The Cotton Mill Premier Inn Hotel Bar

The Cotton Mill was a delightful surprise to behold. The interior has a rich dark finish to it with soft lighting and a homely feel to the place with lots of tables hidden around corners and in nooks and crannies of the venue. The pub serves up a hearty buffet breakfast in the mornings and offers a reasonable selection of drinks in the evening for the drinkers. The venue is fairly quiet throughout the week as one would expect, being only near to a golf club and of course for the residents of the hotel which sits next door.

Overall the Cotton Mill really adds that something special to the hotel next door and means I would gladly return should I visit the area in the future - 7/10

The Crown and Horseshoes

The Crown and Horseshoes is a very quaint country pub set in the picturesque setting of canal-side among willow trees: all fully pedestrianised. The main interior of the pub is a fair size with some low ceilings that could do with some repair, but serving well in the winter as a cosy pub. In the summer the massive garden hosts drinks and diners in their hundreds and is a magnificent setting for an afternoon of drinking. The big problem with the pub is the incredibley slow bar service. On two seperate occasions I have visited this pub the bar staff have taken more than ten minutes to do a simply four drink order, never making more than one drink at a time or serving more than one punter at a time. In one visit I witnessed the kitchen getting into such a mess over food that one poor family were left hungry for two hours with no trace of their food at the end, or the purchase or any compensation.

Overall it is a shame that a team of staff let down such a beautiful pub, I really think that if these issues were sorted out the place would be my favourite watering hole in the area and I would certainly invite others to make the same judgement - 5/10

Grace bar and Restaurant

It doesn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to refurbish a bar before opening it up under a different name but it feels like Grace is just the old “Sugar Reef” bar with a mildly different colour scheme and a different menu. The bar is not in the center of the main walkway which seems to clutter the place a little and the fast spread of chairs and tables in the dining area suffers slow service and disappointed looks on the faces of folks that arrive for a fine dining meal and end up being treated like any other bar customer. The food in here is actually fairly good but drink prices are a little steep (although probbaly to be expected in Soho) the volume of the music seems to climb uneccesarily high even on midweek evenings and the place truely has about as much atmosphere as the planet Mercury (that is to say, very little).

Overall Grace is Sugar Reef with a new name and as with Sugar Reef only a venue to hit if you are lost for other options which, in Soho, doesn’t happen - 5/10

The Kings Head

I was as surprised as any other resident of Enfield to discover that the Kings Head (a pub once renowned for trouble) had been unboarded-up, refurbished and had its doors re-opened. naturally I had to head down for a few drinks to see what it was all about. The venue was actually surprisingly inviting with fast bar service and a pretty good selection of drinks including the classic Jagerbomb machine at the back. There are a number of doors to access the pub by and standing next to each one is a small group of smokers. The seating inside are a mix of heavy wooden booths and bar-side seating. At the back there is a darkened room with music channel television suspended above what might serve as a dancefloor and rather standard grubby toilets at the back.

Overall it is nice for the choice of pubs to be opened up again, frankly this pub has a lot more character than the “George” over the road and despite being slightly more expensive I think I would prefer the head for a beer or three - 6/10

Soho Joe’s

In all honesty Soho jo’s is more a restaurant than a bar but it is a bustling social setting for some very well priced grub and a chat with friends at the interior lofty wooden benches or out front; al fresco on the streets of Soho. The servcie is Soho Jo’s is very swift and as I have already said both the pizza and the burgers have that gourmet edge to them for just over the cost of a fast food price. Unfortunately in the dim lighting I made a grave error and mistook a shaker of sugar for one of palmersan cheese and ruined my pizza, much to the delight of my fellow diner.

Overall Soho Jo’s is a fairly unlikely place to stop of for a drink and a chin wag but it is one of the preferrable efforts of the Soho social scene and as busy during the lunch hour as it is into the warm summer evening - 7/10

Going out on Halloween in London

Halloween is a fantastic excuse to leave the house have a wander around one of the worlds most haunted cities. It’s ashame London doesn’t rank in the top ten of those cities, but Bar Blog does have some recommendations for those of you looking for a caudron of punch to drink from this evening.

• All year round halloween themed bars in England
• Garlic and Shots to keep those Vampires away!
• Gothic Bars serving up pints of bloody snakebite
• Bars featuring death metal and dark corners
• Ancient haunted pubs in Briton’s basements
• Go Viking at the Nordic bar

Have a great halloween everybody and if you have any other words of advice for drinkers this Halloween please post a comment below.

Best Western Hotel Bar

Best Western is a hotel chain that is really starting let its standards slip in the UK and this addition to the chain is no exception. The reception is difficult to locate when entering this hotel but the bar is far closer to the front entrance. The bar consists of a tiny after-thought addition to the restaurant and being empty round the clock, one is not surprised at the lack of effort that has gone into it. A very limited selection of drinks, bar staff that have been poorly trained to pour a decent pint and frankly, no-where dedicated purely to the bar to sit down and enjoy a drink.

Overall a shameful 2/10 for this declining chain.

The Terrace Bar

In the center of Kings Cross sits a youth hostel above a Cafe (which shortly is turning into an extention of the afore mentioned bar) and the Youth Hostel has an ourdoor rooftop garden (with patio, tables and patio heaters) accessible via a small staircase at the back of the downstairs cafe. The bar room sitting at the end of the rooftop garden offers first floor views onto the street below and a small selection of drinks served by a team of bar persons. The venue is a little small although well hidden and livens up as the night wears on. There is also the great feature of a rooftop bbq. I find myself in attendance at this bar on opening night, the proprietors stand around among the flocks of guests enjoying free jugs of beer and kebabs. Absolutely one of the highlights of the summer and a grateful thankyou to Mr Alexander for my invite!

Overall the Terrace Bar in Kings Cross in a population attraction and with rooms full of travellers who can be surprised. Its great to see another rooftop addition to the London bar scene; worth a visit - 8/10

The Fenwick Hotel Function Bar

The Fenwick Hotel is a beautiful venue to hold a wedding reception in with wonderful views of rolling fields and Scottish sunsets. The main function area plays host to a bar of its own seperate from the bar in the main foyer of the hotel. The function bar offers a reasonable selection of drinks with some personal favourite shots but the drinks are surprisingly expensive for the area, arguably too expensive. The bar staff are friendly however and the black leather effect of the bar makes it quite attractive.

Unfortunately there is limited seating by the bar area and it closes rather early - 6/10

Giant Robot Bar and Restaurant

Giant Robot Bar is not quite as fun and goofy as it sounds. Inside the robot-esque tinkets and diner style decor point to a twisted combination of cheap and retro while trying to be fashionable and different. The menu feels like a diner menu but with just a single burger present and an untold number of combinations of meatballs I am not clear as to what cuisine this is. In venue itself consists of a number fo small tables on a galley surrounding a sunken bar area where a man shaves meat much like a deli, get with the surreal backdrop of a vast array of botttles. There is no draught on tap we are told when ordering our drinks and that can only mean a lower review. The bottled beers are odd american offerings I have never heard of and when the food comes it is unimpressive and over priced. The other drinks and diners are in their twenties and where flat caps and designer sunglasses even though it remains cloudy in the London outside.

Overall a stuck up venue which makes the experience of drinking and eating inside it uncomfortable. One of our table staff dares not break a smile and looks like he has been living on the street for some years - I wont be going back - 3/10