please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I was so unhappy with this pub I registered with BITE just in in order to warn off others.
I went there last Friday night about 6pm. I admit I loved the decor, the lighting etc, but .. oh but ... the sofas should be condemned. They are so low off the ground, they gave me back trouble after 30 minutes, which has only begun to clear up on Tuesday - having been on Ibuprofen for 3 days. There are no other chairs etc, but what idiot has sawn the legs shorter I don't know.
If you have any history of back problems or sport injury, avoid this bar like the plague!
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One of my favorite "party" venues in South London. Always packed with a great atmosphere at the weekends and a good place for a meal during the week. Love the look of the place. Not like anything I've seen before.
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Fantastic destination bar in popular area. Quick service and good music. Love the lampshades.
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Check out the reviews by "RachelPenny", "RobBlake", & "Proxy" then read the reviews they have done for other bars...
Whats the coincidence? All the bars they review are owned by the same dreary company - Faucet Inn Pub Co.
Get a clue guys and concentrate on running your bars well enough for you to get some real reviews instead of these fake ones!
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Babel has been refurbished with lots of lamps hanging from the ceiling with reproduction 60s wiring and seating like a school staff room from the same decade. It's very dull and boring in there. Regarding a comment below about the toilets... the men's were long overdue a new soap dispenser! It seems that's all they replaced.
Like All Bar One opposite, they still try to attempt a table service only routine at given times during the week. THIS DOES NOT WORK IN THE UK! If there is an empty bar on walking in to an establishment, we will go and stand at it to buy a drink! We Brits have no time to sit at tables and be served, we are in too much of a hurry going nowhere!
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I'm loving this place after work at the moment. Great to unwind in the sunshine after a hectic day.
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Had a great time here the other night. Love the look of the place and the food was pretty good as well. Can't wait for the summer so they can open up the front.
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Suppose it's all a matter of opinion, but I think the new look Babel is fantastic. Certainly a great improvement (especially the toilets). I had no problem with the service and my girlfriend loved the cocktails. We'll be going back.
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Awful refurb - place is even more soulless that it was - and that's saying something. Looks like a second-hand lampshade shop and what is going on with the 'fisher price' chairs outside, I don't know.
Same old drinks, with bland food and hit and miss service.
In summary, it's like an ugly girl who's had a bad facelift...
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i was in babel on saturday night for a birthday party and it was great, i visited babel last year and it was awfull....... what a turn around.
We all fell back in on sunday for breakfast and got some great bloody marys perfect pick me up.
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Don't know if it's new owners or not, but wow! What a difference! Amazing new look - totally original. Was packed on Saturday night but I was served within 10 mins. We had a great night there. Worth going just to check out the lights on the ceiling!
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Wow, what a difference! Babel has been refurbed and looks fabulous. It was a beautifully sunny day, doors were open, sat sharing a bottle of red & coffees outside. Would recommend the food, Wild boar burgers are super! (huge!) and sticky toffee pud was just mmmmmmm!
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Why anyone goes here is beyond me, the toilets have been in a terrible state for over a year now, and keep getting worse (although they now cannot get any worse).
On top of this it is poorly run, always understaffed and the staff that are there lack enthusiasm.
Go to Iniquity or Revolution they are light years ahead.
anonymous - 7 Nov 2007 22:48 |
Used to be my local. Stopped drinking here due to the state of the toilets and poor service. Shame.
anonymous - 29 Sep 2007 10:26 |
On my brief visit, seemed ok. Was a sunny day, front doors open, and everyone was sittin there to feel the sunshine on their legs...
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STYLEBAR ON A SHOESTRING...
REPLACE.
THE.
F@C%ING.
TOILETS.
anonymous - 17 Apr 2007 23:39 |
I walked in here about a year ago (not for the first time) and thought "Brilliant, an empty bar!" Waited ages to then be told that table service is in operation. OK, so I sat down and waited a few minutes for the busy waitress to come and take the order.
This is one of those things that does not work in the UK... we're not used to it, and neither was the waitress. I watched our drinks sitting on the bar going flat.
I have previously spent two NYEs in this place. Not bad, but not great either. At least the first time around your entry ticket got you a vol-au-vent and an outdated bottle of Stella included.
Finally, the toilets in this place are shoddy. My advice is to go over the road to Iniquity, or along the road to The Fine Line... you'll be quicker!
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Admittedly the Eagle isn't far, but I'd hardly class the Nightengale as being in the vicinity of Clapham Junction / Northcote Road.
anonymous - 11 Feb 2007 20:47 |
It's ok during the day and early in the week here but the usual Northcote Rd crowd tunr up later in the week
I will say that the previous reveiwers who decry the whole area clearly don't know it very well - the excellent Eagle is a mere 10 mins walk from here and the almost as good Nightingale a further ten
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Moved in just up the road a couple of weeks ago and Babel has become a local.
Their toilets are a bit dodgy but the friendly table service and tasty food more than make up for it.
Friday night just gone was rocking in there too!
