Mare Street venue The Last Tuesday Society has been crowned the Best Bar in London at the 7th annual Design My Night Awards.

Created to find the best places to eat, the coolest spots to drink and the most Instagrammable hangout in town (Waterloo’s Tonight Josephine, if you were wondering), the awards were entirely chosen by the public. There were over 180,000 votes cast in total.

Allison Crawbuck, co-director of The Last Tuesday Society alongside Rhys Everett, was understandably delighted.

“It feels really great, it’s actually the bar’s third birthday this month, so it feels good to know that it’s all for something,” she says.

“We’re a small, local cocktail bar, and this award was really important because it’s all voted for by customers. A lot of the bigger, ‘best cocktails in the world’ type awards are dictated by the drinks industry and spirit companies, but this was the community voting.

“It’s nice to know that they appreciate what we’re doing.”

Tucked away within the eccentric Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, the bar is chiefly known for two things: 1) its huge variety of unusual collectables (like McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys and a stuffed lioness) and 2) its love of absinthe.

“It’s a hidden gem – not the most obvious when you are walking by – and the discovery element carries on when you come inside,” adds Crawbuck.

“We’re located amongst the collection of Viktor Wynd Museum, you’re immediately entering the world of the curious; there’s taxidermy and skeletons and shrunken heads while you are sitting to have a drink.”

Another of this year’s big winners was Night Tales (which, incidentally, re-opens from tonight) as their outdoor space was voted the best in London.

Further success for venues in Hackney and Islington came in the awards’ north London regional categoriges, as Homeboy – the new cocktail bar promising modern Irish hospitality – as well as Four Sisters and Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings were also recognised.

The Last Tuesday Society, which is striving “to show people that absinthe is actually a really great drink that has almost been forgotten,” is now planning a big party to celebrate both its award success and third birthday.

“The best thing about this place,” explains Crawbuck, “is there’s no one type of person that enjoys The Last Tuesday Society. It appeals to a wide variety instead.

“Everybody comes together because the venue, the drinks and the experience is so special, it’s otherworldly.”

The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, E8 4P. For the full list of award-winners, click here.