please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
THIS BAR IS NOW CLOSED.... IT HAS A NEW OWNER AND TEAM AND WILL BE OPEN IN NOVEMBER WE HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY THE NEW BAR>
FIFTY FIVE BAR AND LOUNGE
anonymous - 9 Oct 2006 23:11 |
Finally this god awful dive and its incredibly unpleasant manager/owner have left Camden after they successfully alienated all their punters. Anyhow, the place is shut, is being refurbed and has new ownership....thank the lord
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There are loads of fantastic pubs in Camden Town. This is not one of them. No proper beer on tap, the drinks they have are wildly over-priced, stupidly loud music etc etc. Go somewhere else.
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Unbelievably, all of these recent negative comments about this place seem to be completely true.
Even the bit about the new owner sticking a massive portrait of himself up on the wall.
I'm gobsmacked at how absurdly bad this bar has become.
anonymous - 18 May 2006 12:25 |
Take one expensive pub with slow bar staff who care more about their iPod and mates than serving customers and add a DJ vanity project by the 'owner' and you get alienated regulars who were only regulars because they are lazy.
There are 200+ pubs in Camden and this one has no saving graces over any other. Beer is frequently not on, service is slow, surly, inconsistent.
Ice is crushed on the counter with a wet tea towel. Cocktails are made at the speed of a drunken slug especially when busy.
Its not on the main street so dont step a step to go there. Avoid it at all costs.
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This is one of the worst bars I have ever been to. The bar staff are shocking, there is regularly no beer on tap, the prices are jaw-droppingly high (bearing in mind the quality of the venue) and the decor grim.
What really clinches it is the staff though; some of the people that whoever manages this awful pit employed are openly rude. I don't think I have ever been faced with less welcoming staff in my life.
Avoid like the plague. Go to the Lock Tavern instead for a friendly and laid back pub without smug, pretentious staff.
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I'd definitely agree with DiskoStu and Lord_Science - ever since I suggested this bar the muppet in charge seems to have gone out of his way to alienate the punters. First he pulled out a bunch of the beers, so that the only thing on tap with any taste to it was Guinness. Next he blanket-banned smokers, and then a couple of weeks later put a note on the front door reversing the ban and saying the smokers could smoke in the upstairs bar. Now he's always down in the bar pushing people around, buying some people drinks, imposing his shite music on a bunch of people who were mainly just there to unwind in the first place, and generally treating the place like his own personal loungeroom rather than providing a friendly environment that people want to come back to.
It's almost like he's gone out of his way to find out from people what all their favourite things about this bar are, and then systematically eradicate each one until he's left with a noisy, empty room.
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I used to be a regular. Used to. Then the misguided owner went on an ego trip. It became non-smoking, was boycotted and then reverted. All the best bar staff left or were sacked. Tasteless paintings were put up along with a massive photo of the owner. Regulars got told to move so friends of the owner could sit down. The front door became a notice board for messages to ostracised patrons. And the owner djs. Appallingly badly. This has become the most unwelcoming, insipid pub in London. And it's still too expensive. DO NOT GO HERE.
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Nice staff, helpful and friendly. But they've just revamped the menu and they need a bit of help - the staff didn't seem sure what was on offer, and the fish coley was misspelt 'coli' on the menu, which doesn't look terribly professional.
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I have been here far too many times and I'm still not bored of the place. The paintings on the walls might be unnerving, the drinks might be too expensive, it will be too crammed on thursdays and fridays, girls will annoyingly order cocktails during the happy hour thereby slowing down the bar service, and there's a guy who keeps mooning when he gets drunk. But I'm still going back. Because I sold them my soul and they have never run out of sambucca. But the primary reason for my return is because they put something in the cocktails that brings out lesbian behaviour in the girls.
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Funky if slightly expensive pub within sight of the canal. Bar staff are friendly and know their cocktails pretty well, which you can use to best effect during 2-for-1 happy hour. Reasonable range of beers, incl. Hoegaarden and Leffe on tap (as well as the standard lagers) and various bottled beers too.
Plenty of room (without being a soulless open-plan dive) and a good mixture of people.
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