Wenlock and Essex

This place is pretty good — decent size and although it gets busy, you don’t feel on top of each other. Standard drink prices and the usual choices. The dance floor is great and light’s up with different colours. Not a bad place to go for a few or finish off at.

I came here for a colleagues leaving do and was surprised with the place. From the outside the pub looks a lot smaller than what it is inside — a bit like a tardis. In order to get inside you have to go through a big revolving door which could be quite problematic if you’ve had a few!
The pub is rather dimly lit which was a bit hard to get used to having come in from the light. The drinks are reasonably priced with a good atmosphere. If you take a trip down to the toilets you will be pleasantly surprised as they have created and interesting scene in a sort of window display with a stuffed crow holding a teaspoon, fork in a candle holder, arrows through a lampshade, claw marks through the wallpaper and a ouija board. It’s very hard to describe but a must see if you make a trip downstairs!

This venue is like a club for teenagers on weekends, nothing special. Busy comes from location

I like to feel valued where I eat. I did not feel valued here. It’s like the place is run by kids. Nobody seems to take charge! I walk in and stand there waiting to be greeted and sat to a table, nope so I picked my own place to sit. No staff members came to my table for orders. Had to hunt down a staff member behind the bar. I ordered the pulled pork burger which was lovely apart from the fact there was no pork on the burger. I was given no knifes, forks or tissues either. Asked twice but may as well talk to the wall.
Overall: give it a miss unless you like being ignored.

The Burger was really good with a 30 day dried aged beef Patty, juicy and delicious. The cheese that was on top of it was chewy and full of flavour.
My favourite side was the sweet potato wedges. They were made with fresh sweet potatoes and added a drizzle of honey on top.
The other sides were the crab fries, which was so random and didn’t make any sense. the cauliflower fritters were mediocre
The restaurant is pub style so was very very noisy. If you’re looking for a place to talk don’t go here.

Came here for the first time on a Saturday night and boy oh boy was it busy! The place was bustling with lots of energy and seemed like a good spot for a Saturday night. Also, Wenlock and Essex has a great selection of beers on tap which was a welcome surprise.
Unfortunately I’d actually met friends who I hadn’t seen in a while and wanted to catch up with them, so we didn’t stay too long (very loud and slow at the bar) but I would definitely head back.

Remember The Roundabout Stop on Playdays waaay back in the day? Well imagine putting a pub inside it and you get an idea of the quirky fairground-​style interior and lighting in here, complete with revolving door to get in. I came for a mate’s birthday drinks and it does a good job of having one foot in ‘casual pint at the pub’ land and the other in ‘parrrtaaaaay!!’ town (cue a separate room with multi-​coloured dancefloor for the clubbers).
Before that though you’ll want to warm up in the pretty massive bar area — my mate had reserved a space, and good job as it was heaving on a Friday eve! Interesting crowd made the queue to the bar more bearable — notably mixed by age and (shameless) sterotype, from bespectacled hipsters to preppies to more orange essex types (maybe it’s the name?!).
Either way it was one of those nights where you don’t realise you’re speaking much louder than usual over the music/​crowd until your sore throat in the morning. Drinks line-​up was fine — one thing I remember noticing was a bigger beer selection than usual.
Strange incident towards the end of the night was quite a turn-​off though. We had the tables nearest to the door (though we were using them to dump bags rather than to sit down). Around midnight someone suddenly noticed a suspicious brown ‘deposit’ on the chair nearest to the entrance, which I’m really hoping was mud (though several people claimed it was something else!). Cue the distinctly unimpressed woman on the door wiping it up with a plastic bag then taking the chair away. Her night must’ve gone from bad to worse half an hour later when a girl then threw up in the corner. Dangerously close to my coat. Which on the plus side made it easier to decide to call it a night!
Sooo yes — lively place, interesting clientele and cloakroom use comes highly recommended.

This bar is in the heart of Angel /​Islington, is about a quick 5 minute walk from Angel tube station, and is a great size and full of charm.
I visited here recently for the first time for my friend’s music night in the separate music room where there is funky coloured dancefloor that lights up along with half naked dancing girls lit up in neon.
We went on a Wednesday night and it was pretty lively and the service was quick and friendly and had a great bottle of red wine.
I would definitely return and do recommend.

