Combat

Margot Lecarpentier's Combat opened in 2017 between Belleville and the canal, named after the working-class neighbourhood the area used to belong to and the women's-equality fight the founders wanted to mark. The room is light, plant-filled, with bi-fold windows that disappear in summer to fold the pavement and the bar into one space. The team came largely from Experimental Cocktail Club and brought the technique without the velvet-rope feel. The cocktail list is short, the prices are honest, and the natural-wine and craft-beer side keeps non-cocktail drinkers happy. It's the rare serious cocktail bar that is genuinely a neighbourhood bar.