Decour and music were awesome and a few of the locals were a laugh.
Must admit though bar staff didn't come across as the friendliest of people. Made it feel a bit like you were doing something wrong by ordering a drink.
Shame really as other than that the place could have been really good.

Biggest poser bar ever! The staff care more about their appearance and tips then serving drinks! They've got no manners and have no tolerance of people that don't dress they way they perceive they should, very teenager behaviour! The manager behaviours and resembles a goblin but she thinks she's a top model!!!! Getting served at the bar is painfully slow! If you expect a metal community this is not the place to go!!!! The sound system sounds muffled and is clearly in need of updating! Very disappointing!

I think this is possibly the best pub in the world. I have been coming to this pub since the middle 70's when they were still in Wardour Street. I have travelled the world and been into pubs all over the world, New York, San Francisco, Denver, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Nice, Cape Town, Durban Johannesburg, Lusaka, Cairo, Taipei and various other places...you get the picture. Whenever I used to come to London I would go to the "Fox" and just slip right into relaxation mode and feel totally at home. I love Rock music....also enjoy Blues and Metal, so the music is absolutely fine by me. The owner of the pub Patrick Begent (who used to be the manager at the old venue) is an artist and has an interest in various forms of art particularly modern metal sculpture and Goth related subjects. The art collection is hugely interesting. The people are always friendly the bar staff very good and prices are cheap for London. An excellent place for a night out with mates and you can get as loud as you like. I will be 60 years old this year and have no plans to stop coming to "The Fox". I wish Patrick and January many more successful years there. I won't say more about the venue and facilities others have covered it adequately.

The best fucking place in london!. Of course if U're into these Kind of music. The staff is brilliant! The Are all very polite,you get served in A second,excelent music! A Great place to go out, specialy if you want to meet good people! Keep on Rocking!

This was my first visit to The Fox while down in London visiting friends (I came from Liverpool) and you know what? It was probably one of the best nights out I've had. Love the decor of the place it gives it that real 'metal' and 'Hellish' feel just perfect for a metalhead like myself. I was in awe of the artwork on the walls and could see a lot work had been put into the place. The music was just awesome and people were friendly along with the bar staff. The security guys did a grand job of turning the nob heads away and they too were friendly and I felt very safe. Ladies toilets were minging and there was only one loo working but hey, that's all part of the fun and we had some cracking banter with the other 'queue-ees' Ale a bit pricey but that's what you expect in London.

All in all just an absolutely brilliant place and I'm going back in a few weeks! For those who reviewed this place as crap need their head seeing to.

I've never particularly listened to rock or metal much before, but some friends were going here so I went along and I'm glad I did, I had a brilliant time here. Contrary to what people say below I found the bar staff to be very friendly and involved in the music and atmosphere. I had to wait a short while to be served, but as you would in almost any pub in London on a Saturday night. I drank cider so couldn't comment on the beer but the cider was from the pump, was cold and tasted fine. I was a tad nervous going here, this not normally being my usual "scene" but I found everyone to be friendly, appreciating the music and having a good time. The ladies toilets were pretty manky but this was a small issue for a great night otherwise. The decor was good, lots of detail and even from someone who has limited knowledge on this kind of music, it was really good. I'm going back in 2 weeks!

I love going he with mates as we always have a mental metal time. Music is bloody loud and everyone that works there is a crazy mofo, they always make me laugh and have shots with us. Proper rock crowd here no pretentious little MTV posey whiners ( Spose that's why the last muppet to post don't like it there). DJs upstairs are fab too. Bogs are medieval but sod it can't have it all.

It's funny as this place is advertised as the most rocking bar in London with great staff and atmosphere.. Erm..no. The bar staff are really rude and have an attitude problem, the beer is lukewarm, the place is laoded with angry posers who look so pissed off you wonder why they are out. Trust me, stay well away. This place is not fun and full of angry depressed people.

Great rock pub with friendly staff. Been going here 2 years now and always feel welcome & safe!

I have been drinking at the Fox for the last 2 and have always found it quite impressive how much the bar staff actually put up with especially as the night goes on.! I find all the negative comments just an attempt to sabotage it's business and make some very nasty and uncalled for personal attacks on the fantastic staff. So what the toilets are a bit manky but I could name 10 other bars with worst and they aren't even rock bars - get over yourselves people its a great place to drink that plays great music. Rock on!