Benefits:
quick service even at peak time (Sat/​Fri nights)
Half decent toilets, for a bar/​pub in London of this size, not always easy to find
Good food options
Good music
Negatives:
Often attracts an ‘odd’ crowd
You are likely to come into contact with the above on the dance floor
They really need an extra glass collector around the dancefloor area.

The Sloppy Joe burger at Wenlock & Essex is a culinary science. The burger meat is a fantastic braised short rib and was cooked perfectly to medium as ordered. The flavor packed meat is complemented with the acidity of pickles, a grilled tomato, and then is neutralized by a creamy melted cheese. A sloppy joe reduction adds a bit of a savory/​sweet element to round out the flavor experience, which makes this burger one of a kind. For taking a gamble and winning big the Sloppy Joe burger deserves a fair share of credit. However, I believe it is a jackpot amongst burgers with a one of a kind taste attempted by only those with a mastery of culinary methods.

I met friends here before heading to the House of Wolf. Sort of wish we’d stayed here.
Full of fun folk, dancing to 60’s soul — what more can you ask for from a bar?
High point: lively, fun, great music
Downside: Expensive, can get v busy
I want to go back and check out The Circus.

A great bar where I enjoy having drinks in the afternoon.
However, the music gets so loud in the evening (as, sadly, in many places in London…), that it’s less appealing then…
The local beers are great though, and so is the Service, and the size of the bar.

The roof of this bar puts me in mind of a fairground. I’d been warned by friends that, not unlike a fairground, it was quite loud at this bar. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, most of the noise was coming from people’s conversations.
Lots of interesting beers in different methods of distribution. One of the ales being the legendary Redemption Big Chief (the other was Growler Bitter (Growler Brewery).

Went in for sunday lunch. Quiet despite being mothers day. Food was OK, really good yorkshire pudding and roast veg, overdone beef.
Service was so so but it is a pub.
Decent range of beers but did seem a bit overpriced
DJ was playing relaxed tunes, perfect for a Sunday, think Jimmy Cliff etc.

On the plus side I felt like I was in a giant merry go round!
The wallpaper around the back of the bar and all this crazy red and gold and flowers on the ceiling and a rotating door to boot.
On the downside they don’t know how to serve food in a timely manner. Or how to compensate for such behavior.
Ok so it was Sunday and the assistant chef was in charge of brunch. And you’re just a bartender who had come in for a coffee before shift and they asked you to start tending early and you don’t quite know what’s going on. That’s no excuse to keep us waiting over an hour for food that was promised way sooner. And with what we thought was an understanding from them that we were on a schedule and that if they were going to be late I would cancel my order and we could grab something somewhere else.
Plus the food we got wasn’t that good. My chips were good… rumble rumble but Im still not happy!
Come here for expensive pints and chips. I don’t like when rewriting bad experiences make you angry again. grrrr.

Two stars because it has a lovely interior, most of the people we spoke to were nice, and the food was okay… once we finally got it.
The three of us arrived at 1:30 Sunday afternoon, hoping to have a roast and a pint before seeing a nearby show at 3 pm. The pub wasn’t crowded at all, and most tables looked to have been served already so we figured we had enough time. Our friend ordered and paid for her drink and her meal. My husband started to place our order when he was told he’d have to wait 20 minutes before the kitchen would even consider taking in another one. Hmm. We decided to wait and see rather than confuse the situation by requesting money back and going elsewhere.
At 1:50, we asked and were told we could place our order, so we did.
At 2:10, our friend got her fish and chips (which smelled delicious).
At 2:30, we started to get a bit worried. So we asked when we could expect our order. It will be ready in five minutes, we were told. Okay, so we’ll have a slightly rushed meal, but we’ll make it to the play in time.
At 2:45, I was about ready to pitch a fit when our two roasts finally came out… both of which were lacking gravy, but considering how damned long it had already taken I was not going to risk bringing up the problem. We wolfed down our food and were out the door by 2:55. No thanks to the Wenlock and Essex, but we did make it to the theatre just in time and enjoyed a fantastic show.
If you have no other plans, don’t mind waiting for a kitchen to get its act together, and don’t mind returning food when it comes out wrong, then this pub is a good place to spend time. I probably won’t be going back.

