Bavarian Beerhouse

I’ve been here a few times and it’s always been pretty good. Food is decent and the beer selection is good too. The staff can sometimes be overwhelmed and it can be hard to flag them down, but at the same time they are very proficient and polite.
One gripe — tried to go here one Friday evening at around 11:30 for a quick pint after a work function only to be turned away, despite the website and sign on the door saying that they’re open until 1am. That was a bit disappointing.

We were here for a friend’s surprise party and the entire night was very fun.
German songs were being played and there were a bunch of rowdy and crazy men around us. I think that’s a good thing? If it’s quiet I can see how the atmosphere may not be… the best. The table behind us ordered the biggest beer I’ve ever seen in my life… seriously go look at the photo! It was amazing. The beer was very good, and the food tasted like German food. I wasn’t really expecting the food to be exceptional. I had the vegetarian platter which is essentially two veggie burgers and salad. The fact that they had a vegetarian option was good, so I wasn’t expecting it to be an amazing dish.
Anyway, at some points things were a little wild because yes the place does get busy and it’s probably hard for waitresses to keep up with a bunch of drunken people changing their minds and yelling. We had a great time. PROST!

Ummm last call doesn’t come before 10 pm. was turned away being told that last call had already occurred and watched parties go in right behind me…

I visited the Bavarian Beerhouse on a Friday evening in early October with my boyfriend for their Oktoberfest festivities. While the bar upstairs appeared to be populated by city workers lured by the promise of a stein– that equates 2 pints– we had ‘schnitzel’ tickets that included table service. These entitled us to a stein of beer– or two glasses of wine– and a meal. There were three meal options: Wiener schnitzel served with chips; a traditional sausage platter served with mash potato and sauerkraut; or Bavarian cheese noodles.
We were greeted warmly upon arrival and led downstairs, where the space was lined with rows of communal tables and the occasional booth. Immediately detecting that the atmosphere was dominated by the large, boisterous groups already in full swing, we opted for a quieter table tucked away from our neighbours. The setting was simple and the waiting staff was outfitted in dirndl and lederhosen– it was tremendously kitschy and boisterous at first, but we eased into the spirit when the oompha band appeared. They were lively, energetic and circulated around the room to ensure that everyone was involved in the revelry.
Our waitress was very obliging, but was noticeably overwhelmed– she took our drink orders and kindly arranged for the kitchen to make a vegetarian schnitzel instead of pork. Following this, she was very difficult to flag down and it took some time for our meals to arrive. My boyfriend enjoyed the sausage platter and changed his mind about sauerkraut. My vegetarian schnitzel was essentially two vegetarian patties served on top of salad and accompanied by an herb sauce. I was much happier with this option over the starch overload of breaded pork and chips, but this is not a gastropub and the food is deliberately rustic.
We ordered a round of drinks to accompany our meal– not steins!- that were not included in our ticket price. When the waitress brought over the bill, we immediately spotted that almost £10 had been added on top of the price of our drinks. We were advised that this was a service charge, but our tickets were paid for in advance and we had exchanged tokens for our meal and drinks during the evening. It was therefore evident that had we not ordered a round of drinks, we would not have been charged for the service!
This resulted in some confusion, but we stressed that £18 seemed unreasonable for a pint and a small glass of wine. The waitress only charged us for the drinks and apologised for the confusion.
The schnitzel ticket costs £24.50 per person for a drink and a meal– the price of a stein was more reasonable than I expected, most being priced at around a tenner. Five pounds for a pint of beer is pretty typical in Tower Hill, so stopping into the Bavarian Beerhouse for a drink isn’t unreasonable. The food is standard pub fare with a Bavarian twist, but it is a stodgy assortment, so come hungry.
We enjoyed the music and the atmosphere was becoming increasingly raucous when we left– shots of schnapps were flying out by the tray load and group singalongs were reverberating across the room. It was obvious that there would be sore heads the next morning, but this is all part of the spirit of Oktoberfest.
I would recommend arriving in a large group with something to celebrate. This is the right place for a stein-​clanking evening out when you can get properly prost, after all!

