Southwark Rooms

Went here with a group of friends as it was on taste card and was convenient for those that lived in North or south London. The food was excellent however the service was rubbish. The waitresses really did not like their jobs. It was difficult to attract their attention when we wanted more drinks or food. They brought us the bill even though we hadn’t asked for it. They just wanted to get rid of us so they could attract a younger clientele. The ladies toilets were GROSS and when I complained to the Manager he said ‘call the police’ seriously don’t go here

Friendly and non pretentious, the Rooms offer an alternative hang out place to the South Bank suit and tie crowd who’d typically gravitate to The Refinery to its west and the Borough Market to its east.

Can get a little noisy with music and if windows open for summer, traffic noise.
Service was a little sketchy seemed to forget about my chocolate brownie after waiting for a while and asking for the bill, it appeared but was not worth the wait.
Lets back up a little, I had ordered the ribs and chips. Great chips but not so good ribs. It definitely not the fall of the bone type which left you nibbling and tugging at the meat. They did provide a finger bowl which is usually missing when ribs are served.
The restaurant was not very busy when we went. The chairs are not the best for sitting around the table eating, more the sit back and have a drink type (especially if you are not particularly tall!).
The noise level as a tad too high for a good conversation and someone on the controls definitely wanted to ‘pump the volume’ up as it went very loud for a bit until I frowned at the lady in the bar who indicated they would turn it down. As we were literally the only people sitting in side I thought this a bit much to have night time disco music full blast.
Maybe because it was not busy, the service got a bit slack towards the end of our night. All in all, an alright place to come, would not come here if my focus was on a good meal but more on a drink with perhaps some food if we fancy it type of place.

I met a friend here on Thursday night and we had a meal. I had looked up their website and it seemed really fancy! It was not fancy, it was actually a little tatty — it felt like they had taken photos just after refurbishing, and now it had actually been lived in for a year or so.
It was pretty packed, but we had reserved a small table. The table service was a bit miss rather than hit — we had to practically grab the waitress and drag her over to get served when we wanted something. Hence I sat without a drink for most of the night.
I had the Tuna Niçoise Salad, which was ok — the tuna was overcooked, as it was billed as ‘seared’ but was in fact done all the way through and therefore a bit tasteless.
The thing that really irritated me was, as the huge windows at the front were open, the smoking space was essentially an extension of the main bar. Smokers were actually at the next table, although they were technically ‘outside’. I came home smelling of stale cigarette smoke and had to wash my hair before going to bed.
I probably wouldn’t go back.

Nice bar with plenty of seating and standing place. Thursday night is ladies night which means 2 for 1 cocktails all night — a pretty good deal. I wasn’t really paying much attention to the food but the vegetable cannelloni was decent and reasonably priced. The bar staff were very efficient, friendly and knowledgeable. One in particular was very good at encouraging people to drink!
There’s a huge event space downstairs which looked pretty cool; even without a booking I’d say this is a good place to come with a big group.

I had a very pleasant evening here a couple of weeks ago with B, catching up with the very lovely Jenny who was visiting from The Hague.
It’s a game of two halves at the Southwark Rooms; downstairs there is a fairly largish bar which was pretty busy and quite loud, populated by local suits on our visit. Upstairs is more focused on eating which is where we had booked a table in the subtle 1970’s inspired room (exposed brickwork, purple printed wallpaper, chrome and leather).
We arrived early to take advantage of the 2 for 1 deal on the cocktails. We tried a few and they were all fine but nothing out of the ordinary. I don’t think I would be happy paying full price outside of the happy hour and if I was looking for an evening drinking cocktails there are many other bars I would rather frequent.
However, as a place for a few glasses of wine, some decent food and a good old natter the Southwark Rooms fits the bill. On the snackage front we started by sharing a platter which you can put together yourself from the small plate selection of the menu. Nice hummus, tasty prawns and succulent chicken all hitting the spot as grazing food. These plates seemed very popular with our fellow dinners and are a good combination with a bottle of wine if you don’t fancy a full on meal.
Jenny and I moved on to a very decent fish and chips; the fish had a nice crispy batter with firm fresh fish and the French fries were pretty good. B had the chicken schnitzel which seemed to go down very well. All three portions were on the large side and meant we failed to clear the final hurdle and passed on the offer of dessert.
On the wine front we had the reasonably priced Castillo Del Moro Sauvignon Blanc which was crisp, cold and drinking very well.
The Southwark Rooms accept the «Taste» card which meant we got 50% off of the total food bill; making this a very nice, reasonably priced place for a meet up on a school night.

I tend to visit the Southwark Rooms on a Friday evening after work as it is that little bit more lively than a normal pub.
I had a great night here last week; there was a DJ spinning some cool funky house tunes in the basement bar and the upper level was completely in party mode with a fantastic range of cocktails priced at 2−4−1.
The food is pretty standard bar food but still very nice and the chips are great! The staff are very friendly and enjoy helping you chose a suitable cocktail!
They also have regular film viewings and a comedy night on Wednesday evenings which see some great unknown comedians. All in all a great bar and certainly worth a visit.