The Lock Tavern

Nice! The atmosphere is very relaxed, and a wide variety of offerings are on tap. The food is great – try the nachos! The spicy green chili sauce will get your attention. I also had the Napoli salami sandwich and found it excellent. A good old style tavern with great food.

Despite their website saying that sunday roast is served until 8pm, we’ve been told they no longer serve it in the evening. Had they updated the website we would have arrived earlier but this way our dinner plans got cancelled and we only wasted our time.

Good beers, great vibe, and a really nice outdoor beer garden in the back. My only complaint would be all the second hand cigarette smoke you’ll inhale sitting outside. But that’s certainly not their fault. Highly recommend this place!

They have 3 separate spaces but I absolutely love the roof terrace! It’s a need to try!

With roughly an hour to go before I had to set off towards Euston for my train, we headed into The Lock Tavern for a final drink of the weekend. After wandering around Camden Lock Market, it was the perfect distance between the market and the tube stop — great for that final stop, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the area and don’t want to venture too far afield.
Inside is quite standard pub décor, with some nice flowers in the middle of the tables and menus printed on brown paper. I must say, the food looked cracking; visiting on a Sunday meant it was predominantly roasts coming out of the kitchen, but options included a delicious sounding duck breast, and some of the biggest Yorkshire puddings London’s probably seen.
Service was slow to start off with, obviously annoying me at first, until we realised that the huge table in the corner had all ordered coffees, much to the dismay of the one person behind the bar. When it did come round to our turn, drinks were poured quick as anything.
It looks like there’s more to explore upstairs and outside, and apparently some game machines built into the tables upstairs, which I’ll be sure to revisit in the future.

2−4−1 roasts between 5−6pm make this place hard to beat. Top roast with all the trimmings and yummy gravy! Will definitely be a regular!

I found a new favorite — Yorkshire pudding! My cousin took me here for a «proper British Sunday roast» and it was delightful. As for the Sunday Roast menu, there have a few variety of meat to choose from; I got the pork belly. Another good spot to eat and extremely close to The Camden Lock.

I went with my husband and a friend on a Wednesday night.
I was hungry and the friend was thirsty. It all worked out well.
Ordered some food off of the menu, beers, soda and an assortment of other little delights.
It was pretty busy at about 6 or 7pm.
We found a table though…
I don’t recall the music being played as it was rather loud to begin with.
I will definitely be back when I return to London to eat, to drink and to check out the music.
I read somebody posted about «locals only».
Fuck, I’m from Los Angeles. I think they’d have noticed by my distinct lack of accent that I’m not a local.
Nobody cared. Just go and have a good time.

I’m a semi-​frequent visitor to London, and I spend a fair amount of time in the Camden area. As mentioned in some previous reviews, experiences here do seem to depend on what day/​time you visit. I’ve been to this pub a few times; my best experience was on a Monday afternoon near the end of a trip, at which point I happened to have an excruciating hangover (I know, it sounds delightful already).
The pub was practically deserted at this time, and the bartender was very accommodating in my request for a Bloody Mary that I hoped could bring me up from 75 to 100 percent human. He took great care in crafting what turned out to be a generously endowed and delicious cocktail, and provided some nice conversation during the process of creating the drink. On the back of this event, I ordered lunch (which was also nice) and had a second cocktail– slightly adapted from the first according to my feedback– while watching the world go by on a lazy afternoon.
I have passed by this location a few times at night on the weekend, and it seems a bit intimidating with the bouncers outside and the apparent ‘locals only’ policy. However, there are so many other venues nearby to check out that it barely registers as an issue in my opinion. I would highly recommend this pub for a late afternoon visit or the occasional boozy lunch. As for the overly trendy evenings? If you don’t like it, walk a block in either direction and find something that fits your taste!

