Callooh Callay

This place drew me in because of its quirk of stepping through a wardrobe to get into the bar, but I feel that they literally just rested on this quirk because once you spend that millisecond walking through the novelty entrance, it’s just another bar — and not a particularly good one at that.
The drinks menu itself was a bit kitsch and original in terms of the presentation, but once again, the content was just lacklustre and the cocktails themselves were average.
This place has relied on gimmicks to draw the crowd in, but hasn’t focused on what actually makes a bar, good atmosphere, good cocktails and good value for money and because of that, the bar is simply blah.

This is the place for me, nice setting, especially the back room which is super cosy for a date and the drinks are inventive and every bit as exciting, as the name promises. Price wise, they are pretty standard around the 10 pounds mark.
What impressed me was the service, the waitresses were constantly keeping us topped up with water and were also on hand to recommend some great cocktails. My personal favourites were two classic cocktails which weren’t even on the menu, a pisco one, which was every bit as potent as you’d expect and one called rum jungle, which my date loved!
Definitely be going back here, some time soon and I love how they have sticker books, yes it’s gimmicky, but I’ll be so excited to start collecting cocktails stickers lol!

Ce bar à Cocktail est incroyable tant par son originalité que par sa convivialité. Lumière tamisée, banquettes confortables, serveurs branchés.
Le bar est divisé en 2 parties. La première visible dès l’entrée à travers les vitres et la seconde qui nécessite de rentrer dans une armoire. Oui vraiment, dans une armoire ! On se croirait dans Alice au pays des merveilles ou le Monde de Narnia. Hélas, la seconde salle était privatisé lors de notre visite.
Du côté des cocktails, des saveurs et des mélanges inédits. Rien de classique, que des goûts inconnus. La carte est elle aussi tout ce qu’il y a de plus originale puisqu’il s’agit en fait d’un cahier de stickers. En effet, pour illustrer chaque cocktails, pas d’image mais une case blanche où l’on colle le sticker correspondant une fois qu’on l’à consommé. A l’image d’une collection ou d’une carte de fidélité, puisque si tous les cocktails sont complétés, une boisson est offerte.
Il existe 24 cocktails différents. Les prix sont tout de même un peu élevés.
Nous avons passé un super moment à la lueur de bougies où se mélangent gens branchés, couples et groupes d’amis.

When you have three wildly different cocktails bars located under one roof, how can anything ever be the same? Answer: it can’t.
Upon entering Callooh Callay, it’s got all the markings you’d expect from a bar of this ilk. Dim lighting, reclaimed wood, slender bartenders with various patterns of facial hair… but it’s the other bells and whistles that make it such an intriguing experience.
Mosey into the bathrooms and you’ll see a collage of cassette tapes plastered to the tiled walls. They’re likely to appear on your social media feeds instantly.
Head left at the end of the main bar and push on a door to enter a secret room with an entirely different personality. Bright, midcentury modern furniture dots the landscape in a perfectly haphazard formation. You’ll even find a couple of clawfoot bath tubs that have been converted into cozy couches for lounging. It’s the polar opposite of where you’ve just come from.
The next hidden nook is located up a flight of stairs at the far right end of the bar. You’ll need to know some insiders to enter into this space as it requires some secret intel, but lucky for me I’ve got very hip friends. Inside you’ll find a small bar that seats a handful of patrons with a guest bartender that rotates on a weekly basis. The mustachioed man making our drinks hailed from Norway, and they were so tasty, they almost seamed dangerous. He also made a mean salted chocolate brownie that knocked our socks off.
Three bars, one great night, and fantastic cocktails all around. Good on ya, Calllooh Callay.

Nice and dark atmosphere, very creative cocktails. And you get to start your own collection! The menu will come without pictures, and when you order your cocktail they will bring the image you can stick on your menu!

This place smells like vomit. Seriously. The room behind the wardrobe door is a bit better but still couldn’t stand it. Got there at 10 PM, place was half full with suits having drinks after work, we tried to sit down on a couch and got told off that is reserved. Which is fine. In 20 min The room got empty completely. Same happened with another company of 4, they couldn’t sit down in an empty room so left
Creative coctails and interesting beers. Waiters are casual, quite friendly

Nice big cocktail place but not as interesting as say nightjar or lounge Bohemia.
We got in without a reservation yesterday which is lucky as the place was jam packed. There are 2 different rooms: one at the front and one behind the wardrobe.
The menu is a sticker book without the stickers so you don’t know what the drinks look like until you order them. The drinks were a little too strong for my liking but that’s my personal opinion.
The whole place also smelled like vomit but I think we just went on an unlucky day maybe.
The staff were super attentive and nice but its not enough to draw me back which is fine because they don’t seem to be short on customers.

