I like it! The quality of the drinks varies depending on who’s making them, but if you find the right server & stick with them then the drinks are great. Also love the music in here. Normally busy enough to have a decent atmosphere, but quiet enough that you can find a seat(even if you have to wait until you’re one drink in). The non-cocktail menu is also interesting so you should be well-watered whatever your poison.
Simon W.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Popular, laid back hangout in the middle of the ever-so-slightly chichi Northcote Road. Large pile of magazines on the bar, and they know how to mix a decent Zubrowka and apple juice(not hard to do, but you’d be surprised who can’t quite manage it).
Alexcp
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
This pub near Clapham Junction is a very popular local place — cosy atmosphere & a good place for having a chinwag over tha few beers(or wines or cocktails or all of them, depending on your mood). The place itself is very casual(wooden tables, bit scruffy) but at the same time welcome restbite from the snobby souless wine bars along Northcote Road or all the yummy mummy hangouts. The Holy Drinker is were the rest of us can go for a pint and some music. Well worth going in.
Joanna R.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Excellent beer selection at very reasonable prices. Cool vibe, nice crowd(for the most part), friendly staff and lots of fun. Most importantly, they allow customers to bring in your own food which is ideal considering the Northcote market is just outside! I suggest popping over the the bakery that always has a big stall on Northcote, pick up a fresh sausage roll and head back to the Holy Drinker for a pint to complement it! Highly recommended.
Brevit
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Cool bar on Northcote Road and very different from the other bars in the same area — it has a distinctive independent feel to it.
Paul C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Brilliant selection of beers — Honeydew is particularly good. Great atmosphere and cool music. Service is also friendly. Gets massively busy though, which is why it didn’t get a full five stars from me.
Anna A.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Gosh, if you like packed, busy buzzing bars then this is the pace for you! A long relatively slim venue with a glass front. The bar is very long and slim– beware that there are steps downwards at the end of the bar — I nearly had the misfortune of falling! My most recent night out here was fa riend’s birthday. A whole crowd of people including her friends, family members and work mates. Ideal bar as it is not a venue for sitting so great for mingling! Although there are a few tables and chairs scattered, particularly through the back of the venue people are predominantly standing(or swaying!) Popular music plays and people dance where they are situated — there is not a dance floor as such. The outdoor seating area is always packed as there is a canopy if it is raining and warm outdoor heaters! A fun place and good crowd of people all wanting to have fun!
Gareth H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
The Holy Drinker takes its name from a story of an alcoholic living in Paris but there is nothing of the alcoholic about this excellent little bar. An unassuming exterior gives way to a cosy and rustic venue with lots of exposed brickwork and scuffed wooden floors. Simplicity is the key with this place and demonstrates rather aptly that you don’t need fancy fixtures to impress. The Holy Drinker has a wonderful homely feel to it, bolstered by the presence of several fireplaces — you almost feel yourself reaching for the pipe and slippers. Located in the trendy area of Northcote Road, this pub attracts mainly locals who know a good bar. The great thing about this place is that you almost forget you’re in London, the staff are as friendly as those in a village boozer and the comfy seats and low-level lighting only cause you to feel more at ease. The bar serves up a rather limited but very interesting range of ciders, ales and lagers — nothing fancy or frilly just good decent drink. It won’t cost you an arm and a leg either with pints coming in at about the £3 mark. A great place to unwind and relax, not much of a party atmosphere but maybe one for the day after.
Claire L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
This place is an inexpensive little bar on Northcote Road. The atmosphere is really relaxed and casual, there is no pretension here whatsoever. I’ve drank here a few times in a group and just with my boyfriend. I wouldn’t stay all night but seems like a good place for a first drink on an evening out. I wouldn’t say this blew my mind but was just fine if you fancy a meet up and a chat.
Asmith
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
This is a great little bar that I’ve spent many a cosy night in with my friends. A brilliant atmosphere, reasonably priced drinks and some really friendly bar staff. It is a little on the small side and can get a bit busy so it’s best to get there fairly early on a weekend but it’s well worth it.
Jenibo
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
This used to be my local when I lived in Clapham and it was always a welcome relief from the rest of the swanky, soulless, over-priced bars around it. It has got a little bit of a quirk about it. Its quite small with different types of seating arrangements like a big table with church pews either side or low comfy seats at the back. The staff were always really friendly but try and go in the week as it gets rammed on the weekend. They also served Tuaca(Italian liqueur) which is a bit of a rareity outside of Brighton.
Joseph P.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Battersea’s local pub/bar, Holy Drinker is a place where you get all the south London scenesters in from indie bands to posh chicks. With a laid-back feel from the casually dressed staff and medley of videos projected onto a crumpled sheet screen, it was actually quite exciting to be in there for some strange reason. Friday and Saturday nights at the Holy Drinker is somewhat an adventure, you might get someone on the karaōke singing a kings of leon track or you could be sitting down watching videos on the massive screens. Being a man of the cloth i dont like the name of the venue haha, but with drinks being cheap it is a bonus for the company, with friendly staff you can just relax and let go of your inibitions.
Jut
Rating des Ortes: 5 London, United Kingdom
Brilliant barstaff, fantastically well-served Guinness(why would you drink anything else?), great music, a couple of open-fires when it gets cold, friendly patrons and a really relaxed vibe to the place. The Drinker’s one of those lovely finds — something a little genuine amongst the calculated and clinical and the doggedly traditional. The regulars are ferociously loyal to this bar, and deservedly so — the barstaff are amazing and the atmosphere is always welcoming, whether it’s for a lazy Sunday with the papers or your Thursday night session.