please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Motion - Now Opal Bar
I went to the Opal bar for a friends birthday this weekend. All tables had already been reserved so there was nowhere to stand but at the bar. As you can imagine this became impractical as the evening progressed and the bar became more crowded.
It took a huge amount of time to get served which I could understand if this were a particularly busy bar, however when I arrived and it was still quite empty there seemed to be staff standing around ignoring people waiting to buy a drink.
Opal bar has one redeeming factor that is half price drinks before 9pm. But when you consider that a pint of beer will cost you at least �5 after 9pm, I can see why the place emptied out so quickly after the drinks offer had finished.
I was also appalled at the behaviour of staff when my sister's coat was stolen from the bar. My question is, is it normal policy to eject a girl into the rain when she becomes distraught over the theft of her coat? The manager on duty at the time refused to help out at all and wouldn't even check over CCTV footage to see whether it was actually stolen or whether it had just been misplaced.
Overall I'd have to say my experience of the Opal Bar was pretty awful and I certainly won't be spending my money there again. Based on the behaviour of the staff I have also informed all of my friends and acquaintances that they should find better places to part with their money.
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I think if you go to a place like this, you should know what to expect really - it's always going to be expensive, the bouncers are always going to be difficult and there will always be those annoying people in the toilets who expect you to pay them for giving you a paper towel. There are many clubs like this in the West End - personally, I think if your up the Saturday night club thing, this is the best one to go to - in concurrence with some of the comments below, this is where a lot of very attractive ladies seem to go!
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When I was there on a Friday evening there was an attendant in the gents toilet to hand you a paper towel, so I assume you are expected to leave a tip. But one of the washbasins was unusable due to a broken tap, and another was blocked and full of dirty water. So you are expected to pay for the privilege of using the toilets, but they can't be bothered to provide clean hygienic facilities. I was not impressed.
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Horrid - horrid - horrid! No lager on tap. Nearly �4 a bottle of Becks. Over rated. Don't bother! Pop to Wetherspoons up the road!
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Oh dear.
A friend booked an area on Friday night for his birthday, only to be told on the door we had to go in at full price (when a discount had been arranged).
After trying to explain this to the guy at the desk he was removed by 5 burley bouncers who where ridicoulously heavy handed, and manhandled us out.
Wont touch this place again. Highly embarrasing, and another example of awful doorstaff in the capital.
anonymous - 9 Jul 2007 13:55 |
V expensive for beer and v v mediocre .....
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I love this place. I've been in London now for a few years and have yet to foind a better night out. happy hour, bottled beer, breaded mushrooms and quality music add to create a night you'll never forget.
I often head here after work with Tim Fowle- he prefers On Anon but doesn't show it after a few glasses of house white in happy hour. You just simply can't go wrong with a late night London venue.
Top marks. Thanks guys keep up the hard work and fun times!!
Andy Padgett and Tim Fowle
Padge - 22 Dec 2006 10:51 |
More of a wine bar than a pub but OK never the less. Went in Saturday evening pre-theatre and had a bottle of pinot for only �9.50 - happy hour from 5-7pm! Great snacks too all reasonably priced - will definitely use this one again!
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Used to be my go to late bar in this part of town but went there last night and will not be going there again...well until it goes out of business and reopens again.
Maybe it is the time of year but the whole upstairs bar and most of downstairs were roped off for corporate parties forcing us into one tiny space only to find ourselves roped off and moved on again.
With the exception of one chap with an outstanding afro, the staff were probably the rudest people working in service industry job anywhere...and I include Oddbins in that.
The events manager even managed to give the old two fingered salute to a friend after she complained, spotted by a another friend who was watching from the other side of the bar.
Cramped, sweaty, full of suits from the offices on Villiers Street and generally an absolute hole.
Cashed up the bar tab and went to Gordon's which was also cramped and sweaty, but in a good way. The staff also demonstrated that, even though you are serving a drunk Christmas crowd, you don't have to behave like you've been thrust into a job unbefitting your obvious talents and cannot believe that the people paying your wages might expect you to offer some tiny degree of customer service.
Never, never never again. Worst bar in London.
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I had a party there and it was great. Bought loads of vino in happy hour and had reserved an area in advance a 'snug' so we all had somewhere to dance/sit and the wine flowed. Great fun - book an area first and you're laughing.
Suzy - 10 Jun 2004 15:10 |
Upstairs was nice, Cocktails were lovely and so were the staff, I wouldn't go downstairs unless you want to know how a battery hen feels. It was a tad expensive only go there if you've money to burn. Lots of girls who can smell money and have champagne radars!! BE WARNED!!
Alex - 10 Nov 2003 17:00 |
Lets get the moans out of the way: heaving after a while and the way out is through the unofficial dancefloor; the volume of people makes it hard to queue for a drink (expect hordes of women to turn up after you and scream their orders over your head - invariably getting served first); it's moderately snooty, or perhaps I'm just a miserable git; it's dark and below ground (somewhat pointless on a gorgeous summer's evening) and finally, it's pricey, pricey, pricey.
On the plus size, there are rather a lot of attractive women. Loads in fact. Does that qualify? I mean, really? Expensive, hard to get served... nope, it's amazing. May as well flick through a glamour mag, but even so...
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How great is this bar? Went for an afterwork drink on a Friday evening and ended up staying 8 hours! The bar staff are super nice, bar food is good and served until the early hours. DJ was great and played all our requests. v. few pretentious people in attendance - everyone was down to earth and up for a laugh. Top night out - will definitely be going again!
Nicola - 15 Jul 2003 11:12 |
More disco than pub but the aircon is certainly welcome when it's baking outside. Possibly the most frequent table-tidying of any bar I've been to but, at �3.25 for a small Becks bottle, they can clearly afford plenty of staff.
Mark - 12 Jul 2003 01:45 |
marvellous atmosphere, nice woman and good service!
Daniel - 4 Jul 2003 13:57 |