Always have to drop by this place whenever I'm in London, it's got a good vibe, there's decent music (I'm into Faster Pussycat, Turbonegro and the New York Dolls, think I heard all three bands in one night once) I personally think the bar staff are cool...

Yeah. If you dig rock and metal, a London night out ain't right without the Fox.

Love this place, lot of cry babies out there wouldn't change it for the world.

If you're post 30 don't come here expecting to walk in the intrepid fox because you will feel sadly disjointed as this is not the intrepid fox, it's a heavy metal theme pub full of posers and wannabe's run by the same man who once run a pub on Wardour street to perfection aslo called the intrepid fox...
On to the beer, it taste's like warmed up Thames Mud, it may be reasonably priced but I'd rather pay 20p more for a nice cold nice tasting beer than this slop...
On to the bar staff, they may seem cold and unfriendy, but this is a busy pub as it's the only true and propper metal pub this city has left so naturally they cant stop and have a nice "how is your life" and "how is your week goin" conversation with you, they have other people to serve not just you...
The Intrepid Fox is not a bad pub, it's a good pub but it's lost it's way a bit in the last few years

This bar has personality oozing out of every possible orifice. Amazing staff, music and atmosphere - it's places like this that make the London rock scene what it is!

This is the most rocking, kickass bar in London. You want a pint with some action? Come here. There's classic rock from the 80s all night, it's open till 3am weekends so you can party until the afterparty and you'll always see a familiar face. If you're new in town and you like rock or metal or punk, go to the Fox. It's been around for years, it's exactly as you'd imagine a gritty, notorious London sleazerock bar to be: full of oldtimers and hot pretty young things dressed to kill alike, overflowing with Jack and pumping classic and new tunes all night long. Everyone is super cool, even if you're not dressed like you fell out of Hollywood in 1983. Don't be put off by the hard-edged, tousled rockers havin a smoke outside. They're the most awesome people you'll meet tonight. Come in. Have a shot of Jager. If you don't like it I'll be surprised.

Lets get to the point, if you like metal come here, if you like decent priced drinks come here. intrepid fox is the place to be. the staff may seem to be horrible but you got it wrong, they are busy serving the will of the hungry belly of the patrons. come in at opening at 3 and spend some time to talking to them. In the end: the itrepid fox, come be metal and merry!! Hail be to the metal.

I would love to say the Intrepid Fox was a great place as there are not many hard rock/metal places to hang around.I thought the bar staff not liking us was personal but I feel better having read the other reviews. What the others have reported we experienced ourselves. At least the people drinking there were a nice bunch. What I couldn't believe, they had "tip" glasses with each their name on them and a note "tip me", well it's a pub, since when do we tip for getting our own drinks in the UK ? Must be a new thing since I left (we however do tip more in my country). I am someone who tips genereously so they lost out quite a bit on us as we were there 4 nights in a row.tip of the day: Only go to the loo if you need to !!

I was there on vacation a while back and it's a cool place if you're into the Gothic rock scene. I'm a big Mission UK kinda guy so there was a minimal common ground.

As noted by others, the staff are cold as ice but that said; it's par for the course in a pub like this. If you can't handle it, go a fake posh joint and be happy.

The bartender did top off my Guinness pints with a pour outlining a pentagram in the foam which was odd, yet perfectly symmetrical every time. The patrons were cool with us Californians.

Anyway, overall it's OK in my book and for the record... don't try to enter if you're dressed like a yuppie.

You'll get Jack The Ripper'd.

Cheers

I was denied entry as they have a 'no collared shirts' policy, although there were several people inside with collared shirts.

I can understand they want to keep a certain cliental, and I may not look the most alternative person in the world, but i play in a tech/death metal band, go to hellfest every year, and have probably been in more slayer pits than anyone else in the bar.

Nothing like a bunch of judgmental conformists to really set off a place.