Ah the Lock Tavern. I feel like I’ve been coming here man and boy!
But, your experience here will entirely depend on when you come. If you’re here on the weekend during the day, it’s an ideal spot to grab a pint and relax. If you can tolerate hipsters staring at you and wondering why you’re not wearing a trilby or cultivating a moustache. But that’s ok.
In the evening, it does get busy, and past a certain time they have a ludicrous policy of only letting you in if you have a locals card. Which is a right pain in the arse if you’re meeting friends here and you don’t have one.
They do often have decent music and DJs on, and in the summer there aren’t many better places to enjoy the temperature than on their roof terrace, crammed in with your fellow drinkers.
In summary, you just can’t rely on this place. But do chance it sometime, you might love it. But I did warn you.

again the place smells of hipster, and they have a big selection of beers but staff weren’t great help when i asked them to recommend one for me… more suited to the unadventurous… maybe on a saturday night the place rocks as the other reviews suggest… i will have to give it a go…

Bön moi je suis ultra fan !
Un vrai bar rock où il règne une atmosphère typiquement londonienne ! Des murs en briques, des canapés en cuir qui ont vécu !
Un accueil bien sympa par les serveurs !
Le gros plus de cet endroit c’est l’étage, avec sa salle de concert intimiste et une programmation juste ouf ! Rien qu’en novembre Alt-​J et Django Django … Ca me laisse rêveuse :)
J’ai pris un Pimm’s avec un ami, c’était so british et bien agréable !
Sachez qu’il y a une terrasse chauffée à l’étage aussi, bien pratique les (rares) fois où le temps d’y prête !

The Lock Tavern is pub situated on Chalk Farm Road in Camden.
I LOVE the Lock. It’s a little hard for me to be unbiased as I used to have a DJ residency here and was looked after really well by everyone involved.
There are two floors and two awesome beer garden/​patio areas, one on ground floor out back and one roof terrace.
The décor is hip and cool, the hottest new bands and DJs play here yet there is always a great atmosphere. Although this could so easily be a pretentious place, it somehow manages not to be, everyone is welcome (except trouble makers!) and it’s a really friendly vibe. As it’s in Camden you do get some tourists in but they mix with the locals and hipsters and all in all it’s just one big party!
If you like a good old fashioned rave-​up check out monthly night ‘ASBO’, smiles all round!
Staff are friendly, helpful and attentive, the food is delicious and there is an impressive selection of drinks.
I’ve had some of the best days/​nights of my life in this pub! It’s like my local in London, home from home! If you haven’t been get yourself down there now!

I just went for a quick drink – it wasn’t sunny so didn’t check out the deck, and there was no live music going on. It is exactly what you’d expect from a Camden pub – a bit grungy, a bit loud, a bit Camden-​trendy.

Un endroit tres agreable pour ecouter de la bonne musique. Avec une magnifique terrasse sur le toit, vous passerez d’excellents moments avec vos amis.

A pretty decent pub, if you can actually get in that is. On Saturday night I turned up with four friends, all visiting from America, it was around 9:30pm and the place looked pretty empty. As we walked up to the door the bouncer looked expectantly at me asked if we had «regulars cards», when I told him we didn’t he said «only people with regulars cards can come in tonight». I didn’t ask anymore questions because he didn’t look like he was in the mood to argue.
We’d arranged to meet some other friends there so we had to wait around outside for them to show up before we could pick a different pub for the evening and while we waited we saw a large number of people get turned away for the same reason. This seems like a completely ridiculous decision because the bar looked completely dead with spare tables and a completely empty roof terrace. Also I’ve been there a few times on a Saturday night before and I was never asked to show a regulars card. After doing a quick google search there was no mention of this policy on their facebook or twitter and their website is under construction.
Despite this incident the pub itself is really nice, with a good selection of food & drink, plus an excellent roof terrace and a cool atmosphere. After spending a lot of time here recently I thought it was one of the best places in Camden to go for a drink or to grab some food. However on the basis of this shitty Saturday night policy which seems completely nonsensical I doubt I’ll ever bother with The Lock Tavern again. There are better bars and pubs in Camden who’s policy isn’t to turn customers away from their half empty establishments.