We were invited to Callooh Callay for a birthday the other week.
It’s located in Shoreditch and I was worried that it would be filled with the local tosspots. I was also worried that it would be overcrowded/​overpriced, because apparently I’m a bundle of joy like that.
Our friend had booked us in to Jub Jub, which is the secret bar within a bar. It’s not necessarily super exclusive, you can book via the website, but it has a limited capacity, which means you get a code to the door and your seat and it’s not overcrowded. Like a dream come true!
Every couple of weeks the menu changes, as well as the door code, with one of bartenders debuting their own particular themed menu. It’s £10 per cocktail, so it’s not cheap and in fact the first once I had wasn’t great, but after that the rest were amazing and totally worth it. This place is definitely a less is more kinda place and sometimes it’s nice to have just a few good cocktails, rather than a bunch of shitty ones.
The music was at a decent enough volume, so you could hear yourself think and the bar staff were lovely. Really friendly and attentive.
I would definitely go back here again, when cash is a bit more free flowing! :D

Great little place. Trendy and well mixed drinks. Their mixed drinks are very unique (tasty). The «secret lounge» in the back is cozy. Simon the manager is a good guy as well as the two gentleman guarding the door. Elly was a good host. They were nothing but kind to us. We really want to stop here one more time on the way out of London.

This is a great place. When you walk in I thought it may be a bit pretentious but the bartenders are awesome, the menu on the cassette tape is pretty fun, and the drinks are great. I was lucky enough to be there before it got too busy so I was able to see how much fun this place is.

We dropped in based on recommendations from the web. We enjoyed the place a lot. Jill, the bartender, made us some great cocktails and we had an amazing evening. Thanks again Jill for the superb service!

This cocktail bar is dripping with cool, from the quirky menu (the time I was there, it was themed as a mixtape cover, tucked into an audio-​cassete case) to the odd décor (most notably the mirrored wardrobe that’s the door to the back).
Aside from that, what’s there to say but the obvious? They’ve got some really great, creative drinks. A bit pricey, but that’s to be expected. If you’re up for visiting top cocktail bars, this place is worth a visit.
There was a short wait at the door when I dropped in with a friend, but it was well worth the wait. (If the wait is too long to stand around, there are lots of other options in that lively neighborhood.)

Absolutely great bar. The cocktails are something special, we only managed to have two but I’d like to go back and work my way through their list.
A couple of other reviews have mentioned rude staff, but the two girls serving us in the back room were extremely lovely and friendly. Plus the décor is super stylish, you’ll find yourself staring room the room a lot at the retro mirrored walls.

Going for last-​minute drinks after work on a Friday, I wasn’t expecting to end up in a place like Callooh Callay. Thankfully my boss is a talker, and with a 45 minute opening, we were able to sample the flavourful cocktails, and take a few to sit in some mismatched chairs in their elusive backroom.
Our bartender was incredibly knowledgable, friendly, and helpful when it came to the cassette tape styled menu, which she asked us if we needed any help with after presenting us with some glasses of water. It was unfortunately written in manner which favoured showing off the brands of the alcohol rather than the taste and booziness of the cocktails. High quality vodka may be a selling point for some, but I think explaining how the drink will hit your pallet is more informative for the customer. And for over £9 a cocktail I would hope I love what I drink, rather than knowing I’ve got some Cuban rum that I’ve never heard of before.
The atmosphere of the place was friendly enough, although the patronage made it seem a bit more unwelcoming than necessary. Especially considering the staff were so friendly, and helpful. With my jeans and t-​shirt I felt incredibly out of place, but if anyone batted an eye it was those who were paying the same amount as I was to be there rather than the employees. The seating was a bit cramped so I definitely ended up in the selfies of the couple sitting in front of me a fair few times, although this crampedness fit in with the sort of mismatched, 80s basement/​boudoir feel of the décor. Typical Shoreditch though.
The cocktails themselves were tasty and served in appropriate glassware, with pretty garnishes that added to the upperclass feel of the beverage itself. I always appreciate a place that knows a gimlet style drink should be served in a cocktail glass. They didn’t feel stingy on the booze either.
For environmental reasons I probably won’t be returning to this place. The drinks alone don’t make up for lacking atmosphere.

I like the quirky little things this bar has to offer, like their oyster style cocktail menus. The cocktails are good and reasonably priced, the venue itself is well designed with good décor with lots to explore. The only downside were the snobby staff who were quite annoyed we ordered a drink! How unreasonable for a group of girls to order drinks at a cocktail bar…

It’s always a little unfair to write a Unilocal review for the last bar you hit after a full afternoon of, well… hitting bars.
But I’m going to do it. K? K!
So, kinda swayed into Callooh Callay late on a Sunday night, without a reservation (Pro tip: reservation would be best). I know that other reviews suggest some occasional snootiness here, but the staff were so on point and found us a little corner to sit in despite it being otherwise all filled up with reservations. So: yay. I’m also a big fan of how regularly they rotated around the room with water top-​ups. HYDRATION IS IMPORTANT, Y’ALL.
The main YAY (note transition to caps) is: THOSE DRINKS THO.
I’m not particularly cocktail savvy, but: the highball, the GENIUS HIGHBALL was such a win: some Belvedere, Chenin Blanc syrup, Galliano balsamico, fresh raspberry shaken with lemon and egg white? Yes, alright then.
Also, for 9 smackers, totally a good deal. It was my drink of the day, and I hope they don’t change their menu up too soon because #willbeback (Arnold Schwarzenegger voice).
Unilocal note: consider a reservation, especially for the Lounge which is through the magical wardrobe!

