The best bars in London with no music, ranked

London bars are, scientifically, getting louder. There is research on this, the average decibel level in central London bars has risen properly over the last decade, and most of the bars you walk into now are designed for energy rather than for conversation. Sometimes that is what you want. Often it is not.

This is the working list of London bars where you can actually hear the person across the table from you. No DJs, no playlists at gym-floor volume, no bass-heavy speakers. Proper rooms for proper conversation.

For bar takeovers, cocktail-themed nights and quiet-room residencies, the London nightlife events feed catches them.

1. Bar Termini

Tony Conigliaro's tiny Italian aperitivo bar in Soho. Twenty seats, no music — they have a couple of records on at properly background level on a quiet evening, nothing else — and the negroni is genuinely one of the best in London. The sandwich is also the move and the staff know what they are doing.

This is the date-night cocktail bar of the list.

2. Connaught Bar

Mayfair, expensive, properly serious. The room is silent enough that you can hear the cocktail being made and the cocktail itself is one of the best in the world full stop. The martini trolley is the move and is a proper London experience.

Yes, the bill is real. Yes, this is a special-occasion place. Worth it once.

3. Sager + Wilde (Paradise Row)

Bethnal Green wine bar from the Sager + Wilde team. Properly grown-up wine list, the bar food is excellent (the grilled cheese alone is worth the journey), and music is at conversation-friendly level even on a Friday night when most other east London bars are unbearable.

4. The Beaufort Bar (The Savoy)

Savoy Hotel's Beaufort. Black-and-gold room, art deco done properly, music kept to a murmur, cocktails are excellent. This is the closest London gets to feeling like the 1920s and the staff know it without being precious.

The bill is properly real. Once a year is the right frequency.

5. Noble Rot

Bloomsbury and Soho wine bars from the Noble Rot magazine team. The wine list is a properly grown-up education — they will pour you anything by the half-glass to taste — and the rooms are quiet enough to talk. The food is also genuinely properly good.

6. Mr Fogg's Tavern

Themed gin parlour, sounds gimmicky, but the gin selection is properly mental — over 300 — and the music is kept low. The Covent Garden branch is the original and the best. The Mayfair branch is also good.

This is the "I want to talk about something serious but in a slightly daft room" option.

7. The American Bar (The Stafford)

St James hotel bar. Skews older — properly older — and is properly quiet. The martini is the order and is genuinely one of the best in London. The bartenders have all worked there for decades and know what they are doing.

8. Quo Vadis (Bar)

The bar room above the restaurant in Soho. Tiny — maybe twenty seats — proper cocktails, music kept to a murmur, members'-club feeling without the membership. Best for a Tuesday or Wednesday evening when it is half-empty.

9. Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels

Natural wine bar in Covent Garden. Long wine list, proper food, music low. The upstairs room is the move — quieter and properly cosy. Sister of the Paris original.

10. Smiths of Smithfield (Top Floor)

Top floor cocktail bar at Smiths. Less busy than the loud ground-floor restaurant and music is kept properly low. The view across Smithfield is a bonus and the cocktails are above-average for a non-specialist bar.

Worth knowing

A few near-misses. Dukes Bar at the Dukes Hotel is properly quiet and properly serious about the martini but I wanted to keep it to one classic-hotel-martini entry. Scout in Hackney is excellent but the music is loud. The Connaught's Red Room is the sister bar to the Connaught Bar and is also properly grown-up.

How I use the list

Date night: Bar Termini. Special occasion: Connaught Bar or Beaufort. Tuesday-evening proper drink: Sager + Wilde. Wine education and slow conversation: Noble Rot. "I need to actually hear someone tell me a serious thing": Quo Vadis (Bar) or American Bar at the Stafford.

For cocktail-themed nights, masterclasses and bar takeovers, save bars on the London nightlife events feed and they will surface.