The Intrepid Fox has a brilliant atmosphere, excellent music and some wicked decor. The bar is very comfortable if you want to relax and a club upstairs if you prefer to mosh. However, the staff are absolutely atrocious. They are incapable of serving in order, mouth off to customers at random and are unable to pour a pint without overfilling the head and then pouring half of it away. I certainly don’t expect rainbows and fluffy bunnies as another reviewer suggested but waiting 45 minutes for a badly pulled pint is unacceptable. Those who think the staffs’ poor performance is directed only to customers who don’t ‘fit in’ are woefully wrong. The level of rudeness is not proportional to appearance. If you visit then buy multiple drinks at the bar and take the staff with a pinch of salt.

Have been here several times and honestly don't see how so many people have an issue with the staff. I've always been served promptly, even when it's been busy, doorman have been nice enough - no problems - beer is reasonably priced and not watered down - No complaints come to mind.

Seriously guys, it's a rock pub, also realise that the place has always had vetted those who come in - if you're dressed like you've just come from a trendy wine bar, rocker or not, forget getting in and expect to be given a hard time. This is a true rockers pub and they want to keep it that way - there has always been an unwritten door policy in this regard, even when it was at it's old location.

If you want a true rock pub with good music, reasonable prices and cute patrons ;-) this may well be the place for you!

the best metal club I've been to, people calling it a rock bar, not sure why, I was listening to metal, rock is for the softies.

Camden is for trendies who wish they were alternative, Intrepid fox is by far the best place in London, in-fact its the only metal venue in my opinion, its sad how London lacks good alternative / metal venues.

On the night I went, I went all on my own, I'm South African, I spoke to the Doorman, the Bar-Staff did their job, I didn't really talk to them, I got my drink without any hassle, I met a Russian student who recognized a ex member of Cradle of Filth who who chatted to for about 10 minutes, they both left, I chatted to some other people, then met these two cool brothers from Norway who I ended up having a blast with the rest of the evening, along with meeting a few other new people.

I arrived here without knowing anyone, I had the best night here in my 4 years in the UK for a metal night out.

I think people who came here and have an issue with the club are obvious snobs who think they deserved VIP treatment, and are now sobbing that they never got it.

Next time I'm in London I'll be there again, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

As I said, music was good, there was Heavy Metal being played upstairs and thrash metal being played downstairs, and the the outside area was really chilled.

I went with my new friends to a little pub down the road when it closed for 2 hours, and as I said, best night ever.

Lol! Its A rock bar! Whadyah expect? Rainbows and fluffy bunny Rabbits?! Awww diddums, did they hurt your poor widdle feelings? I love The Intrepid Fox home away from home, they bar staff do there job well, and are cool once you get to know em. Don't listen to the cry babies, they obviously don't understand the meaning of rock n roll!\m/

Avoid this place if you can. My friends and I had a very bad experience a few weeks ago. nasty staff and warm beer :/
head off to camden!

I should have unticked all the stars on my preview review so to reiterate, go somewhere else like one of the reviewers have already mentioned (Crobar, Redroom, the ship) but avoid the inteprid fox. the police should visit that place every now and then

highly unpleasant place. full of mice to go with the staff. They are aggressive and boarding on the ridiculous. The old fox used to be such a cool place when in Soho. Those were true rockers and hardcore staff without the unnecessary, irrational and violent behaviour compared to these amateurs. the doorman with the blonde beard should be locked up!! One of my friends (who happens to be stunningly beautiful and loves heavy metal much to the annoyance of some of the ugly staff), was manhandled and thrown out for no apparent reason (?!) after popping out the door to see a friend. Hope they close the place down... it's a disgrace to true rockers!

Great venue, shame about the pretentious staff. As a previous reviewer said, watch out for pickpockets and unhelpful doormen. One tried to extort cash for my girlfriends passport that he stole and pretended to 'find'. After confronting him the blonde beard doorman (who knew the thief) came to the conclusion that me and my friends should be thrown out despite the thief being the one threatening with violence.

Only been there twice, but the second experience was quite a let down

Horrible. Just plain horrible.

The place has changed considerably from way back when; the service is bad AND THE BEER IS WORSE. Honestly. The beer is vile here. If you have a bright light on you, shine it on your pint if you are foolish enough to buy one - they have NOT cleaned the pipes in a lifetime.

The staff are troubled wannabe rock and roll band wannabe's and know not how to a)serve and b) pull a pint. They are distinctly hostile if you are not as metal as they are; i've got flesh tunnels and a septum piercing and yet that is not rock and roll enough because i'm not covered in awful scratch tattoos. They expect to be tipped for their incompetence and generally awful behaviour.