This is a really fun cocktail place. There are 3 sections to it: the front section which welcome walk-​ins, the back section you have to make reservations and there is a hidden upstair section and you’d better know enough to be asking about it. Of all the sections, I like the front the most. It is always super busy here and getting seated isn’t always easy. There are two bathtub turned couches and they tend to be quite popular. The front room is quite small and you can see a thick and heavy door that looks like a closet door at the back of the room. It is actually the door to the back and upstairs sections. It is much bigger than meets the eye.
They are quite creative in their cocktail and menu design. I think the most recent menu is London Tube inspired. The menu actually comes in an Oyster card holder. A while back, it was high school year book inspired. Each drink has a fun description with a year book picture. Definitely a great conversation piece. The cocktails themselves are delicious.
This is definitely a great spot to check out if you are out and about in Shoreditch.

The five of us went bar crawling yesterday evening. We started at Brewdog in Shoreditch and slowly made our way to Callooh Callay.
The décor is your typical quirk Shoreditch style. Step through the wardrobe and into the loo, where the walls are covered from head to toe in old cassette tapes.
This place had some of the most inventive, delicious cocktails in Shoreditch. The staff and bouncers were very nice to us even though we appeared quite drunk from the previous bars.
This is one of my favourite bars in Shoreditch now.

Did someone say Narnia?
Drink menus made to look like an Oyster card holders, a secret wardrobe entrance and delicious cocktails. Yes you’ve convinced me.
Along the busy Rivington street in Shoreditch Callooh Callay can be easily missed. Once you find the CC enter and if you haven’t booked, ask if there are any seats out back so you can live the whole Narnia experience. Sadly there was no lion or witch when I went, however you might have a different experience.

Love this bar, love the area, love life… But enough love for now, let’s get reviewing!
So I started a Friday night of drinking in Shoreditch meeting 2 Unilocal friends here — shout out to Jane G and Isabel F!
We arrived separately, but could thankfully find each other since the front half of this bar is really quite small. Points go to:
— The menus, designed to be like the leaflets that you it into Oyster card holders as promo material, very cool. Even cooler since I stole the Oyster card holder and can now be sporting a various shades of blue accessory with cocktails in large letters on the front, thereby announcing to the world my likely cocktail addiction!
— The cocktails, nice and not ridiculously priced.
— The bar staff, recommended a couple to us and were very chatty
— The secret backroom, through the secret door. Not giving away secrets, but I did feel a bit like Peter, Susan, Edmund & Lucy (cheeky hint for the literary amongst you!)
Points go away from:
— 6.30pm Friday night, it was packed and being small there was nowhere to stand
— The bouncer who wouldn’t let in our late friend at 7pm even though we came out and announced that she was in our party
— The backroom, which looked amazing but where you had to book (OK not fair to remove points here because it was our fault for not booking!)
3 stars for this doesn’t mean it’s bad though. We stayed for 45 minutes max so I would definitely go back with a booking to see more for myself.

Pretty fancy Bar with an amazing selection of Drinks. I have been here twice and loved it. If you do not like the drinks on the menu, the barkeeper is happy to create a drink for you based on your type & style.

Hehe, not being a hipster, I’m behind the times in a lot of ways. The explosion of speakeasies in London has rather passed me by, partly because I don’t drink and partly because I don’t hang out in Shoreditch that often!
Fortunately, I can rely on my Unilocal friends to put me right. My Unilocal Elite friend Lorrie M was visiting from the States and her frighteningly comprehensive timetable of places to visit included Callooh Callay. We met with local Elite Tirthankar D for dinner at Tayyabs (another great call by Lorrie) and we then went for after-​dinner drinks at Callooh Callay
On entering, we found ourselves in a busy bar area but the bar tender told us to ‘head back’. Fortunately, Tirthankar knew what he meant and walked into what appeared to be a closet at the back of the bar area. Like the book, we emerged into a fairy tale land. Not quite Narnia but a large lounge area
We were then given cassette boxes with the drinks menu on the cassette covers. Cool vibe and though it was quite deserted in this secret back room, the service was still pretty attentive
My virgin mojito wasn’t the best one I’ve had but I still had a great time, chilling out in this unique venue

Le rendez-​vous des amateurs de cocktail par excellence !
Né vous attendez pas néanmoins à trouver de simple Gin Fizz ou Morito sur la carte car ce n’est pas l’ambiance, ici vous venez déguster de l’alternatif !
Si vous aimez le classique, passez votre chemin car c’est du cumin ou encore du poivre qui composent les cocktails et le pire dans tout ça, c’est que c’est vraiment bon.