The Dragon Bar

You know what I love about this place? It’s an excellent bar with none of the attitude of an excellent bar (I know, not direct correlation, but still…)
It’s subtle, and it’s casual, and the bartenders know what’s up.
TRIPLE points for the excellent negroni that came with the *added* bonus of asking me what type of bitters I preferred (orange, please!).
It’s chat-​friendly, and hang-​around-​for-​a-​while-​friendly and, well… I’m a fan.
Unilocal note: on my personal negronis-​in-​London quest: the one at Dragon Bar is top tier. *Stay posted for further negroni developments*

4.5 stars really but 5 since it’s Christmas time and I’m generous like that. I really like Dragon — I’ve walked past before but always thought it looked a bit «meh». On reflection — it’s really worthwhile popping in. At about 8 on a Thursday, it was pretty chilled. By 10, it was getting quite rowdy and fun. The music had cranked up, they were playing the weirdest mix of music (old school funk and a collection of other sporadic hits) but it was getting the crowd moving a bit.
Cocktails were good — I sampled the mojito and moved onto spiced rum DC — well made and tasty. Staff were friendly and service was fast. Many chuckles about the seriousness of the door staff — no smiles there — these guys take their job to a whole new level of serious (think bulletproof style vests) — yes, I’m for real.
Definitely coming back. I likey.

This is a bar where friends go. These friends happen to be local and also fairly well-​to-​do, because the Dragon is both not uncomfortably crowded, nor is it cheap.
With a decent range of cocktails and a rather impressive selection of draught beers (they have Blue Moon on tap, what! For those of you who aren’t familiar… read: aren’t American… it’s a hefty, fruity, Belgian-​style wheat beer that tastes amazing with a slice of orange. There was, by the way, a slice of orange in my pint of Blue Moon when I was served at the Dragon. Win.), It’s not so bad paying a little extra, every once in a while. Even if it is £8.50 for a mojito. (Good to see this place is living up to the Shoreditch extortion standards.)
The space is cozy and intimate, as the décor is essentially hunting lodge meets Dracula’s lair — with dark wood and leather furniture, small candles providing a minimal amount of light, and a stag’s head on the wall (I’m not sure whether I’m making this up or it’s actually there… but I want it to be there if it isn’t). Apparently, there’s a downstairs bit, but we didn’t get a chance to check it out, as we found a nice table on the ground level and territorially perched there for the night.
Lastly, and more importantly, this place is open until 1am on weekdays… take that, Callooh Callay (I’m not bitter at all that they were full for 2 hours and then chucked us out. Not at all).
OH and even more important than this is the music that was being played when I was here — soul, funk, 90s jams — all good things.

This place remains a gem of the area. located squarely on a main thoroughfare yet frequently overlooked. I am drawn to a place that doesn’t scream ‘come in, I’m sooo cool!‘but rather, ‘if you’ve missed me, you shouldn’t be here anyway.’ The minimal signage and heavy window curtains add to the feeling you’ve found a secret.
I’ve been here before in the evenings and always had a good time. Friendly staff, good bar food. I especially like the slightly creepy dungeonlike bar in the basement.
Today I was desperate for a decent Sunday roast. Not easy to find in this area, especially a veggie roast. I simply wanted something decent, and didn’t feel like forking out £20 for a meal at Princess of Shoreditch. I wanted honest food and a nice pint, fast. Glad to say I found it here.
Table setting was welcoming (see my uploaded photo). Staff pleasant as always, especially when I managed to spill lots of the pint of Blue Moon I’d just bought all over my table.
Veggie roast: Excellent. Homemade nut roast, with a lovely surprise centre of cranberry jam. Portion size was very good. Roasties were perfectly done, veg of cabbage, carrots & parsnips were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Only small issue was the non-​vegetarian gravy, but the waitress told me it was non-​veg straightaway when serving. As it arrived sequestered in its own little jug, I sent it away forthwith. The veg was well seasoned so was absolutely fine without any gravy. Husband liked the beef roast, with all the same trimmings.
Overall: recommended venue for both evening drinks and snacks and an excellent veggie Sunday roast. (and a very good beef roast).