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Friends of mine had a similar experience with the rude manager as previously outlined (although admittedly it was only involving one bottle of wine) and so as a result my friends and I have put an embargo on going to this place. On the one or two previous occasions when I have been here (usually because it looked empty when other pubs were full) I felt it was perfectly adequate but nothing special - it could be any pubco bar in any town in Britain.
Why go here when there are so many other pubs/bars within a five minute walk most of which want to receive repeat custom by offering a good service and not being actively rude to customers? And if you want food how about a restaurant of which there are also a few in the local area.
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Alot of branded mainstream bars around Nrthcote road all very plastic and lacking atmosphere, how refreshing to find a bar with friendly staff with personality!!!! Decent drinks and food too, whenever I come to Northcote road I'll skip the rest and go for personality
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Was having a bad night doing a crawl down Northcote and was about to call it an early night when I happened to go into this bar. Best bar I�ve been in for a while, made my night, even went the next day for roast and when I got there they told me to sit down and served me at the table all afternoon. Crawled out of there later that night!
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I went to Babel on 28 Nov. It is very poor pub, flat beer and awful service. I won't be going there again.
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This bar has no soul. No idea what they actually offer someone on a night out. i've been here in the day and evening, given it many chances but have to say 'never going back'
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Funnyly enough, I have lived in Battersea for the last 4 years, and have regularly visited Babel. One of the consistant bars in the area. Going out as a group of wine & cocktail drinkers, it is great to have good table service, which you cannot get in any other bars in the area - most just provide crap bar service.
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one of the worst bars around .. why they are trying to do cocktails is beyond me Iniquity across the road is a better bet the real kings of the area are Be at one around the way. apart from that normal beers and wines and the place looks nasty... avoid
anonymous - 26 Jun 2006 14:18 |
Very annoying table service only policy (not sure if this is all of the time but certainly on Friday nights), especially when you're standing at an empty bar and they won't serve you until you sit down - and you then have to wait a further 5/10 mins befire you actually receive your drink. Still, nice Sauvignon Blanc and it's close enough for a stumble across the road to Buena Serra for some post booze pizza soakage...
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proxy is obviously employed by babel's owners - i've seen a similar review for one of their other pubs on here - pathetic!
Babel is very average - nothing really to make you want to come here - bland decor, no real atmosphere, crappy cocktails made by ill-trained bar tenders, ok range of bottled beers and a menu of forzen foods.
Why bother? Iniquity across the road has better drinks and is more fun
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OK bar which thrived in the lack of competition but Iniquity across the road is a much better bet.
anonymous - 1 Feb 2006 12:39 |
so glad i found this. laid-back bar thats trendy enough to attract interesting people; fun, fast, attentive barstaff devoid of attitude [so important - it really annoys me when I get served by someone sour-faced, ignorant & deliberately slow] and ever changing pages of fresh fruit cocktails great for my kind of vitamin intake. highly recommended.
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Standard soul destroying chain bar. But not too bad. Considering the dire area, you could do worse.
anonymous - 11 Jan 2006 22:25 |
Not cheap but still one of the better places to drink in this area, if you can't go too far from the station. Bar snacks were disappointing at �5 a pop(overcooked chicken wings). Decent wine selection.
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well-run bar, trendiest place in the area, superb staff that don't mind mixing cocktails to foreign recipes for insistent foreign customers [that's us]
best to book if you're having a party as they will set everything up for you which is sooo nice and stress free. must try: devine 'very berry ice tea' cocktail
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I think I saw this place at the time I would hate it the least; i.e.when it's not filled with it's usual clientele of, I would imagine, braying tossers. Monday night it was actually OK. Yes it's a bar, yes there's table service, yes it's more expensive than Wetherspoons. Still change from 3 quid for a pint of Kronenbourg (which is almost unusual), but the food (platter-type stuff) was OK and not too expensive. The staff were trying hard and were friendly and polite. Local competition includes the Northcote (mediocre, tatty verging on grotty) or the Fine Line. Do the maths.
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A lovely bar with lovely staff, who kindly donated a bottle of champagne for the winning team of the Clapham treasure hunt in aid of Medecins sans Frontieres.
sarah - 26 Jul 2004 16:32 |
In a word - CRAP! Over priced, over worked staff, over rated!
Rusky - 26 Jul 2004 14:42 |
Open deck dj nights on sundays make an interesting change from the rest of the bars around
a - 13 Apr 2004 15:16 |
Miss Strawberry K LIVE, oh my god i couldnt belive they had such a name DJ playing. No enterence fee, cheap drinks and food. Nice one BABEL
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I feel sorry for anyone who thinks this is a pub, and sorrier for anyone who drinks here.
Overpriced, lazy staff, music so loud you have to scream to make yourself heard, and "modern" but tatty, cigarette-burned furniture.
If you're the sort of person that buys dance compilation albums and works in "media" you'll love it. However, if you have a personality you should steer well clear.
Burnsy - 27 Feb 2004 14:07 |
doesn't count as a pub, it's a bar. very loud music, very loud people, should be renamed 'babble'.
jeff - 23 Sep 2003 00:00 |
Great pub with a great new menu and cocktails are all new
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