The London cocktail bar making aperitivo hour feel distinctly British

London has never struggled for cocktail bars. What it occasionally struggles with is somewhere you can simply have a very good drink without feeling that an evening has become an event before the first glass has arrived.

On Exmouth Market, Around Bar is making a case for something rather more relaxed. The independent neighbourhood bar combines serious cocktails with complimentary aperitivo inspired snacks, a street terrace, a hidden garden and the sort of atmosphere designed to encourage another round rather than another reservation.

Founded by hospitality figures Sadia Rahman, Dominic Watmore and Jacob Watmore, Around takes its drinks seriously without importing the ceremony that can sometimes accompany London's more ambitious cocktail menus. The emphasis is on seasonal ingredients, recognisable flavours used intelligently and a menu that changes sufficiently often to give regulars a reason to return.

Summer is when the idea makes particular sense.

The current menu moves confidently between Italy, India, Ireland and the familiar territory of the modern London cocktail bar. Perhaps the most intriguing is the Watermelon Thief, combining Bombay Sapphire, Campari and lime with watermelon oleo saccharum. It is also a zero waste serve, with leftovers from the bar's watermelon chaat used in the drink.

More adventurous is the Masala Mary. Vodka meets carrot juice, garam masala, tamarind, lime and Tajín, finished with poppadom. It takes the savoury instincts of a Bloody Mary and moves them somewhere altogether more interesting.

The Negroni Sgroppino, meanwhile, feels almost purpose built for a warm London evening. Campari and sweet vermouth are joined by Prosecco and orange sorbet, taking two Italian drinking traditions and collapsing them into something considerably more playful.

For those who prefer their cocktails closer to pudding, there is an Iced Irish Coffee made with Teeling Small Batch and Bushmills Black Bush whiskeys, Amaro del Capo, chocolate bitters, demerara, almond and espresso. The Romeo takes a lighter direction, pairing Grey Goose vodka with elderflower, cucumber, lime and absinthe.

Around has wisely resisted the temptation to make novelty compulsory. Old Fashioneds, Dry Martinis and Spicy Margaritas remain available, alongside a concise selection of sparkling, white, red and orange wines.

More interestingly, abstaining from alcohol does not mean being relegated to tonic water. The non alcoholic list includes a Watermelon Pa No Ma, Strawberry and Basil Sgroppino and Spicy Na Garita, reflecting a wider and welcome change in London's bars: alcohol free drinks are increasingly being treated as cocktails in their own right rather than consolation prizes.

But what makes Around particularly appealing is what happens alongside the glass.

A rotating selection of aperitivo inspired snacks is made in house and offered complimentary, with the day's choices written on a blackboard. Nuts and crisps might appear alongside black olive jam or watermelon chaat, while Spanish cheeses, charcuterie and a changing homemade sorbet are available to order.

It is a small detail, but an important one. London's drinking culture has traditionally drawn a firm distinction between the pub, the restaurant and the cocktail bar. The continental habit of allowing drinks and small plates to stretch almost imperceptibly into an evening has never translated quite as naturally. Around appears interested in occupying precisely that territory.

The space helps. There is a street facing terrace for the remaining weeks when London can convincingly pretend to have a Mediterranean climate, bar seats for those interested in watching the drinks being made, a more intimate downstairs lounge and, tucked behind it all, a secluded garden.

There is also an attempt to make the craft behind the drinks more accessible. On the final Tuesday of each month, Around hosts its Around a Cocktail masterclass series. Previous evenings have explored Margaritas with El Rayo Tequila and Daiquiris with Planteray Rum, with three cocktails included in each session. August's edition is still to be announced.

None of this is revolutionary, which may be precisely the attraction. London's best neighbourhood bars rarely succeed because of one theatrical drink or a concept requiring explanation. They succeed because they become somewhere people instinctively suggest when somebody asks where to meet.

Around Bar's summer menu has enough invention to make the cocktails worth travelling for, but the more interesting ambition is considerably simpler: to become the sort of place you eventually stop thinking of as a destination at all.

Just somewhere you go for a drink.