Garlic & Shots, Soho, London

This place is easily one of my favourite bars in London, absolutely love it!

The food is out of this world good! I recommend the burger, it's delicious, filling comes with the most amazing garlic sauce and fries! The last time I had one I nearly went into a food coma(the good kind). Everything on the menu is pretty awesome and all freshly prepared.

They have a great variety of drinks and a menu with 101 different shots on it! Shot wise I'd recommend the Harley Davidson Oil or the Paul Morning Shooter, both pack a punch.

The staff are always really friendly, welcoming , well mannered and always on hand when needed.

I really can't understand how anyone could give this place one star! A truly top bar and eatery!

When I went in we bought beers and a very expensive burger near £14 and like the below review they didn't seem to understand the phrase " how much is it" and started demonstrating the size.

We asked them to change the track that had been on repeat 3 times and was very rudely spoken to, then had our order cancelled, then asked to leave, then had the police called on us when we refused to pay the remaining £3 of our bill! They actually called the police and chased us down the road over £3 , at this stage we had spent over £18 on 3 drinks . We are flabbergasted, confused and insulted. We will NEVER go back. EVER!

Can I please add I am rather a jolly person and do not invite this kind of attitude nor have I ever received it before ever in my restaurant going life . Nor have I ever seen it before.

I wish I could give minus stars so bad .

:0

Even the website is rubbish. Let alone the "restaurant".

Unfortunately there's a lot wrong with this place. If you love garlic, don't go here!! Unless your idea of garlic heaven is crushed raw garlic in your beer. Believe you me, it doesn't work and personally we were expecting something a little more sophisticated. Don't be fooled by the menu on the website either, it's completely out of date and there's much less choice when you turn up, so if you pick what you want from that you'll only be disappointed. If you don't like chilli don't order the garlic bread. And don't believe them when they say the salsa isn't spicy. Nowhere on the website does it tell you it's actually a rock bar, not a restaurant. The food bit is at the front, so you'll have people walking through all the time while you're trying to eat. To be honest, the quality of the food is poor and the staff were hopeless, bordering on rude, slow to take orders but kept wanting to clear our plates before we'd had a chance to finish. Couldn't answer simple questions about the menu and I even had to ask this simple question in three different ways before I got an answer 'how much is ...' what's the price' and 'what does it cost'. They gave us the wrong bill and hasn't reserved a table for us. So all in all it's a big fat NO!! Such a shame as we're not in London often and there must be so many other lovely places we could have gone to.

Garlic and Shots is like the Louvre in Paris - you have to go just to say you have gone, whether you want to or not. Located in the heart of Soho, this place is exactly what you think it is - garlic is everything. The garlic beer is simply beer with about a head of minced garlic in it. The garlic bread starter is DIVINE, but the rest of the menu is a dissapointment. The shot list (over 100) is dangerous - I had the #27, and thought I was going to die. They would make a hunk of change a week if they sold breath mints and gum on the way out. Not a date pub, but fun enough.

You can kind of imagine the brainstorming session which resulted in Garlic & Shots becoming a reality; a brief discussion of the various types of themed bars around London is followed by the question of how to bring something new and innovative to the as yet unnamed space purchased by the owners. A few ideas are thrown out by those around the table, 'how about a chocolate bar, where everything is made of chocolate, and the name is a pun?’ 'oh or maybe a unicycle bar where all the servers ride around on unicycles and the tables are made of penny farthing wheels?’. The ideas flow out until a voice is heard from the corner. It’s Alun, the resident vampire hunter, who has looked up from his time-consuming task of sharpening his stake and polishing his silver bullets to give forward his suggestion: 'a garlic bar. Where everything has garlic in it. Food. Drinks. Everything. Garlic. They can’t get me there.’ By this point the owners are tired, tipsy and sick of idiotic suggestions, and one of them is a tad scared of Alun, as you would be of a large man with flowing dark locks, a cloak and a penchant for stroking pointy objects and speaking in a low, menacing voice, and lo, Garlic & Shots was born.

So maybe the garlic theme doesn’t extend to everything in the place, as I’ve had many drinks here that left my breath, if not minty fresh, at least not filling the air with visible stench lines. The food does all have garlic in, and I’ve only tried the garlic bread which was amazing in a sort of blow your head off with garlic kind of way [forgive the repetition of the word garlic in this sentence by the way, it’s slightly unavoidable given the topic]. There are lots of shots with the bulb [that’s garlic again kids] which taste dreadful, so I’d give them a miss. The outside seating space in the back is much appreciated in the Summer and normally fairly lively even if inside is a bit quiet, and it makes a change from the garish bars along Old Compton Street or the proliferation of craggy old man pubs that seem to fill Soho. I just wish they’d gone for chocolate and shots instead. But then again I AM a woman, and feel the need to conform to gender stereotypes.

Arguably the most unique and bohemian bar in London. One in which there is no room for bourgeoisie personalities, as the name suggests every dish/drink contains garlic. As such each table is laden with parsley to rid a drinker of garlic breath. The service is not brilliant but this is a place well worth a look, especially the garlic beer.

I spent a happy evening in the bar downing shots and beer in equal succession, choosing from the 101 shots on offer, all finished off with lashings of garlic bread. Was surprisingly empty at 7pm on a Saturday night but by 10.30pm it was absolutely full. Highly recommended if you love garlic and shots!

