Charterhouse Bar, Barbican, London

I've never actually come in here in the evenings but instead gone for an extended week day lunch. Had a pretty average burger and admittedly very nice chips. The waitress forgot to put through our starters order though. All and all was fine but wouldn't exactly rush back.

Ooo, its hard to judge having ended up here at three in the morning on New Year’s Eve having stumbled round freezing London for a while, drunk. But I must say, I was here for enough time to evaluate its pros. Grey Goose Vodka behind the bar. Lovely French vodka. Everything else seemed average.

Split onto two levels, its not that big a space and it does feel a bit… Dull? Not to say its a bad place to go PRE-anywhere else, but it just seems like it wants to be somewhere better than that.

I somehow feel the PRE-drinking in a chain pub would be more entertaining, and would actually make more money if situated on its location. But, 3am isn’t the best time to go anywhere (except home), so maybe I’m making presumptions. Then again, the decor, prices, music and fellow NYE revellers didn’t inspire me to go back here. Although I won’t rule out stumbling in here when the Pubs shut.

2.5 stars, average, not bad. But nothing special either.

The positive thing about this bar is that it’s right near Fabric so a convenient place to get your night started and they have some pretty good DJ’s playing here from time to time. But, there’s just something about this bar that’s just a bit rubbish and annoying! Whenever I’ve come here it’s been packed, too loud, and stuffed full of pre-clubbers, which should be creating a cool party atmosphere but it just feels aggressive. I don’t think many, if any, people actually travel to come out here, so the bar seems to get away with being a bit horrid just because Fabric is up the road and it doesn’t need to try very hard to get punters. Maybe it’s because the area is a little soulless too which doesn’t help. So if you’re going to Fabric it’s just about bearable, but if you’re not, I wouldn’t bother.