The food, if you want to know why this is a four-​star review, it’s the food.
The plates here are huge, and the food is so amazing. I’ll be back in London in two weeks, and this is one of the things I’m most looking forward to. The beer selection is good, the brats, sausage and other items on the menu are delicious and there is even outside seating so you can just enjoy your meal while people-​watching (if the London weather is actually nice).
One warning for Americans traveling though, it is very expensive, but that is common when eating out in the UK. Food is typically more expensive, and the weak dollar/​strong pound exchange doesn’t do us any favors. It will cost you around $ 30 – 35 USD for a meal here, pretty pricy.
Worth it though. Great location, great food and a definite must-​visit.

it is what it is, high concept evening food/​drink venue.
Good points: staff, variety of drink, style
Bad points: weird clientele, quality of food,
This place (downstairs) is half full on a friday night of stags and birthdays… quarter full. and a few groups of city boys, and tourist families. Its in such an obscure city place I can’t believe it has enough people to keep going.
Its a bit themeparky in its approach of bavarian beer — its high concept, the outfits the girls have to wear are a bit odd, it seems the staff themselves are part of the brand as they have massive photos of the actual staff on the walls! Pretty good they are friendly, when they wanted us to leave they brought up plastic glasses to take the alcohol with us!
The food is — a bit basic, pub food really. I did enjoy the fact the white sausages came with instructions on how to consume. Hilarious!
The drink selection was brilliant! Really had fun with it! There were shots with sherbet — so much fun!
Good staff, bizaare but fun concept, weird location… oh and the lights for what it was just a little too light.
Few points — as Gluten Free wasn’t fantastics, but the staff were on it — I had this amazing Cider wine/​with lemonade — recommend by the staff, and every time we were thinking about drinks the staff appeared, without interfering.

Eine echte ‘deutsche Wirtschaft’ mitten in London. Hier gibt es deutsches Essen, wie z.B. Schweinshaxe, welche echt lecker war.
Wir waren am einem Samstag dort um Bundesliga Live anschauen zu können.
(Bitte Zeitunterschied beachten :-))
Das Lokal befindet sich im Keller des Gebäudes und ist echt mega groß.
Der Laden war echt voll. Evtl. liegt es an dem guten Bier. hihi
Mann kann hier nur auf Bierbänken Sitzen, was aber für uns kein Problem war.
Die Bedienung konnte auch deutsch und war sehr schnell und nett.
Preislich war es für London okay

We can’t comment on the food as we didn’t have any, but the beer is plentiful (maybe a tad expensive as it works out to about £5 a pint) and cold, the waitresses are friendly enough, and it was bright, warm and out of the rain.
Getting the eye of the waitresses can be a bit difficult, it was busy and a Friday night, but once you have ordered, the beer comes quickly. We tried a range of beers, I started with an Erdinger Weissbier and ended a Krombacher Stiefel, just two beers for me. The first however, was a 1 litre, and the second was a 1.5 litre delivered in a glass boot! The boot requires a £40 deposit returned immediately once the boot has been drained and returned to the waitress, it does take a long time though! I had to try it having seen Broken Lizard’s Beerfest although my drinking skills paled in comparison.
Maybe next time we’ll get some food but for beer, I like it! (The fact that after 2.5 litres of beer I didn’t wake up with a hangover means that it’s a return place for me).

We went here to meet up with friends somewhere interesting close to where they were staying at Tower Hill. On paper it looked great; proper German beers in proper 2-​pint glasses and proper German schnitzel and brats on the menu. It also looked great approaching, given that it was tucked out of the way of the tourists giving us plenty of room to sit, enjoy, and hear ourselves.
It wasn’t that great going in, however, given that it looked like a café from the top, and that a bouncer with an over-​inflated sense of self-​importance was extremely rude to us for even considering going downstairs to where we knew our friends were. Apparently, we had to make a booking to sit down there, and the knowledge that my friends were already down there (without a booking) was apparently not enough. I was sent to have the same discussion with a much more polite waitress who, lo and behold, simply allowed us downstairs to point out our friends.
We had a better time once we got into the evening; good choices of German beers in those all-​important steins — but wow were they pricey! Well over £5 for a regular pint, above average even for escalating London prices, so the 2-​pinters were taking us close to £11 each. Still, tasty enough and half the reason for being there were the giant beverages — a few non-​drinkers even had a stein of Diet Coke to not feel left out!
I personally was dying to try the schnitzel — having been to Biershenke a few months before, I had fallen in love with the Jäger Schnitzel, which has a creamy sauce with mushrooms. This one was half the size, quite literally, of the one I had previously — and whilst it tasted just as good, I was left wanting more. Then I learned that it cost me £14, which was much more than I had paid before. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t feel like good value at all.
A stag party started at the other end of the room — the only other group downstairs, so we appreciated the atmosphere and the entertainment! Whilst this was not our crowd, I could appreciate how accommodating the staff were being to their rowdy and expensive demands — seems like they had a real blast, and the waiting staff can be commended for that. However, our own server was getting really arsey with some of choosing to pay for giant drinks individually — which kept things simple for us at a large table — like the burden of carrying the card reader was just too much. We later learned it was probably the burden of keeping things separate from the table’s initial food tab that was too much for him. The bill seemed to have a few more of those giant Diet Cokes than we had ordered for the table — we were sure many of them were covered by individual payments. We had to throw in extra money (and then more for the service charge) to cover it, as sorting it out seemed too complicated to handle for our guy.
All in all, we had a good time, we just felt we’d had better elsewhere, and for less.
With no tourists finding the street, and no city workers at the weekend, I do wonder what sort of trade they are hoping for on a Saturday night; the casual drinker will go somewhere cheaper; the beer lover will stick to trendy craft ale houses in easier-​accessible parts of London; the stein and schnitzel lover will probably go to Biershenke — where the food is better, bigger, and yet cheaper.