The concept of a place that serves everything - as long as it is garlic is eccentric to say the least! This vodka bar cum garlic restaurant(?!) is quirky and fun. The music isn’t always metal (atleast it hasn’t been the times I have frequented) but the goth vibe runs strong. Go for a laugh (and the garlic fries) and you won’t be disappointed!

There seem to be quite a few negative reviews but I really enjoyed my visit to Garlic and Shots. We went at Halloween and the place had quite a good alternative /spooky atmosphere.

I enjoyed the food too - the garlic bread is the best anywhere and the nachos were also decent. They serve over 100 shots which I wasn’t brave enough to try but we did have a couple of drinks in the bar downstairs.

I went here in a large group last Friday and I have to say I left thoroughly underwhelmed by Garlic and Shots.

They serve 101 types of shot - which were a lot of fun, along with bottled beers and wine. We also tried the garlic beer - but as another reviewer mentioned this is just a glass of normal beer with chopped garlic added. A few people tried it but couldn’t bear to drink more than a sip.

In terms of shots I tried the bloodshot (tomato, garlic, chilli and vodka), chilli vodka (pretty spicy as expected), and instant margarita (all the ingredients of a margarita in a shot glass). The shots are £2.50 each - although don’t try and order from the “bar” at the front of the restaurant as I did and got told off.

Food wise, as a starter the garlic bread was the probably the best I’ve ever had.

The main dishes however were a major disappointment. The Swedish/American influenced dishes such as the garlic burger, or Swedish sausage with garlic mash would have been pretty tasteless were it not for the vast amount garlic added to every part of the dish. One of our party was so disgusted with his main the he took one bite and left the rest.

The waitresses and other members of staff seemed really unfriendly and we didn’t feel welcome.

We managed to rack up a £40 bill each - but I didn’t feel we got a great deal for this so would say it represented poor value for money.

We had been considering heading to the downstairs Goth bar afterwards, but after finishing the meal decided we really didn’t feel like staying any longer.

I might go there again for a shot or a few drinks, but not for food.

We all stunk after leaving here! yeah thats right….Garlic. Them shots with the chilli seeds are leathal! i had a really good night here i must say. Was an experience that i would never have gotten if my friend hadn’t pointed it out to me. would go again but you need the £££’s!

At the time of writing Garlic & Shots Qype rating is 12th out of 286. This is terrible. I can think of 10 better bars/pubs (I use bar and pub interchangably, and resent the distinction) in Ealing alone, and Ealing seems to shut down at 11pm.

This is why it gets a ‘1’ from me. The real rating is a ‘2’.

Its an ok place, not bad if you need somewhere free to go late (as another reviewer has suggested), or if you want to pop in and out for a silly shot. But I wouldn’t plan a night out around it. Luckily, I had some excellent company, and stayed in outside at the back where we could have been anywhere. Beerwise, your choices are overpriced bottles, or a ‘garlic beer’ which, despite being advertised in the beer garden, they are reluctant to serve to you unless you’re having a meal. Don’t lose any sleep about it though - its just a load of chopped garlic dropped into a small glass of carlsberg.

The problem with this place is that it’s trying to be an alternative/novelty bar, and a serious restaurant, simultaneously. Perhaps they would be better off going for one or the other, rather than trying to do both without doing either part justice. Or they could just change the name: as it is ‘Garlic & Shots’ gives the impression of a sense of humour found lacking inside.

UPDATE: Ealing does shut down at 11pm. Some places are open late, up to 2am, but won’t let you in past 11.

This place is definitely an experience, and not somewhere you want to go if you have to talk intimately with people the next day! We headed straight downstairs into the small underground bar, where there were a table of emo kids drinking beer. After ordering a round of garlic vodka shots and ‘blood’ shots (which have a respectable amount of chilli in but a little too much pepper) we went into the ‘crypt’, which is a cave into the wall where you sit around a coffin by candle light. Nuff said. Was very fun and a definite experience, you have to go there at least once.

If you’re ever looking for a bar in Soho after midnight without having to resort to paying entry fees, or dealing with drunken yobs then Garlic and Shots is the place to go. A regular haunt during my first year in London, G & S is certainly different from your average restaurant/bar with gothic/metal interior. Garlic infused drinks and food are the order of the day (although you can get bottled beer without the cloves too!). Friendly staff, a nice dark and dingy underground bar, and cheap tapas too. I hadn’t been there for 3 years until a last week and was pleased to see it hadn’t changed a bit!

Been here a few times, restaurant on ground floor, never eaten here but the menu looks delicious. The bar downstairs is quite gothy and dark. If you have a penchant for metal music and the goth scene then check this place out!

This place is an excellent late night drinking venue, as long as you stick to their rules, and can deal with the staff being abrupt with you. It's not that they aren't friendly, but they have rules, and do enforce them. I.e. don't hold the door open as it gets cold quickly; don't drink in the front of the restaurant if you aren't eating; and NEVER ask them to change the music.

Even if goth metal isn't your kind of music, you can escape from the creepy crypt bar downstairs, with a coffin for a table, to the bohemian garden out back, with huge heaters and an overhead canopy. I drank in the rain there last night, and it was quite romantic with the water thrashing down above us while we sat there warm and dry.

The shots are amazing, the bloodshot in particular, which is essentially a very spicy Bloody Mary condensed into a shot.

Please not, even if you don't drink or eat any, you will leave smelling of garlic. It's a good thing.