I came here with some other Unilocalers for a good sing along. We had a good sing along and a good time. The venue is easy to find. We did pre-book as we were not sure how busy it will be. However it was empty when we went, it was a good thing as we got an extra half hour for free which was great!
Alex D.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Let me say straight off — I went to Karaōke Box as part of a work night out, and therefore didn’t pay my own way. The rooms are expensive to hire(something like £60 per hour at peak times for a mid-sized room) — although if you split that between a group it’s actually not that bad. The rooms are completely sound proofed and furnished with leather-style sofas, large screens for the lyrics, and obviously a song selection touchscreen device and a pair of microphones. The choice of songs was faultless — there was nothing I tried to add to the playlist that they didn’t have in the library. It was also easy to use the system, which isn’t always the case! The staff weren’t the most friendly, and there were some incredibly drunk people who had to be escorted out of the bar. But, I guess that’s to be expected with a place that’s open to late into the wee hours! Would I pay out of my own pocket to go back here? Maybe not. Would I engineer a work night out so that we ended up here? Definitely!
Lynn C.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Paris, France
I didn’t know Karaōke is like a thing in London, and that there are actually more than one venue for these things. Unfortunately my first experience in London had been the most terrible experience at any karaōke bar/lounge. I can’t hate on the fact that they don’t have original music videos to accompany their large selection of British and American pop music of the last few decade, but blue screen with words highlighted not in sync with the actual music? What makes it even worse is that you have no way of tuning the music. Our music was completely off and there’s no way to fix it. 50 quid for a room for an hour or something without food or drinks. Why does anyone come to this place is waaaay beyond me.
Eliana I.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Buenos Aires, Argentina
AMOLOSKARAOKES, pero no conozco muchos. Este es el 2do al que voy. De afuera parece un boliche medio raro, pero bajás y en el subsuelo hay un bar junto con un lugar para anunciarte y pedir la cabina(previamente reservada, porque no hay muchas). Mientras esperás, podés pedirte un trago. La barra es enorme, como la de un bar, y después el trago lo podés llevar a uno de los boxes. En una pantalla touch seleccionás los temás y podés ponerlos en queue para que vayan sonando a medida que terminan. El lugar es lindo, limpio y la atención es super genial.
Daniel P.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
Before I knew about the wonders that is the UYE Karaōke a la Tristan J, I decided to try this place with Jane G and Nimz P for a bit of fun, who doesn’t love a casual singsong! We went on a Tuesday, booking in advance just in case. We didn’t need to, it was empty. We went in and got our bottled water confiscated for us but a bored bouncer, not a great start. But he said he’d keep it for us to pick up later, always nice. We were shown to our booth(£35 for an hour and seats up to 7 people). I thought it was small for 7 people, but we were 3 and so it was lovely. You could get a 3 person booth for £20 which might be better and is not crazily small. Good choice of songs(no musical/show tunes but you can’t have everything). Wine started at £20 which is a bit annoying. We only booked an hour but got 90 minutes because it was quiet, always good. The background for the songs was weird and some of the songs themselves weren’t originals. But the sound system was good and you could alter the levels manueally which is a nice touch. The song selector was easy to work, so overall I was satisfied. Bring on more UYE though!
Amy S.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Venice, CA
Super expensive!!! The room was small and the staff were quite grumpy with us. The song selection is good, but there were no fun props to use in our sing along. Would not go back.
Jason G.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Brooklyn, NY
Small rooms, not enough places to sit. Although, decent song selection. I got my Greenday and Boney M in.
Michaela P.
Rating des Ortes: 1 London, United Kingdom
On behalf of my very very disappointed boyfriend! Overly expensive with rude and unhelpful staff. The speakers in the booth were distorting and couldn’t handle any bass, making all but the quietly song bearable. If this wasn’t enough I felt very unwell and had to leave early. Feeling unwell and being a non-drinker I bought some water from them to take with me but they wouldn’t let me leave without it, snatching it from me aggressively despite me saying it was only water. I would definitely not recommend this place!
