We went to Light Bar on a friday for 'after-work' drinks where it gathers a fairly big crowd.. It's a funky bar, great trendy decor, however the downfalls are a poor selection of beer and wine - with no value for money whatsoever.
The sound system seems non-existant - unless I require hearing aids!
The bouncers are a family of rude brothers/cousins itching for a fight. They alone, are enough to turn you off from going there.
Nice place for a quiet drink - but dont make a night of it, as your sure to be thrown out.
Shoreditch and neighbouring Hoxton in London's east end have changed a lot over the past few years, so I have been informed. Once a byword for slums, crime and poverty the area has become a mecca for artists and other creative types, then a trendy place for city workers to live and socialise. Numerous trendy restaurants, bars and art galleries have sprung up around the area to cater for its new professional inhabitants.. I experienced one of these trendy bars The Light Bar on Shoreditch High Street by accident and it was an accident that I shall not be repeating in a hurry.
The Light Bar sits in a position just on the edge of the City less than ten minutes walk from Liverpool Street and Old Street stations. The bar gets its name from the building it is housed in which is an old electric light station. The building has been saved from demolition by developers and the landlords are still fighting to preserve this piece of industrial heritage.
We found this venue by accident last Tuesday. We had gone for a walk and were getting rather peckish so some kind of refreshment was needed .Noticing the 2 courses for £12 sign outside the Light Bar we decided to venture inside to see if anything would tickle our fancy and our taste buds.
My first impressions were not good. I almost walked straight out of the door as I instantly decided that the Light Bar was not my kind of drinking establishment at all. I really did not like the vibe of the place. This maybe because it was a quiet Tuesday evening rather than a Friday or Saturday (I have read this is a real places for the Suits to unwind on a Friday evening). The decor of the bar is minimalistic and stark. Think bare bricks and high ceilings. The place really reminded me of a derelict building with some tables and chairs plonked in the middle and some sofas around the edges of the room. At the end of the room stood a bar with fairy lights strung above it. I just found it cold and desolate. There is supposed to be a smaller lounge which might have been more me but I did not find it. There is also a separate restaurant which looked as stylish and desolate as the main bar and a small cobbled outside eating area where most of the clientèle were gathered enjoying a lovely spring evening's ala fresco drinking.
You can not judge a book by its cover or a bar by its decor so we decided to stay. There are two menus available at the Light Bar , the restaurant menu and the bar one but we only saw the latter. I have had a look at their website and thir restaurant menu sounds not too bad. Typical gastropub fare with pretentious descriptions. Starters cost from £5 whilst mains are around about the £12-£16 mark. Anyway we had a good look at he bar menu which had a nice selection of food from salads to sandwiches, nachos and burgers. I selected a bean burger for £5.50 whilst Duskman went for the beefburger. This pierce did not include the chips which were an extra £2.50 . I felt this was a bit much but just hoped the burgers would be worth the money we paid for them.
The bar stocks a fairly decent selection of bottled beers, lagers and ciders. (I cannot comment on the wine list or any spirits as I was not looking for any). There were some drought pumps on the bar including Kroneneburg Blanc but when I ordered half a pint of it I( decided half a pint would be enough as i reckoned a pint would be well over the £3 mark) I was told there was none. Instead I selected a bottle of Fruli strawberry beer which was £3 for a very small bottle (275 mls I think) and Duskman selected a £4 bottle of Magners cider. I half expected that knowing what London (and specifically what City prices) are like. Our bill for burgers chips and beer came to over £22. If we had gone to Weatherspoons our bill for a pint of real ale, burger and chips would have been less than £10.
The service was not too bad if a bit unmemorable. The food came pretty quickly after about ten or fifteen minutes of waiting. I wasn't that impressed with my burger at all it came in a standard burger bun with Gruyeres cheese, tomato and sweetcorn relish. The bean burger itself was indistinct. It could have been a frozen Birds Eye for all I know. I remember having nicer,more flavorsome ones in my old student union. The Gruyeres on top of it was rubbery and added very little to the burger whilst the sweetcorn relish felt like frozen sweetcorn added to the burger. I absolutely adore sweetcorn and have it as a stand by as a vegetable and throwing in chilis and pasta dishes but do no like it in burgers particularly. I thought the burger was poor value for money. To be honest I think i preferred the Weatherspoon's veggie burger which has a nice salsa accompaniment. The chips fared better as we got a nice big basket full of crisp, fat not too greasy chips. I would say these were the best part of the whole Light Bar experience.
We did not stay for another drink as it really was not my scene and hot footed to the aforementioned Weatherspoons for a reasonable priced pint or three of beer at their real ale festival.
The toilets were up a flight of stairs Ii am not sure if there was any disabled provision or not. The toilets from what I remember were cleanish and not too bad but like most things in this bar unmemorable.
The Light Bar does have club nights during the weekend but as I am not int dance music and my clubbing days are over this is not a reason for me to visit the Light Bar. I'm not a Suit, 'I m not a mediay creative type and I am not a clubbed so I think I will be steering clear of the Light Bar in future.
The Light Restaurant & Bar
233 Shoreditch High St,
020 7247 8989
233 Shoreditch High St, London, E1 6PJ