Freud

Freud has operated as a café, bar and gallery on Shaftesbury Avenue since 1986, at the point where Covent Garden meets the theatres of the West End. Styled FREVD on its own signage, it brings food, drink and rotating art exhibitions together in a single basement space, and after almost four decades it is one of the longest-running independent bars on this stretch.

The venue trades under Secession Ltd and has kept the same three-part identity throughout: a café by day, a cocktail bar by night and a gallery at all hours, with exhibitions changing on its walls through the year. Beyond the core offer it runs additional programming, including yoga sessions, and it takes table reservations and private hire enquiries for anyone who wants the room to themselves.

A basement bar on Shaftesbury Avenue

A visit can be a coffee, a cocktail or a look at the current show, and often all three. The rotating exhibitions keep the atmosphere shifting from one month to the next, which gives the place a cultural character that sets it apart from a standard bar, and its position on one of theatreland's main arteries means it draws theatregoers, workers and gallery visitors in roughly equal measure.

What to expect on a visit

Freud opens at midday every day, closing at 10pm on Sunday and Monday, 11pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, 1am on Thursday and 2am on Friday and Saturday. It works well before or after a show, and it sits a short walk from the sport-and-horror mix of BLOODsports on Endell Street for anyone who wants a louder second stop. Our guide to bars in Covent Garden covers the rest of the neighbourhood.