The Chameleon Bar

Walking through the various fields of Glastonbury one comes across a whole spice of different bars and drinking holes. The Chameleon bar was one of the most lively additions to the scene in the first few days of the festival that we found. Inside, a DJ played popular tunes including big band and latin based music with a big dance floor serving up Glastonburys finest cider and beer at reasonably steep cost. Arriving at the festvial a couple of days before the real start we actually found that Chameleon bar was a great place to stop off up until about 1am.

Overall the Chameleon bar is a lively experience and totalyl worth stopping in for drinks if it appears in the years to come - 7/10

The Yard Bar

With patio and flaming towers out front, the yard, sandwiched between commercial premises joins the Soho bar scene with more of a theme than the pubs over the road. The yard is literally a strip of decorated garden followed by a two part room, at the back is a bar spanning with width of the venue. Drinks are fairly well priced and bar service is fairly swift although there are lot a large number of places to sit and the venue is fairly crowded and rather dark with a low light blue glow about the place.

Overall an small and simple addition to the Soho gay bar scene, no room for dancing despite catchy music and a good bar selection - 6/10

The jolly anglers

The Jolly Anglers is the staple in the diet of Wood Green drinkers the world over. Well established as a venue of debauchery for young woman and men to congregate in drinking very close to the age of consent into the small hours. The jolly Anglers guarentee’s a busy local pub with loud music, late opening and a bar sticky with the rainbow of shooters available on the menu. One of the few pubs I have been in with almost every flavour of Aftershock, sourz and Corkies; the venue attracts some of teh slimiest men, hard rockers, barely dressed young girls and a whitewash of north london brutes. The quaint beer garden to the side of the pub sports a field gate and watching the drinkers flock out of the open gate once the bar closes, over the road to the chicken shop is reminiscent of a troop of wild animals let loose onto Wood green - with some straying up to the Nelson.

Overall Jolly Anglers is one of my favourite Wood green pubs, it has a culture of its very own and a heritage of excess drinking, famous across North London - 7/10

Nolita’s Club

A very popular Hertfordshire nightclub, Nolita’s is set in the surprising location of the Hatfield countryside and I am driven by a friend with a group of well dressed drinkers in a sportscar through Hertfordshire to approach a populous scene. There are dozens of suited up cars populating the car park and with no public transport to find this venue on the map, it is no surprise that this venue has a very VIP feel about it. The burly bouncers stand at the doorway under the eaves of climbing wall plants about the front patio and once inside the heaving crowd just barely give me room to skirt past black marble walls and wooden finishings to start five strong at one of the tiny bars to get served among the suited wasters. The music is loud and few are dancing with the table area at the back of the club almost empty as the bar staff bring us over bottle after bottle of champagne and we continue drinking as I begin bumping into old school friends from Hertfordshire in the crowd. They gloat about lives of luxury. A few more drinks and it’s time to leave at around 3am, our driver sits sober in the car park as we try to steer out of the jam of money-fat hummers and Aston Martins while those of us that had drank too much grappled withthe bouncer to retrieve abandoned bottles of Champage in the now unreachable limits of Nolita’s club.

Overall an eventful evening and a rather stunning venue. Of course over rpiced and pompus but it is refreshing to see that there other other places out there - 8/10

The Fenwick Hotel Bar

The Fenwick Hotel, just off of the dual carriageway , is set in the beautiful countryside, a few miles from Kimarik. Tucked down a village road, the venue boasts a white marble reception with restaurant to the left and a bar straight in front. In attending a wedding I spend the best part of a few hours over two days frequenting this small bar which offers fairly nimble service, a short (but adiquate) food menu and drinks that sit on the expensive side. hang around late enough and private lock-ins might be on the cards..