This is a pretty fun place to drink, but each time I’m in here I get thrown by the strange layout. It’s not quite a rectangle, not quite a crescent, sort of just whatever fits under a strange arch, on a corner. It’s right across from Fenchurch Street station, very near to Tower Hill. The fact that it’s under an arch makes it kind of dark even though there are plenty of windows. I guess in the end this doesn’t matter, because the bar is lit up, and there are lots of great cold German beers and Jagermeister and German food of the beer-​accompanying variety.
Beers come in several sizes, including some in one and two liter steins, but you can also get pints and half pints, and they all have their own appropriately shaped branded glasses for all the beers and sizes, so you don’t feel you’re doing something wrong by just tasting a half pint. (I haven’t been downstairs to the restaurant, only the ground level room and the outside tables.)
The snacks are pretty reasonable in price. I had a plate of three grilled sausages on a bed of sauerkraut, and a pretzel, for about £5.00. The food quality isn’t the highest, but it’s not bad at all, by any means. The best thing of course is the very good beer on offer.

Not thrilling.
Having had a few other big city beerhouse experiences, including an excellent one in London, I was underwhelmed by Bavarian Beerhouse. It mostly seemed like a basement with traditional seating. The décor was cheesy (and not good cheesy) with huge posters mostly just advertising themselves, the service was so-​so, and the food was overpriced.
Though overpriced, the food was good. Not amazing, but fine. Drinks too were very very pricy and when our bill came (for a large group) and we were figuring out what we each owed, there seemed to be a few extra items that no one could account for. As a few people had ordered separately (off the group tab) throughout the night, it seemed that a number of those drinks ALSO ended up on the group bill. This wasn’t cool. But it was late and we all wanted to leave, so it just got paid. I might’ve given this place 3 stars before the end of the night, but that lack of keeping proper tabs knocks it down to a 2.

Steins, Sausages and Sauerkraut… this is my kind of place.
** Food — Don’t come here for fine dining. This is comfort food! We’ve had the goulash, bratwurst and berner wurstel sausages which were tasty. The sides of spaetzle and mashed potato were a little questionable, however, the red cabbage and Sauerkraut were good.
** Beer– A few other reviewers complained about the lack of variety, however with 9 German draught beers and a choice of sweet or sour cider, this is a solid step above your average UK bar!
** Ambiance — it’s loud and its bright, this is not a place to bring a date. The staff all wear traditional German costume and there has always been a good vibe throughout the week.
** Service — I’ve found service to very good each time I’ve been.
** Prices — Very reasonable for large portions.
3 stars is a quite harsh for this place so have gone with 4 stars.

Okay, my three stars is about the conflict I’m feeling. Let me try to explain:
1. It’s totally German, but really only downstairs. Down there, it feels just like a proper beer hall. Upstairs, not so much.
2. Basically NO gluten-​free options. I know that bread and beer are going to be out if you’re GF, but the fact that even the sausages have gluten is disappointing. In the US, I expect such a case, but the UK was usually better.
3. German food is great, but the sausages were a bit over-​cooked, and the curry could use a bit more kick.
4. So nice to have real German beer, but not a ton of options to choose from.
So… it’s kind of mixed. It’s definitely German, if that’s what you’re going for.

We stopped in at 9:40pm hoping to have a quick beer on the walk back to our hotel. Before we could even say hi, the first thing out of the waitress’s mouth was «I’m sorry, we’re closing in 10 minutes.»
I’ve never heard of a place that closes at 9:50 before… Patrons currently at the bar had several beers on their tables in varying states of completion. As I opened my mouth to explain we just want a quick drink, my attempt was met with an icy «closed means closed» stare, so I didn’t even bother.
If you feel the need to expose yourself to such friendly customer service, be sure to arrive at this gem at least 30 minutes (hope that’s enough for you, waitress!) ahead of their purported closing time for that day.

— located right opposite from Fenchurch Street rail station and just 200 feet from Tower Hill tube station — two levels (street level and basement) with room for 300 guests — nice atmosphere with brick walls, wooden floors and modern architecture in combination with traditional and modern Bavarian design elements — kind service (in Bavarian clothing) — German beer and food: food is okay, not the best, but the Obazda (4.90) and especially the Brezeln (2 pieces: 1.95) are rellay tasty Conclusion: We go there for watching German football (Champions League, DFB Pokal, etc.) and therefore the atmosphere is really good and it is nice to have real Bavarian beer! Main courses could be better quality!

