated and served at the table (no standing)." The page carries no byline, so it is the guide's line rather than a named critic's.1 - The World's 50 Best Bars, No.40 in 2019:
Promising high-end cocktails in a low-rent basement... every attention to detail is paid to the superlative drinks offering. An ever-evolving roster includes such delights as the 'Perfect Storm', a smooth blend of rum, honey, ginger and plum brandy.
Their own figure for the average cocktail is $13.3 - Alastair Burgess, the owner, on the pricing:
Everything on our menu is the same price and we want people to choose a drink based on what they like not what they can afford. The menu is balanced so that the crowd pleasers on the weekend will sell by the bucket load, and the connoisseur can drink delicious drinks with expensive products at a very reasonable price.
His words about his own bar, quoted as such.2 - Nothing recent. No bylined review dated after the 2019 World's 50 Best placing surfaced in this pass, which is the honest limit on all of the above.
Good to know
- Where: the basement at 8-9 Hoxton Square N1 6NU. The stairs go down under Ever After, and an A-board is the only sign.
- Timing: 5pm to 11pm, seven days.
- Booking: seated service only. London Cocktail Week's line is
once the bar is full, it's full
, and the bar takes reservations by email.5 - Money: one price for every cocktail. The World's 50 Best put the average at $13.
- Sites: two, one on top of the other. Ever After upstairs is the same owner, does food, and is a separate venue. This entry is only the basement.
- Hygiene: no FSA registration exists for either bar. A basement that pours drinks and serves no food does not have to register, so there is nothing to disclose here.
- Take home: they bottle cocktails, including a Peach Gold Rush and an Ever After Martini.
Verdict
should-visit — Go, and go early. Happiness Forgets is a small basement under Hoxton Square that Alastair Burgess self-funded for under twenty-five thousand pounds in 2010, with no investors, no brand money and no pouring deals, and it has spent most of the time since being what Difford's Guide calls the bartender's bar in London. The drinks are modern readings of classics, the Perfect Storm of rum, honey, ginger and plum brandy being the one everybody names, and the whole list is priced flat, one number for every drink, so the choice is what you feel like rather than what you can afford. That is a rare and deliberate piece of design and it is the reason this outranks better-decorated rooms. Service is seated only, the space is small, and when it fills it is done, so email ahead. What holds it at should-visit is the calendar. Two Spirited Awards for Best International Cocktail Bar, a GQ, seven years on the World's 50 Best Bars and a No.6 in 2013 are all real and all between seven and thirteen years old, and nobody with a byline has assessed the room since the 2019 placing.