EBG Rating: 8.6/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Cocktails, lovely cocktails. Choose from a bespoke list and note in the small bar they have a stripped back selection to allow them to focus on that. However there is a large selection of rum you can also purchase.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Tiny bar accessible via a bell and a hatch out front. Inside, one room with a high ceiling decorated in a study/cabinet style of dark wood. Muted lighting, with cabinets containing rums. Old fashioned ‘explorer’ theme.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Intimate and convivial with chat from the bartender setting the pace at quieter times but also very possible to meet strangers if your visit coincides with theirs.

Amenities/Events:
❤️
Not much given this claims to be the smallest bar in the world.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️
On the high side, trading on the novelty value and personal service, but OK as a one-off, which for most visitors will be the case.

Description:
Perennial award winner, Backdoor 43 belongs to a chain of bars set in the Navigli area offering cocktails in different environments. It directly adjoins Mag Café which are among their roster. As far as different environments go, Backdoor 43 is definitely a novelty.

Marketed as the smallest bar in the world, this is a small room accessible through a bell and a hatch. The only way in is to either be very lucky, or to reserve a spot on their website in advance. You pay a deposit which in turn secures your first drink – not cheap but pretty typical these days for a major city doing a concept bar like this.

Inside, you’re sharing space with only a few people at most, in a truly intimate environment where the bartender is as much a part of the show, offering the epitome of personalised service.

Specialising in rums, you’re surrounded by cabinets in a tiny room with a high ceiling.

The bar is very much about the experience, about being able to say ‘I was there’. It took us long enough to finally join that group and even after many years it delivers on its promise.

Given the novelty factor, tiny space and pricing this is always likely to be a love or hate type venue, so bear that in mind.

(Added May 2025)