Stopped in here after a great time skating at the nearby Tower of London Ice Rink.
They’ve got a great German beer selection & some really yummy nibbles including pretzels, sauerkraut, currywurst and other sausages.
The waitresses wear silly outfits and the lighting is a bit too bright, but overall this place was alright. Not too terribly priced for being in the city and was a good place to have some german nibbles and a giant Erdinger.

In no world is this a 2.5 star* bar.
Beer in steins! Pretzel! Schnitzel! Jagermeister! Lederhosen!
This is one classy-​ass establishment when you compare it to the original Bavarian Beerhouse on City Road near Old Street. I mean, the water doesn’t come streaming out the side of toilets when you flush them, there’s natural daylight AND there’s not a bit of Astroturf in sight.**
LONG LIVE THE BAVARIAN BEERHOUSE.
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*Current at time of writing
**For the record, I love the original Bavarian Beerhouse too.

Stop #10 — Tower Hill
Another attempt failed (this time at the Hogshead) so we kept moving on to the Bavarian Beerhouse. I’ve seen it a few time and never went in, and I still can’t speak for the food, but it’s basically like a bastard child of Oktoberfest and Revolutions.
You can get your beer in steins (although they don’t have much in the way of true German beer) and you can also get a set of schnapps shots tasting in for a fairly decent price (don’t ask me what is was… I’m impressed I remembered schnapps). You get 6 flavours on a paddle (sound like anything?) and you can go to town. We ordered a couple of paddles and knocked them back in no time at all. They weren’t that strong but they were pretty tasty.
I proceeded to build a tower out of the shot glasses which was then knocked down by someone who didn’t think it through (although I guess I didn’t either) and one of the glasses shattered. Luckily, the staff took it in stride and didn’t charge us!
Overall, I would have liked to see if the schnitzel was any good, but as far as drinks it’s a far cry from the beerhalls of Munich so I think I’ll wait for my annual pilgrimage instead. 2 stars normally but an extra star for the service (and not yelling at us).
Drink of choice: Schnapps. In a series of shots.

Happened on this place while wandering around London. Stopped in for a stein of beer. Didn’t order any food, but the beer was good.

The Bavarian Beerhouse is like no other German pub I’ve been to before. The staff are clad in traditional Bavarian outfits: corduroy lederhosen and jaunty hats for the guys; Dirndls (I had to look it up!) for the women. But rather than Bavarian folk music being piped out from the speakers, Abba tunes played constantly for the time I was there.
The beer range is pretty disappointing, with just Erdinger, Krombacher, Kaltenberg and a couple of others to choose from. A shame, considering how much excellent and diverse beer Germany produces. Still, I do have this place to thank for introducing me to Erdinger’s impressive Alcohol-​free beer, the best Alcohol-​free beer I’ve tasted so far. As one might expect, it’s possible to order the beer here in one litre ‘Steins’
Food-​wise, the Bavarian Beerhouse offers a variety of sausages, schnitzels, chips and a few other dishes. I only tried the chips, which were okay.
The bottom-​line: a pub offering a limited range of Bavarian beer and food, served by people in striking traditional Bavarian costume. A-​OK.

Paint me impressed — our server spoke perfect British –and– seemingly perfect German. At least, I couldn’t distinguish between her authentic-​sounding pronunciation of German food and drink items and my expectations of how they should sound. I’ll have to bring a native Bavarian with me next time…
Cold and famished, we rolled in here looking for pints and chips (or in this case, Helles and pommes), and we obtained both aplenty. Admittedly, the Nürnberger Bratwürstl sounded way more exciting than it turned out — an anaemic-​looking pretzel arrived with three mini-​links on a generous bed of delicious sauerkraut. Oddly, the cabbage with caraway ended up being the most tasty food item on the plate. Not a good sign.
Similarly, the toilets could use a little improvement. In addition to having a distinctly urine-​laden odor, the hand dryer was pretty questionable. Sadly, I’m starting to get used to the latter here in London, but it didn’t win any points with me.
All in all, the friendly and efficient service won me over. Well, that… and leaving tipsy and full. Now, if only they had an oom-​pah band, we could be reaching for that fourth star!

Five of us (three ordering food).
Two of us ordered schnitzel. 20 minutes after ordering they informed us that they’d run our of schnitzel. Once they finally brought our ‘alternative’ schnitzel they realised they’d forgotten the third order. When the ‘Münchener Schweinebraten’ arrived, it looked and tasted like it had come out of a can.
We did complain and we got *one* free beer.
We did not pay the service charge.