Great food!

Dragon Bar is one of Shoreditch’s unsung heroes. Shouted down by places like Avalon and Cargo, it sits quietly sitting on the corner of Rivington Street just waiting to be discovered.
With curtains that are usually drawn to further discourage unwanted passing trade, the pub boasts a large cosy interior across two floors and plenty of spaces to sit (which is always a bonus).
With a good selection of spirits and cocktails and a decent food menu it’s my new favourite place to go for casual drinks but don’t tell everyone ;-)

Once upon a time there was a pub called the Dragon. It smelled of wee and had graffittied toilets and corridors that made you want to douse yourself in antiseptic gel every time you stumbled through. And yet we flocked. Cheap beers, cheap wines, dark and cosy with an excellent soundtrack, this was a Shoreditch staple that everyone attended. Until it got bulldozed for a hundred ugly flats for stupid people who might actually want to live on the Old Street roundabout. Miraculously a new one grew, and the followers followed. The beer wasn’t as cheap, but the taps were now clean, and they served great food and the soundtrack got even better. Like an ugly ducking that grew into a swan, this bar might not have to work on its personality so much, but most of all it’s changed for the better.

Moody with art and drinks. Good people watching on the weekends.

Yes Dragon bar, yes.
Raffish charm, stiff drinks combined with dark and mysterious lighting; perfect for what we needed late on a Friday night. The music was belting, everyone was in the mood for a right old party and there were geniune moans of sorrow when the lights were thrown on at 2am to signal the end of the night. And who doesn’t love a stuffed Moose head on the wall?
Other reviewers suggest this is also a decent place for that early evening tipple to get things started — so that’s what I’ll do next.
See you there.

Dieses Laden hat eine schöné Atmosphere, gute Musik, leckeres Essen zu fairen Preisen (z.B. Meeresfrüchte Risotto 10 Pfund) und leckere Drinks (eine Kanne Pims 15 Pfund). Definitiv ein Besuch wert.

Pretty nice. Went here for an after-​work thing and the upstairs is surprising light and open and well decorated for what could otherwise be a dive bar by night /​posh pub by day of sorts, and the downstairs is perfect for small private functions of about 50 people.
The food wasn’t bad either. I love that they had nachos, the real deal with guac, sour cream, hella cheese and even real jalapenos peppers. The pizza wasn’t really pizza, and the prawns aren’t my jam, but it looked tasty.
Drinks are between 3 – 4 pounds, and there were fresh flowers and candels to distract from the bar smell. All in all it’s a pretty good pace to catch up with friends, grab a drink and enjoy the scenery.
I’ll be going back after work soon I’m sure.

I love this bar! I’ve spend many of nights in this bar with my very best mates! I’ve spend several NYE in this bar cause they don’t charge a cover on that night as well. And they have a little outside area for those of us who drink too much and require some fresh air.

This bar is one of the hidden jewelries of east London, I always end up at cargo or Calloy Callay whereas this place is only 50 meters away and never noticed it… The outside is totally black, you can hardly see anything from the outside and no apparent sign of dragon bar… When you get inside, you already know this is going to be an adventure!
Staff are so welcoming (one of the cooks had burnt himself so we were told by the owner service would be slower but in the end everything went quick), we had booked a table and even managed to sit earlier… Food is fine and from a fiver (delicious burger at £6), went only there for a drink and ended up eating and dancing until 3pm! Plus drinks are cheap (vodka cranberry at approx 3£).
Furniture is nice and cosy, some piece if art here and there, and the bar downstairs is quite intimate.
Just go there but do not spread the secret… Let’s keep this place hidden for a while…

