Uk Barblog

Uk Barblog is Moving

Uk Barblog is Moving

That's right readers, UK Barblog is moving over to a new address for 2008. From 12th January 2008 UK Barblog will be living at http://www.barblog.co.uk

For all the latest news and reviews please head over there now since http://barblog.lastminuteliving.com will no longer be updated. Redirects from all posts will shortly be included in all posts.

Why have we moved? Barblog has been steadily expanding over the last two years and as we reach 700 venues expansion is required beyond the the restrictions of this blogging template. On the new site you can expect some sleek technology upgrades and a lot more content. For a full list of all the new things we are offering our readers for free please go to the new site now.

If you are currently advertising on UK Barblog we will move all your ads over to our new platform before the big day so dont worry :)

Please update all your links and thanks for bearing with me.

Greg

Bar Soho (Soho - London)

Bar Soho

Bar Soho in the Gay capital of soho - old compton street seems to stand free from the populous of gay inhabitants that somehow surround the estbliahment but rarely venture inside. It is a seemingly large, dark popular bar with deep set booths and small tables. There are one of too ornate torches on the bar and the popularity of the nightclub-as-bar effect seems to draw the crowds until the place overcrowds later on at night. Cocktails are £6 upwards and there is only one brand of beer on tap. One can expect a crowd of middle-aged theatre goers early on and younger revellers later into the night who plough into the bar only to find that half of it is a clever network of mirrors designed to make this club atmosphere look quite grand.

In fact is stops abruptly, there is not enough seating and you find yourself hovering at the edge of a very low tables trying to balance your drink on it or jammed between pairs of elbows at all sides wondering if every gay person in compton street has actually worked out that this place is hugely over-rated and actually rather uncomfortable - 5/10

Weaver's Wine Bar (New Barnet - London)

Weaver's Wine Bar

An extension of the existing "the Weaver" pub next door, this is for those who dont really want to associate with playing pool, watching football or listening to drunk men rambling on in a corner about better times. This more up-market experience tries to push a wine-bar image with leather couches, candle-light although the wine-list is not particularly appealing. Nothing of a higher class appears to be available to choose and for a wine bar it seems to stock very little wine indeed. However this is now possibley the monly place to go if you are a couple on a romantic night out after visiting the cinema opposite and iss actually the only bar of its type in all of new barnet.

Overall it is literally just an extension of the pub next door. An interconnecting door bring staff and punters in from the pub to bar and vise-versa, bringing with it the pub attitude of the bar persons and the loud drone of unsavory musics. However this place at least attempts to touch on a niche - and as yet has not become overcrowded in the fashion that After Office hours up the road has become accustomed to - 6/10

The Bald Faced Stag (East Finchley - London)

The Bald Faced Stag

Where has this gastro pub gone? Only about an eighth of it is still a pub apparently - the rest is a platofmr restaurant - laid bare and sorry at the back of this establishment. The selection of drinks however is quite good and the vibe is relaxed but up-beat with a road-side garden outside and close access to the tube if you are willign to navigate the short wlak up the hill in East Finshley. Prices are a little steep and there is not really enough seating to go around.

Overall the place has been done over to be a respectable dining venue- more than a bar really and for that it gets slapped with a 6/10. I like that they serve bowls of whitebait alongside olives and nuts though!

The Fen (Fenchurch Street Station - London)

The Fen

A small pub with bad service in Fenchurch street station. Its pride extends to a few fruit machines and a parade of travellors as clients. There are a coupel of cheap soft furnishings and although its not too bad a pub for a tube station it is as expensive as the rest of the area at £2.50 for a shot of vodka. The views of the square are nice but there is restricted window-space to enjoy it and frankly the pub appears to serve as a better home of the odd pigeon that can be seen sqabbling and dancing around in the middle of the carpetted floor.

Overall, it hits the slightly higher mark in the lower end of the scale but not by much - 4/10

Akbar (Soho - London)

Akbar

Akbar is hard to find even in this metropolis of assorted bars and if you do find it, it can be a blessing for early drinks if your out of an evening. Its essentially a very chilled out morrocan bar with warm lighting from flickering candeles, aromas of vanilla with light bassy music and alcoves of underground-shelter style seating which makes for a very communal and strangely comfortable experience. The drinks seem to be overpriced but the quality if quite unmatched by anything nearby and the bar will often bring the drink out to you. Better still are the non-alcoholic cocktails which blew my mind with natural yogurts and fruit extracts. This place also attracts Djs later on and although it is on the small size it is a wonderful experience.

Overall a very beautiful place possibley to bring a date before a night of passion, so prep your wallet for a night that is not only high in quality but strong in value and hits each of the senses lightly but memorabley. 8/10

Aldgate Exchange (Aldgate - London)

Aldgate Exchange

The Aldgate Exchange is quiet, dark and gloomy. The bar girl was quite friendly to us but the venue itself felt like it hadnt seen anyone under the age of 30 in its whole life. The place looks bigger from the outside than it is but could comofrtabley still fit about fifty people. Surprisely this venue is quite difficult to get to from the nearby station due to the complex array of subways and busy roads. Drinks were also quite pricey at £7.20 for a double vodka.

Overall a pub that could not possibley stand the test of time with an attitude like this, it needs to buck its ideas up and stop ripping off in terms of drinks and experience, the outside looks so inviting and yet within its just a dire dungeon of an old-man pub - 3/10

Duke of York (Kings Cross Station - London)

Duke of York

At first glance the Duke of york is a bit of a shack of a shop, white stone walls, a number of old people and busy travellers stopping for a fast pint. The place has very little class or style to it but the service is good and the prices are also quite reasonable with 3 shots of aftershock for £4.50. The place would be much better if it was bigger to accomodate the number of people wading among those standing and sitting desperately seeking a chair and a place to pop a suitcase. The venue basically feels like the waiting room that essentially it is and although there are one or two touches to try and bring the place into some level or style and ornament it doesnt work.

Overall its very reasonable for a pub in a busy station as this is, if your looking for a place to have a quick pint between trains and you have relatively little luggage it might be worth it 5/10

LVPO Bar (Soho - London)

LVPO Bar

An upmarket alpine lodge style venue consisting of a couple of bars with seating trasiling off in different directions in rooms which have apparently been queezed into this den in the cosiest cranny of Soho. The bar at the front of the venue is a sappy excuse for a shop window giving people who poke their heads in the window very little of an idea of what lies around the many corners. Within it is a barrage of suited, chredly spoken cambridge types paying £7 a piece for very watered down cocktails and from what I observed containing less than a shot a drink. the atmosphere however is not particularly pompous, it is a little loud however.

Overall, a lot nicer inside than it may look from the outside but why they have proceeded to squeeze, tiny uncomfortable seating in what ultimately becomes a larger bar, i'll never know, nice venue, terrible terrible management, which is such a shame - 4/10

The Plough (Crews Hill - Hertfordshire)

The Plough

A family dining pub, well catered to the area in the foothills of hertfordshire- it this infamous of garden-nursery villages. The place is naturally full of plant and fish lovers and young families and although it is surprisingly busy it is not too buisy to find a table in a corner and sit down for a beer and some grub. There is light background music playing and quite soft lighting with pleasent gardens. The staff are quite young and the clientell are comparitively older and are strictly in here for food and not drinks. The bar selection is reasonable however and meals in here cost a little over £5 and its around £1.50 for a coke.

Overall very fitting for the environment and bigger than it looks from the outside, so for what it is; it stands as a testement to its surroundings, there is little here for the big drinker so pop in for a sandwich (local ingrediants) and an ale. 7/10