SW9

So — this is the bar right by our netball courts, so its our obvious choice, and we always look a little out of place in our kit.
Atmosphere — café/​bar but the size of a café — a few comfy seats — but a cute small places, i’ve never had the food but the cake (wheaty) i’ve been assured is yum.
The drinks are nice — albeit pricey for a mid week drink.
The staff are friendly, and engaging — which always gives it a star.
As a midweek — post netball workout — it could do with being a few pence cheaper, but it suits, nice people, nice small café/​bar type feel– nice.

Waiter sneezed into a tea towel, then folded it up and hung it from the rack on the side of the bar. We shan’t return.

Stopped in for a drink before heading to the market for dinner (oh Honest Burger, I still dream about you every night). It was mercifully un-​crowded at 7pm on a Thursday, making it easy to order our pints of kronenburg (£4 each, if I remember) and even get a seat.
It wasn’t too loud to have a conversation, also a plus, and I liked the range in seating options (though once packed I can see how those chairs would turn into a nightmare). A small patio had heat lamps and I enjoyed watching a group of girlfriends chat over a bottle of wine and catch up on their knitting out there. Made it feel like a comfy locals’ spot.
It’s tucked away off the high street, just across the tube station. It was more lounge than pub, which was a nice change. For a meet-​up spot and kill-​time-​with-​a-​pint spot, it did just fine. I’d probably come back again for that purpose.

Poshy poshy blah bar.
It’s nice enough. It’s small. It’s overcrowded. It’s full of, I dunno, punters. It’s not much to look at or much to drink at or much of anything. Uninspired cocktails.
So, really, just head round the corner of Coldharbour Lane to the Satay Bar. It’s cheaper and flasher and lovelier and better food and you’ll find a seat.
There’s not much *wrong* with SW9, but neither is there that much right with it.

It was friendly, inviting and cosy.

A cute little place. It’s a struggle having to walk by without nipping in on my way home from work before jumping on the bus up the hill… I usually give in on a Fri day eve or sat afternoon — just a quick one!

Contrary to popular belief, this bar does not deserve it’s current low rating. Granted it is small but I believe it depends on how you look at it. Ask yourself this question, are you a glass half full or glass half empty kinda gal/​guy?
You say tomahto, I say tomato. You say small, I jolly well say cozy. I will agree that the space probably could benefit you the skills of an interior designer but … what better excuse to cwtch (pronounced cootch) up next to the hot piece of ass your with, and getting better acquainted in this intimate venue — ding dong!
The staff are delightful, it has a fair sized seated outside area that is mainly dominated by smoker, which is not great, if you’re partial to breathing air. Despite that, one of the very endearing feature of the bar is it hidden location just off of Brixton’s main strip. Sometimes getting away from the noise and the busy people traffic of the high street is just what the doctor ordered. Well that and a big glass of anything alcoholic!
I haven’t eaten here and it isn’t the sort of place that I personally would eat at. I’ve seem other peoples food and it looks ok. Nothing special and not exceptional portions either.
Finally, I think the cocktails are good. Think, because I always start with Prosecco and then move on to the cocktails there after. As you can imagine after a few glass of bubbles I’m a bit squiffy so they could be feed me paraffin and I’d be none the wiser. What a cheap date!

had coffee there a few years ago and it was nice but cant comment on anything else really but ive heard its a fab place now so give it a try :)

Don’t bother with this place. The café is nothing special and the food is simply awful. The café would merit ²⁄₅ stars, as it is ok., but the food is enough to out anyone off. I had the worst burger I’d payed for in years here. The meat was cheap and crap.
There’s cool places to hang out in Brixton and much better places to eat, so don’t go to SW9 bar!

Situated close to the tube station and also Brixton Academy, this is great place for pre-​show drinks on a gig night.
It’s quite a small bar but serves tasty food and snacks, has a great selection of wines/​spirits/​beers and even a pot of mulled wine (seasonal, of course!)
When I was in there I saw people on dates, groups of friends meeting, people on their own with some dinner and some work or a book. This is a versatile place with a relaxed atmosphere (evidenced by the unisex loos!)

What a funny little place SW9 is. Tucked away off the main drag of the (let’s be honest) quite hellish Brixton HIgh Street, this small bar /​restaurant is a funny creature. It seems a bit embarrassed about it’s gay status — the only sign being a small rainbow sticker behind the bar. And it can’t quite work out if it wants to be a lounge lizards paradise or a bustling bistro. Sadly while trying to juggle both — it fails pretty miserably on both counts.
My first main issue with SW9 is the space. They need a redesign — and fast. The bar is stupidly positioned so that everyone who enters immediately walks straight into the back of the queue for the bar. Tables are squeezed together within an inch of their lives, and worst of all they’ve tried to cram in overly large chairs and a couple of sofas in an attempt to give it that ‘lounge’ feel. By cramming in so much the place feels frantic and when full completely overwhelming.
Drinks were slightly overpriced for the area. A single gin coming in at almost £5 and a small glass of pinot grigio at £5. The food I have to say was a lot better. A wide range of bar type food, I had pasta with smoked salmon strips, crème fraîche and broccoli, my friend opted for the fishcakes. My pasta was pretty basic, for some reason it had lemon peel scattered liberally on top, yet no actual taste of lemon existed in the sauce. The penne used was supermarket standard, but the broccoli was crunchy and mercifully undercooked — thank god. The menu prices are probably the best thing about SW9 — many main meals are well under £8, perfect for a recession.
Now, I never normally use Unilocal to moan about the service that I’ve received and I’m not going to go on a full-​on rant, or give you a blow by blow account. All I will say is that a member of staff was really, really, short with me when I tried to order food, verging on majorly rude. I was quite taken aback. Needless to say that will be lasting memory of SW9 bar. A shame really, as if it’s quiet and the staff aren’t so stressed, it has the potential to be an urban retreat in one of my least favourite areas of town.

Got here around 6:30pm, to grab some dinner and a drink before a show. At 6:30 there were plenty of tables available and it was very mellow, as a bonus they have a 2 courses for 2 people for 15 quid total special going at the moment.
By 7:30 the place was packed with people. Dinner took a while to arrive, but we weren’t in any hurry. The food was decent, really just your normal pub food (burgers, moules, chicken, shepherd’s pie) but they do have multiple veggie options.
Sleek interior, only lagers on tap, small place so it felt cozy and more personal than a big boozer. In fact, it doesn’t feel like a pub at all, much more like a café.

SW9 is a cosy little bar situated in a none-​too-​inviting alleyway just off the high street next to M&S. The indoor area is small to say the least, and they’ve packed as many chairs into the space as can fit leaving no option but to take a seat here.
The happy hour offers are pretty good and seem to be extending more and more as time goes by which is great.
There’s an outdoor area around the bar itself though the view around you isn’t particularly pleasant, so more suitable for smokers than anything else.
The food is tasty and the staff have been friendly each time I’ve been here.

Ideally located near Brixton tube, and late night, so good for post-​Brixton Academy drinks, the SW9 bar is an average South London winebar.
Many drinks, fair prices and plenty of indoor and outdoor (heated) seating, the bar manages to keep out many of Brixton’s rougher clientele. The bar is usually peaceful, but busy especially late evenings and on weekends. The bar is nicely spread out meaning it’s quite easy to get a drink.
The barstaff are a little rough — i’ve seen people be forcedly removed from the bar for being noisy, and in doing so knocking over other clientelles drinks, with no sort of apology from staff, but it’s certainly a lot posher and safer than many of Brixons drinking establishments.