Anam Bar

I decided to host a surprise 30th Birthday party at Anam bar on Saturday 2nd feb 2013 for my friends's 30th Birthday with a guest list of about 35 people after reading a mix of reviews with the majority being so positive.

I would like to express and my deepest disappointment with the hospitality given at Anam Bar on this day.

Firstly I wasn't given the entire room areas that I was promised

Following on, they had technical music problems for at least 1 hour upon our arrival to the bar so we had no music and received no apology for the wait

Their door man who turned the TV on to watched football on my reserved seating area was arrogant and rude and manager did not do anything about it

Originally I wanted to hire my own DJ but was advised that Anam's DJ would be happy to play my music on a given guest list but unfortunately we DID NOT hear a single song from our playlist!!!!! I spoke to their superior manager and was told that the DJ would play our songs 1 hour before closing...Now tell me, is this FAIR considering we were at the bar since 8pm as paying customers for a birthday celebration?

We felt extremely discriminated and stereotyped because of our ethnicity and choice of music which was old skool RnB/ Hiphop and feel that this is a disgraceful service and an embarrassing way to treat paying customers who were very friendly and patient considering Anam's lack of fair treatment.

I advise anyone of ethnicity planing a party to NOT go there as they are just too RUDE and a disgrace to the 21st centaury.

Only good thing was the bar tender who was friendly and made great cocktails

I will never ever step into that place again or recommend it to anyone one that I know.

I arranged my 23rd birthday here in the middle of the month after looking on Anam's website and really liking the look of the place. Organising it was easy, as Stephen got a small area booked for my party efficiently. It was a £25 deposit to reserve a seating area, and after the event I simply called with my card details and got my money back in 3 working days. The bar area upstairs was lovely and the cocktails were so yummy.. perhaps too yummy! Lots of other drinks were on offer and the menu itself wasn't pricey. The dancefloor part of Anam was downstairs, and although it was fairly small it was definitely fit for purpose and the DJ played great tunes. A fabulous birthday night, thank you!

Nice cozy bar to hang out with friends.

Got to say great Venue Ideal for what we had, my sister did my suprise 30th in the Basement the dj started playinh all the classics till close and good music all night, he even shouted out happy birthday to me.
Great Cockails Night to remebember Thanks Anam..

Worst bar I have EVER been in! I don’t know what has changed since the other reviews were written but it is shambolic.

Having read the reviews of this bar I was really looking forward to going there – sadly it turned out to be a bad move.

The pre-booked area that was supposed to be set aside for a friend’s 40th had been double booked, then the staff tried to shunt us into the dj bar downstairs instead – but the seating area of that was already booked too!

The website promises bar food available until late -

http://www.anambar.com/menu/food.htm

However they do NOT serve food at all anymore!

Slow lazy & poor service was topped off with bar staff ‘mistakenly’ adding an extra drink to at least 2 peoples rounds later on in the night in the hope of it going un-noticed.

Party times and cocktails at this Angel bar. We held our birthday here a few weeks ago and brought our own DJs. Had a cracking night. The cocktails are amazing and it was nice sitting by the bar or on the sofas upstairs to chill. Downstairs is where the party starts with a small room with its own bar, a tiny dancefloor (enough room to fling your arms about to some top tunes, though) and then a seated area. It is all quite compact, but cooly decorated and great fun. Even the loos are quirky with a fishtank seperating the men’s and ladies’ – you can see through to the otherside, which could make for a fun night! I’m marking them down for the barman who threw away my birthday cards when I left them on my table for ten minutes, no need really is there?

A nice place for cocktails and a dance, it gets busy at weekends and you may have to queue to get in – but it’s usually free, so there’s a bonus.

First of all I’d like to share with everyone reading this review what ANAM means. The word is originated from the ancient Celtic language and shortly it means “life&soul”. Having done some research I found out amazing things behind this word -and they all relate so well to the place itself. This bar suits its name and also the name suits the bar.

Anam Cara refers to the Celtic spiritual belief of souls connecting and bonding. In other words, when you find someone whom you can open up to and trust, like no one else, when a special kind of bond is created between two people, and souls begin to flow together, that’s when you found your Anam Cara -your soul mate. Celts also believed that creating an Anam Cara friendship would help you to awaken your awareness of your own self, your own nature, and experience the joy of others, the joy of life, and what it’s meant to be for …. According to John O’Donahue, an accomplished Irish poet,
philosopher and Catholic priest: “When you are blessed with an anam cara, the Irish believe, you have arrived at the most sacred place: home.”

Anam Bar is a cozy, exciting, one-of-a-kind, smart, very special little cocktail bar in the heart of Islington Angel. The interior design is welcoming and capturing. The colours are mild, warm. Small little candles all around. The music played is usually funky house, except when private parties are taking place, or when promoters rule. There’s a special cocktail list which would delight your senses. Staff is nice and welcoming -faces you want to see again and again. The cloakroom is for free! At the toilets, Al Pacino (from Godfather) and Marilyn Monroe lead you to the right door. And inside you’ll notice surprised the fishtank … I am not going to reveal more about it. It is fantastic!

This place, if you are with the right people there, makes you feel at home …
It’s an experience! If you have a soul and love life, go, explore it!