Cabin

Surprisingly good experience!
We Topped on our way home here and found it surprisingly pleasant. Not only did we enjoy some drinks but also cheese and bread. The staff was friendly and the service good. As can be expected the prices are at premium bit still affordable.
I would definitely visit again!

This has to be one of the best station bars around (apart from the York Tap). I had some time to kill before heading to The Old Vic, so I popped in here whilst I waited for my wife. I didn’t fancy a beer and so ordered a whisky sour. I wasn’t necessarily expecting too much, but it was expertly made, certainly one of the better whisky sours I’ve had in London.

Good wine list and friendly staff– also a great place to people watch, if you get a seat overlooking the station concourse. Heaters over some seats for those icy winter evenings. If you absolutely have to hang about in the station for an extended period, you could do a lot worse.
One slight issue– there is no loo on the premises, so you in the event of requiring one, you may need to sidle into the neighbouring Carluccio’s.

So, the Cabin is a newish bar/​café/​tearoom in Waterloo, seemingly designed for people on their way to football matches who want a drink at 10am, if our visit was anything to go by.
It’s a weird one because it is clearly a bar, from all the alcohol on display and the HUGE bar right in the middle of it, but its design gives the impression that it’s a quaint little café. I just don’t know what to make of it.
We were trying to find somewhere to sit and have a cup of tea in while we waited for our train, and to its credit, it met that need. We managed to get a pot of tea for two and some china cups, decorated with delicate little flowers. Just at complete odds with the 30 football fans chanting 10ft over. We took a seat in some deep chintzy chairs and sipped our tea, watching people downing pints and felt pretty out of place, if I’m honest, even though the tea was nice.
I think the Cabin could be a great place to drink… if only it could decide what it is. They serve alcohol, tea, bar snacks, whole meals and I’m just confused. I can’t say I’d return either… I’d just feel like I was ruining the evening for people who just go for coffee and food if I was drinking, and it doesn’t have that intimate or quiet atmosphere you usually get when you’re going for a sober daytime meal or drink. I don’t know. I just don’t know.

After seeing Carluccio’s packed to the rafters with suits this morning and this place like a grave yard, I decided to take a browse at the menu…
It was a toss up between Eggs and Salmon or the Full English. Thinking I may be able to blag this one on expenses I thought what the heck. I decided to risk it for a biscuit and see what £10.95 of Full English looks like, In I went.
I was warmly greeted and it felt great to be the first customer of the day! I almost felt like I should have won some award or something. Anyway, I enquired how long the Full English would take and decided to take 2. (Although I could happy destroy 2 with my appetite, one was for my colleague who was yet to arrive).
I spent the first 5 minutes playing musical chairs deciding where to sit as I had the run of the place. I perched my bum on a good 6 or 7 seats. I decided the balcony view the station that I connect in most days, and what can be quite a stressful ordeal sometimes was not the best place to spend my pre-​meeting chill out/​preparation time. So opted for these rather large granny style armchairs at the back of the bar away from the hustle and bustle of the station.
After taking a few MINUTES of sitting back taking some what I tried but failed to be arty pictures of a relatively boring inanimate object (the coffee cup) and visioning myself as the boss of a large corporation in my grand chair looking over my work force, the baddie out of Inspector Gadget with the cat that nobody sees and also the lord of a mighty castle looking over the grounds of a country estate. My colleague turned up to talk business.
The service was great and as promised synchronised to perfection with the arrival of my colleague. (Score me) 15 minutes had passed and the breakfast was presented. The table did make for a quite awkward eating position. I’d gone from Mafia boss in his armchair of destruction to baby in a high chair trying to get my carrots onto a plastic spoon.
The food looked great, we had two eggs, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, crispy bacon, pork sausage, baked beans and toast. It tasted how it looked. Totally my mistake but I forgot to ask for brown sauce because I was too busy tucking into the delicious flavors. I barely had time to breathe let alone ask for sauce.
The prices here are obviously inflated due to its location and pound for pound you can get a much better deal elsewhere. However I can’t really fault it and as my company will eventually end up paying for it. Then the overall experience was great and worthy of the tip that the credit card machine so eloquently asked for when paying.
Next time if I have time I’m going to take the train to Clapham Junction and walk up to Jacks at the Junction. Still my number one Breakfast Joint!

i was heading out to surrey, and myself and my travelling companions had some time before our train. waterloo has just opened a new upstairs area, and the cabin is one of the new places up here. being a wine lover, and a wine bar lover too, we decided to check this place out.
it’s hard not to compare it to the champagne bar at st pancras, which obviously fills a similar hole. surrey is not as lovely to travel to as paris, alas. i actually like the décor in here a lot better than the champagne bar in st pancras, i thought it was tastefully done, so in terms of décor and atmosphere, it’s pretty okay.
the wait staff seemed bored out of their trees! the dude serving us could not be bothered at all, which is really off putting. the prices are also very high, even for london, so that was a bit disappointing.
i definitely wouldn’t rush back here, especially given that the service was really not on par with the prices, but i would consider again if i needed to kill some time at waterloo.

The Cabin is one of the newer additions to Waterloo station, having set up shop just before the Olympics once the renovations were completed. I believe it’s an offshoot from the Corney & Barrow wine bar group given that a) it was predominantly a wine bar, and b) I spotted some Corney & Barrow logos around the place.
It has the feel of a posh first class lounge in the way that it’s all glitzed up and seating takes the form of large arm chairs arranged in twos and threes around the bar. There are a couple of larger tables at the back but you have to be quick to snag them — and pulling up an extra seat is a near impossible task.
The wine selection is pretty decent, as one would expect, but a few things annoyed me. First, the small selection of harder alcohols in the centre of the bar was hard to make out and very limited. I did manage to snag a bit of the Monkey Shoulder to satisfy my whiskey craving without having to settle for a double of Jack (regular Jack at that… not even the Gentleman version). They don’t have a cocktail menu and a request to suggest a cocktail they could make was met with a blank stare. I will note they have an electic beer selection that will make those who prefer a small brewery lager happy, so it’s not all bad.
The other things to be wary are that this place is open to the station and can get a bit noisy and very cold. Also, if you find yourself in need of a bathroom break, you need to leg it to the other side of the station (and bring 30p) where the public toilets are as the Cabin has no facilities of its own.
All in all, if you find yourself waiting for a train and in need of a comfy seat and a glass of wine, the Cabin is perfect for you. If you are looking for a place to drink to start the night, try any of the pubs around the station which will be a much better fit.