Sarah
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Lucky voice is definitely the best karaōke option in London, but is far too expensive to do too often. Karaōke box in Smithfield tends to be the favourite amongst my group of friends as it’s not too cheap and tacky, but also affordable enough to do a good 3hr slot. Most songs we like are on the list, the service is pretty good, the rooms clean and comfortable and the bar area(although bordering on cheesy) is usually a good place to have a bit of a dance after you get chucked out of the rooms. The DJ tends to play a mix of modern dancey tunes as well as a good amount of retro disco hits. Be warned if you carry bottled water around with you(or have been given a bottle of wine as a gift before entering) the bouncers will take them off you before going in. However, they keep them on the desk in the entrance so you can collect on the way out if you recognise(or have marked) your bottle.
T J.
Rating des Ortes: 2 London, United Kingdom
Years ago when my friends and I started our obsession with private karaōke there was only one private karaōke place to go to and that was karaōke box(the Soho branch). It was in the back of a Japanese restaurant in what surely used to be a brothel with so many small rooms. A few years later, Martha Lane Fox got in on the action and started Lucky Voice — a far nicer, swankier experience down the road. Not to be outdone, karaōke box branched out and opened this larger venue sharing none of the charm of the original, in Smithfield. It has fake waterfalls behind the overpriced bar and a dancefloor with music playing so loud it affects the rhythm of my heart. I have no idea who would come here for a night out if they weren’t singing in a booth but come they do. The private booths have to play their music far too loud to drown out the noise from the bar. The songlist is fine if you’re still working your way through the classics, but 8 years into our karaōke journey and what we want to sing is not here. It’s OK for a birthday party but for an intimate catch up karaōke sing with friends go to Lucky Voice(ideally when it’s free).
Jocelyn R.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
Being a karaōke-bar-virgin I was really excited to go to Karaōke Box and was completely open to how it would look/feel/be… We went on a Wednesday night(it being my birthday!) and the main bar area was pretty empty although it was only 8.30ish. We were shown to our 7-man room which was pretty ugly and soul-less. It had a faux-leather brown L-bench, one of which was broken and the seat kept flapping off. We made use of the drinks button straight away and started off the singing machine. The screen search was easy to use although didn’t always find the song straight away, and the letters often didn’t correspond to what you pressed. Service and drinks came relatively quickly although they don’t leave the menu with you. We didn’t try any food. All in all a good night, you were able to sing you heart out in two hours — we would have liked another hour to be honest. The only criticism is that on certain Wednesdays they have ‘Rockaoke’ in the main bar area and it is soooo loud that it drowns out your own music. A plus side is that the bar area became a bit more occupied. Would return, although might try another venue to see if the décor gets any more classy… A pricey night too — although that could be blamed mainly on that drinks button!
Leon C.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Norwich, United Kingdom
If you want to have a good old sing at the top of your lungs, this place will cover your needs. The extras are a little harder to come by. Having booked my room, I wandered down the stairs into the main club, and huddled in on myself as the wind whistled and tumble weed blew by. Yes the place was deserted. I had to wait a while to even find someone to serve me some beers. The bar itself is attractive but on this particular Tuesday night, not overly well stocked as they were out of a couple of things I wanted. The room for ten that I was in was rather barren and uninspiring. In fairness I am yet to sing in a karaōke room who’s interior artistic endeavour has stretched beyond paint and sofas to sit on. On the plus side, the karaōke system was easy to use and the sound quality was great. Our screaming rock vocals didn’t seem to bother any of the surrounding patrons once they eventually arrived, although one gent did decide to join us due to are throwing everything we had into each performance. There is a Japanese inspired food menu which is fine for nibbling, and the beers we ordered were affordable and cold. They serve cocktails which sound nice, and I am told on the weekend the place is pumping with a real club vibe. On this early week visit I was not overally impressed, and it is unlikely I will return for a weekend soirée.
Al2
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
What a brilliant fun night! I went along here for a friend’s birthday and was admitedly a bit sceptical. While I like to sing in the shower or in the car where nobody can hear me I just don’t feel my singing needs to be inflicted on anyone else! Karaōke box is tucked away in Smithfields and you hire a private room for a two hour slot. We had quite a big group but there was plenty of room. You can load up any song you like from a wide selection and there is a book with all the song choices you can flick through. After the drinks were flowing it was surprisingly hard to get people off the mic! A really fun night out!