Overall a very small bar to play host to any party of people but despite being expensive and well stocked the staff are attentive and the servcie can be fast depending on who is working the bar - 6/10

The Rosebank Pub

A rather grand addition to the humble scottish town of Fulkirk, the Rosebank Pub welcomed me and of my oldest friends with open arms. The interior is well designed, with a multi-tier galley over looking the larger booth tables below. The food menu is incredibley good value and the staff are attentive and polite even if the service is slow for a larger party. The drinks were also very cheap as we order in roudn after round of cold beers on this Tuesday afternoon and the place remains reasonabley popular.

Overall the Rosebank is a very friendly local that i would recommend to anyone coming to the area, despite being a chain-bar - 8/10

The Cuban Club

Latin clubs in London seem to be cropping up at a pace as salsa lessons and dance classes release their grautes into the wild. Early in the evening, the cuban club is pretty busy, its a long, thin, brick-walled venue with a high ceiling which extends backward into a private garden in the middle of the closed market stalls and shops at the foot of the Camden stables market. The passage-way like effect of the venue makes it a tight squeeze to get from one end to the other and being a latin club, the lack of dancefloor for folks standing in it waiting for drinks at the bar makes it rather cramped. Bar service is not particularly quick either, for a round of latin cocktails I wait a good twenty minutes as the strong crowd grwos in numbers behind me. Most surfaces are sticky with brown sugar and mojita mint leaves but the venue is alive with smiles and a foot tapping beat. We depart the venue for the last tube at around midnight on this Saturday evening and the queu into the venue is very long, and populated by an attractive assortment of folks in scantily clas salsa outfits.

Overall a very enjoyable night out despite over-crowding, I am certain that as more venues spring up like that that crowding will become less of an issue. I wasn’t too sure about the toilets being located outside and then above the venue itself but then this building was clearly not purpose built for drinking and dancing inside - 7/10

Serpentine Bar and Restaurant

Beside the picturesque views of Serpentine (a tributory of the Thames river) sits Hyde Park, and its summer haze, flocks of tourists, joggers, skaters and sun lovers pour onto the lawn on a small incline of a hill looking out across the shimmering waters. An eyesore tower block sticks its ugly head up in the middle of the scene and you can be sure you are in the heart of London. The Serpentine bar and restaurant is pretty packed every summers day as long as the sun is out and offers a 360 view through glass doors and windows of the lake beyond. The food selection is rather gastro and the drinks are a small selection of bottled beers and ciders. As one would expect in this tourist spot, prices are high and 50% of the folk flocking in and out of the venue are off to use the facilities (a secret oasis in this vast park under the watchful eye of an army fo park keepers.

Overall the Serpentine Bar and restaurant is a grateful site to behold but takes advtage of its position and the scarcity of its resources - 6/10

The Crutched Friar Pub

The Crutched Friar is a rather premier venue hidden away on what could only be described as an alleyway behind Tower Hill station. Making our way toward Fenchurch street station we shop outside the Crutched Friar which welcomes us with a broad frontage drawing us into the illuminated interior. It is a reasonable walk up the widened pathway to the bar where we are served immediately on this Friday evening. The barman is cheerful, the drink prices very reasonable and the selection is impressive. We sit ourselves down in a room just off the right of the walkway and find ourselves in a picturesque wallpapered room with blackboard displaying drink specials, disguised among the other artwork on the walls. The other parties of guests are well behaved and there are available tables about the place although it doesn’t feel quiet or empty. Overall one of the nicest pubs I have been to around these parts - highly recommended - 8/10

The Bavarian Beerhouse

The Bavarian Beerhouse in old street has always been a favourite with me and my friends and the addition to the chain in Tower Hill does not appear to be an exception. We are greeted with friendly faces upon arrival and shown through the surprisingly small ground floor bar and restaurant down some stairs into a much bigger basement. We are shown to our benches in the corner beside a Austrian double date in action (mind you, the couples are probably in their 70’s). The staff put up with a lot from us throughout the course of the evening which included going a little over board on the Pornobrause (another favourite). Before long we are nearing on the rowdy and take our leave with a very comfortable bill thanks to the efforts of the website Groupon. Overall, another great experience and this German Lederhosen themed venue with it’s German staff and football on the overhead screens - 9/10