Perhaps I’m giving away a secret here, like the Thai island you found that was so quiet and peaceful, and then you tell the British couple you meet on the boat back to the mainland all about it. You know that you just shot yourself in the foot.
Dragon Bar — is dark, often with the curtains drawn, and has no signage. The interior is warm and inviting, as is the upmarket bar, and the down to earth staff. It’s snug, and seating is at a premuim on the weekends, though there is a downstairs area. premium spirits and cocktails, as well as top nosh to eat at lunch (from a fiver) or dinner, in a well considered environment. Enviable furniture, interesting art and a good looking crowd of ²⁰⁄₃₀ something professionals, most often than not from one creative Shoreditch collective or another. real life vinyl played to the bar through the day and into the evenings adds an extra special touch.

Ah Dragon Bar. Dark on the bottom, hope on top.
This place has never blown my socks off, but if you’re looking for a spot on the same block as Cargo that’s not as Cargo-​y as Cargo you could do worse. Cocktails are normally priced and as good as you would hope for.
As for the dining during the day (open at 12 pm), I’d put it in the same category as Juno up the street; functional but not necessarily fun. They have free wi-​fi, but you’ve got to get it an hour at a time from the bar.

Hey Dragon Bar, you know what, it was dark, I was drunk, I don’t think either of us can look at ourselves this morning. Your leather couches are so comfy, your music is cheesy and nostalgia driven, let’s do it again sometime eh ;-)

Dragon Bar, Leonard St RIP. Dragon Bar, Shoreditch hello!
Once Lizzie had established that our pre-​karaōke drink was going to be at the new Dragon Bar, we all managed to arrive at this little venue without too much problem.
We headed to the more cozy downstairs area and enjoyed some decent cocktails. We almost tried some food but decided to move on.
Nice place to chill and chat

The Dragon bar is dark, sexy and intimate. Sounds like a great place for a date? Yes it is. Set over two floors with scattered tables and chairs upstairs and booth seating downstairs, the atmosphere is cosy. Dragon bar is not gothic yet I can’t help but think of gothic vampires whilst I’m here, when really I’m only surround by the epitome of Shoreditch twattery. This is no longer a negative thing, as I love spending time in Shoreditch with the weird and colourful types that roll through.
The drinks and cocktails are served to a good standard, and the food selection though not extensive has an impressive contemporary twist to it.
I visited on a Tuesday night and there was a comfortable crowd. I’m looking forward to coming again on a party weekend.

This used to be a great bar in an off street off Old Street; so dirty that you opened the doors with your feet rather than touching them and with a dodgy back courtyard backing onto a football pitch. Then overnight it gets ripped down and eventually reopened on shoreditch high street.
Unfortunately it is a pastiche of its old self. Fat DJ with fingers stubbing an ipod, a bar full of baldies imagining they were 21 and an attempt to be an edgy wetherspoons décor. No.

Colour me impressed — you guys were working your tails off behind those boarded up windows!
Three visits and approximately six cocktails later (it got fuzzy after that), it’s fair to say that you’ve masterfully kept enough of your street art charm of the old locale, but you’ve upped the maturity level with the intimate new brick adorned space. I’m not sure if your license to rock was revoked, but I did see a great event space below … granted, it was adorned with some type of antler action, but hell, Moose can rock, right?
Look at you — you’re all growns’ up!

Newly opened, and from what I can tell, newly revamped, the Dragon Bar remains an important fixture in the everything that is the Shoreditch scene.
Okay, that’s probably not true, but it did offer a damn fine time to a little gaggle of girls looking to get their drink on in the early evening hours. We stumbled (literally) in here after throwing a few back at a little hole in the wall down the street and this was the perfect little place to continue the fun.
Nice and dark, exposed brick (my fave!) and a nice bartender who suggested a nice glass of white. The prices seemed decent with 3 drinks for 10.30 and we definitely enjoyed our time here.
They also have a downstairs room that would be fantastic for a larger party or birthday. Didn’t try the food, but when you have booze, why bother with the other food groups, hehe.
Enjoy!