A nice airy place to be that is a little off the beaten track of Camden so tends to be a nice quiet retreat!
The food is of good quality, but the portion size is small and it’s not the cheapest.
I have only been to this venue in the day and I like the vibe, however it’s not an outstanding pub and the staff whilst able, are not the friendliest.

I love love love this place. Its a pub that is always welcoming to walk into, great if you want a packed out gig and beer night; and AMAZING for roasts and board games on a sunday.
I love the look of the place, its easy to get to, isn’t too expensive for what it is and has a lot of seating considering its relatively small.
Some of the clientele are questionable due to their overwhelmingly high opinions of themselves. but its Camden. kinda comes with the territory.

Because I’m a crotchety old woman, it’s safe to say that I’d hate the Lock Tavern on a Friday night when there’s a gig on.
But I came on a Monday at 6pm when the place was empty and enjoyed a pint on the roof deck by myself. This was delightful.
Great selection of beers, both on tap and in bottle; great indoor and outdoor spaces; quirky décor; convenient location; friendly bartenders — what’s not to like?
Oh yeah…
The clientele.
And its own popularity.
If you’re a misanthrope like me, come off-​peak and you’ll be well impressed. But, it has to be said, if you lose the ease of getting both a drink and a prime seat outside, this place loses much of its appeal.

I came on a Tuesday. And not to a gig. Was that my mistake? I don’t know.
I don’t think I feel strongly enough about this place to HATE it, I just don’t get it. Whats so great about it? The drinks aren’t particularly cheap and everyone is irritating and rude, and, on the night I went, ugly. Also we had to pay to go upstairs, okay it was for charity but the music was shit. Not even trendy shit. Just shit.
I don’t get what all the fuss is about… Oh god maybe I do hate it.

This joint never fails to impress me. What strikes me is their uncanny ability to provide just the right kind of mood to fit the season of the year, day of the week, time of the day. For example, come in on Sunday at noon and there’s chilled out music playing in the background and people seated, chatting, and eating the great roasts they serve every Sunday. On the other hand, pop by on a Saturday night and the DJ upstairs will be spinning good, danceable music (last time I went they were playing a great selection of remixes of funk and old school R&B) and the funky clientele is dancing, drinking, smoking outside, and generally just having a good time. With two floors and two great outside areas, this is a great place to hang out, whether you’re a smoker or not.
If you are looking for a great time (regardless of the season, day of the week, or time of the day) with unpretentious Londoners, definitely stop by. And, of course, being right across from my favourite coffee shop, My Village Café, you know exactly where to go for a proper hot chocolate (more like chocolate soup!) once you are done with that tasty roast.
I don’t tend to give five stars, but this is my favourite place in Camden.
Bön appétit /​party on.
Daniel

I’ve been going to this pub since I was under-​age for any reason from day-​time raves to after work drinks. In four years it hasn’t changed a bit and I love it. Unlike The Hawley, it manages to retain it’s dirty Camden chic without turning into a ‘cooler-​than-​thou’ watering hole for London’s elite.
They do an amazing Sunday roast (between 12pm and 2pm so get there quick) as well as seasonal drinks like mulled wine in winter and a gorgeous Pimms in the summer.

Très agréable, on peut aller sur le toit terrasse ou dans le jardin les beaux jours d’été!!!

Oh, die Lock Tavern ist super, hätte ich die Möglichkeit gehabt, wäre ich vieeel öfter da gewesen. Es gibt Freitags und soweit ich weiß auch Sonntags immer ganz nette, kleine Konzerte — for free! Es gilt nur: Wer zu spät kommt, hat Pech gehabt! In die Tavern passen nämlich nicht alzu viele Leute, deswegen musste man für diese Konzerte schon immer so zwischen 16−17Uhr drinnen sein, sonst wurde man in den Obersten stock, wo die Konzerte stattfinden, nicht mehr reingelassen und musste sich unten mit einem Bier und guter Musik zufrieden geben.