Popped in for a quick pint before heading to dinner a couple of weeks ago. For just over £4 I had a reasonably decent Camden-​brewed weiss beer in one of the booths to the left of the bar in an area that felt like the interior of a small theatre, which made for quite a cosy atmosphere.
From the few other customers it seems the place attracts a hipster crowd with its £12 Sunday Roast, wine at £15 & above per bottle, 9 taps + guest ales & £7.50^ cocktails. Most spirits are also stocked with 4 of each type listed on the menu. The music was a refreshing mix of old tunes along the Johnny Cash, Del Shannon etc. vein.
Not sure I’d make a habit of drinking here if I was based locally but I imagine it’s pretty lively at the weekends so probably a good place to come to with a group of mates.

I came in here about 4pm in the afternoon, it was quiet but gradually filled up by about 6pm. To begin with there were some extremely loud men having a pint shouting their heads off; despite the place being massive, I could hear their swearing and shouting everywhere and couldn’t escape it. Luckily they left and the place became far more civilised.
The drinks are not so cheap but this is Islington and this place appears to be the sort of bar that gets jam packed on a weekend judging by set up of the place.
Food looked OK but I didn’t have any. I think there are nicer places to have a drink in Islington but it’s OK and if you have a large group then there are plenty of big tables to cater for you.

Seriously what’s with this place? Is it the fact that it has Essex in the name of the pub that it attracts the twattiest people on the face of this earth?
May be it’s just me, but wearing super tight sequined clothing and unable to walk in hooker heels and abusing people about the language you speak in (overheard in the toilet, «why can’t you learn a proper language like English instead of Italian or Spanish?»)
With all this tackiness (and I suppose in part our self sense of superiority and snobbishness), we were all pleasantly surprised with how amazing the food was. My fish and chips did come with some type of funky deconstructed tartar sauce, but it was just the right amount crisp, fresh and well seasoned– all in all one of the best I’ve tasted. Everyone else liked their food as well.
Finally, it came to only 60 squids for 6 mains and 3 drinks– now that’s pretty affordable!
Oh And I will say this now: Gym totally needs running in heels lesson. There is nothing more tiring than running around in 4 inch heels. And the end results– killer legs AND you can wear high heels without looking like a cheap hooker. Total Score!

Taking the place of The Living Room, a hop skip and a jump from Angel tube, the Wenlock & Essex opened this week.
It’s online blurb promises live music, beers, cocktails and ‘Satan’s Circus’! OOH! And it also has a tummy-​rumble-​inducing range of affordable pub-​style food in its restaurant, run by Michelin-​trained head chef Will Pugh no less.
We were lucky enough to be invited to the launch. I say invited, it was utter CARNAGE! Best night i’ve had in ages! There were hundreds of people there; but, as with the tardis, it’s exterior belied it’s interior and though the booze was free-​flowing ALL NIGHT it was actually pretty okay to navigate the crowds and to get served at the bar!
As I think i just mentioned the booze was flowing VERY freely, and I’m still battling the subsequent hangover, so bear with me if the details are somewhat hazy.
What i can remember is that the space is HUGE, i means MASSIVE and there are (thankfully, for my work-​0weary limbs) plenty of booths for more intimate drinking/​eating, larger, long tables with bench seating against the open floor to ceiling windows — perfect for groups and which make you feel like you’re almost outside when you’re inside — with the requisite outdoor tables/​seats for smokers.
The ladies toilets are a dream (can’t speak for the gents i’m afraid), always a good sign!
Oh, and check out the backroom: a sleazy porn speakeasy of a hideaway — let’s hope they do lots of secret lock-​ins!
Match this with friendly (and super pretty — boys & girls natch) bar staff and laid back security Barworks (the brains behind Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, The Diner and the Black Heart in Camden) have done it again! What more could you want. I can’t think of a better way to quench my summer heatwave induced thirst.
Being a canny lass I have discovered vouchers online for 50% off your a la carte food bill from 20^th July to 20^th August!