Charterhouse Bar

Went to this place for a live jazz night. Overall this wasn’t bad and the place nice and intimate. About the jazz, I’m not a real expert, but frankly I was expecting more a traditional one and not only swing.
As part of the deal, we’ve been a shared platter, but this was a bit stingy on stuff. However the free drink and the 2 4 1 on drinks before eight compensated.

My friend decided to have his thirtieth here recently and I don’t think he could have found anywhere better. We had the upstairs booked but ended up having most of the venue to ourselves. The bar staff were friendly, they let us control the music, the drinks were delish and reasonably priced and the upstairs is a great place for dancing. The downstairs even had the RWC playing which was a bonus! Awesome venue!

I was looking for somewhere in the Farringdon area for a quick pint prior to a Unilocal event. It was just gone 6pm and every pub and bar in the area was jammed. This was the only bar in the area that seemed semi quiet (normally a warning signal). As I was only having a half and not hanging around, it was not a problem. Also I was desperate to use their facilities.
The bar itself is very dark (hence no pics). It’s a v shaped bar that gets bigger the further you go in. It has a basic décor and very large windows, which was handy, as I was looking out for a friend. The barman was really pleasant. I asked for a half of a draught beer. He asked me if I was sure. He then offered me a taste before I ordered. I agreed with him and changed my mind. I appreciated this, as he did not have to give me the heads up.
For me this really is a bar for a quick one before moving on somewhere else. Yes, I would come back but purely as quite meeting point, have one, then move on.

I’ve only been here for two movie night screenings but have no real complaints. Staff are nice and friendly. Food is good and they do some mean nachos and hot dogs.
The place is split across two floors and whilst there appears to be a bar on both floors, only the ground floor was staffed at both my visits.
The place can be a little dank if you’re upstairs, but unless it’s a movie the place doesn’t get too busy which is a nice thing.

I’d always wanted to stop at this bar… So close to Smithfield it makes it a perfect spot for pre– or post– dinner drinks. We finally spent a Jazz night there. So 2 reviews here: 1. The cocktail list is nice, and the cocktails well prepared and good, albeit a bit pricey… The finger-​food was good too.
2. The music was good but the sound mix could have been better, with over-​loud instruments compared to the vocal. The singer was OK-​ish, but definitely didn’t have the attitude that matched the tune or the lyrics (could have well been doing the same act in her shower…).

Just the worst bar in London. The service is appalling, the place is filthy and the people who clearly frequent are not the most pleasant. Not wasting any more time on this, avoid.

Good place to get smashed!

It is really skinny thus making it an interesting building. It is fully stocked with drunken people. So far so good.
They made my vodka soda with a slice of lime wrong. It was either made with lemonade (ack), tonic water (ack), lime cordial (puketronic) or dishwater. At this point I was tipsy enough to just grumble about it then spend the rest of the drink trying to figure out what was wrong with it with my sidekick.
Next time I am going to ask for a diet virgin cuba libre and see what they come out with. Big Bang Theory should have never introduced me to this cruel joke.

I’ve never actually come in here in the evenings but instead gone for an extended week day lunch. Had a pretty average burger and admittedly very nice chips. The waitress forgot to put through our starters order though. All and all was fine but wouldn’t exactly rush back.

Not a fan of Charterhouse, and only went there because it’s opened super late on weekends and, if you know anything about farringdon, it’s that everything closes by about midnight. So, went there expecting a cool kinda place with its funky lighting and great placement. Nope, not anything of the sort.
What we got was an angry and irritable bartender every time we went, pricey drinks and music that was shite and turned up loud enough to make your head split. I’m all for the club scene but the set up wasn’t convenient to a club yet with all the music was clearly not just a bar.
Like Jed C. said, we also got yelled at for attempting to go upstairs (we were actually looking for the loo and the bartended just gestured towards the stairs… hey, we took stairs, maybe you should be more specific) and they yelled LOUDLY, which caused the entire bar to stare at us.
After the third experience of this, I swore this place off. If it came down to it, I’d rather stop at an off-​license and drink in rather than give this place any more money.

Ooo, its hard to judge having ended up here at three in the morning on New Year’s Eve having stumbled round freezing London for a while, drunk. But I must say, I was here for enough time to evaluate its pros. Grey Goose Vodka behind the bar. Lovely French vodka. Everything else seemed average.
Split onto two levels, its not that big a space and it does feel a bit Dull? Not to say its a bad place to go PRE-​anywhere else, but it just seems like it wants to be somewhere better than that.
I somehow feel the PRE-​drinking in a chain pub would be more entertaining, and would actually make more money if situated on its location. But, 3am isn’t the best time to go anywhere (except home), so maybe I’m making presumptions. Then again, the décor, prices, music and fellow NYE revellers didn’t inspire me to go back here. Although I won’t rule out stumbling in here when the Pubs shut.
2.5 stars, average, not bad. But nothing special either.

I got wasted and shamed myself in front of the entire staff of the office I was temping at on the second floor of this place the other night. Very dignified. For a while I was ‘dancing’ with a woman who should not have encouraged me. As a result I ended up throwing her around for a solid hour of the evening. It’s a good place, though, and I must say that the second floor room is pretty handy for functions such as this. The drinks are pretty reasonably priced (I got a double gin for something like £4 — I think. I wasn’t very lucid) and the staff are laid back. Hopefully I will be allowed back in there if ever I return.

The positive thing about this bar is that it’s right near Fabric so a convenient place to get your night started and they have some pretty good DJ’s playing here from time to time. But, there’s just something about this bar that’s just a bit rubbish and annoying! Whenever I’ve come here it’s been packed, too loud, and stuffed full of pre-​clubbers, which should be creating a cool party atmosphere but it just feels aggressive. I don’t think many, if any, people actually travel to come out here, so the bar seems to get away with being a bit horrid just because Fabric is up the road and it doesn’t need to try very hard to get punters. Maybe it’s because the area is a little soulless too which doesn’t help. So if you’re going to Fabric it’s just about bearable, but if you’re not, I wouldn’t bother.

Well, what did not help this place in my eyes was the fact that the Sunshine was beaming straight in through the huge windows, magnifying the dust floating through the air and generally causing uncomfortable heat and squint-​eyedness. I sat down and looked over the menu. turning it’s A5 paper size over in my hand, looking to see if there was anything on the back. To my chagrin, there was not! The pub/​eaterie itself is quite small, with massive windows covering the walls of the ground floor. I snuck upstairs to a little bar area and took a quick snap, but I was shouted at! Shouted at! For doing so. As if I was being sacrilegious or something. So I left. And I won’t be coming back. It doesn’t have enough food to be a restaurant, and it doesn’t have almost enough alcohol available to be a god damn pub. So what is it? Doesn’t concern me. not anymore.