The bar patrons are comprised of nice sociable people and the dregs of humanity. You will have your pockets picked by people doing it for a laugh.

The security are also humourless and nasty pieces of work. I've seen one of them (lets call him blond beard) grab a guy on his birthday by his throat and another, lets call him 'rocky wannabe' kick a guy in the ribs with no provocation to justify assault

The toilets are a hive of filth, you may be able to score drugs if you want to risk it.

AVOID this awful place and try either The Crowbar or The Ship. It was fun to go here once but it's now a poorly drawn caricature of glory days.

I'm 33 and been a metal fan for at while - this is NOT the place to go

Have been several times to this pub, albeit not that recently, but have never experienced the rudeness or arrogance cited by other reviewers. I'm not covered in tattoos, but it being a rock pub, I will make an effort to dress the part as rock music is my first love, and being in my forties, I don't get out to such venues as often as I'd like. Having seen plenty of the alternative 'you can't come in dressed like that' in trendy places I suspect most rock / goth people appreciate the dress code (if there is one). We've never been turned away or made to feel unwelcome, and if the bar is busy, I expect to wait to be served, or be proactive and ask for service in a friendly manner. It's a shame other reviewers have felt so let down by the staff, as this genuinely hasn't been my experience.

When visiting London do yourself a favour and do NOT visit the Intrepid Fox.
Ok, I'll admit my experience is based on one visit, but first impressions count, right.
Service in the Fox is rubbish. Period. The personel (the one we experienced) is just plain rude.

I you want a beer in London go somewhere else, believe me.

I used to go to the old Intrepid and always enjoyed it but the bar staff on this new place are posers with a really high opinion on themselves. I've seen on several ocassions the staff rudely refuse to serve people who wear ties (?)it seems to me that the Intrepid staff tries to hard to make an impression, and is generally not a good one. Instead of spending hours in front of the mirror making sure they look cool, they should learn how to pour a Guinness, at the end of the day that's what they get paid for. If you go to the intrepid it is because you like metal music and the last thing someone needs after work is a couple of morons judging you for the way you dress. Their whole attitude was so arrogant that couldn't enjoy the music at all. The Big Red in Holloway road welcomes anyone and plays great music also.

Unless you are sh4991n9 one of the barmaids don't expect to be served anytime soon. Know your place; this is one cliquey pub and if you are not part of it then The Intrepid Fox is doing you a favour by even letting you in the building!
Do expect abuse if you don't know exactly how much your drinks will cost you do not have the exact change immediately to hand. Also don't expect full measures of your drinks. Pints are rarely topped up and as they are practically thrown at you most of it will end up on the bar anyway.
Do also expect attitude and pretentiousness from the barmaids whose level of unpleasantness seems to increase with the size of the platforms they wear.
Expensive, but hey this is central London, and this is The Fox right?
Well no.
As long as the pub is run for the benefit of the staff and not the customers, and with the ever increasing numbers of non-alternative clientele, the Fox is in danger of losing what made it special.

Cool place to come, very different indeed but so very pretentious in the sense that if your arms aren't covered in tattoos or any piercings hanging out your nose then you actually feel very unwelcome.. experienced this with the door man, wouldn't let me in the second time round i went there...insisted that my i.d wasn't me when it really is me on the i.d i showed him - just felt as this was just some lame excuse for not letting me in because i didn't have some tattoo on my F**king forehead OR he was just thick.
I do respect the fact it is the whole gothic/metal theme that creates the amazing atmosphere inside but i think anyone who goes out looking for that kind of thing should be welcome regardless of what you look like.
Luckily i did get to go in the first time and i did have a really good time...just shame about the few judgemental glances my friends received and the doorman who actually made me feel like shit. Hope hes happy.

As a metal fan and band member I find this bar good for a drink after work and hanging out with some like-minded souls.

The doorman and most of the older staff are lovely, however I find some of the younger staff members to be arrogant, pretentious, and in some cases a little too fond of themselves. Considering metal people should be laid back and easy people, i find this kind of arrogance contributes to people labeling us as angry and hostile.

The music is great-could be a great metal bar, but some better staff and less try-hards would make this bar a lot more pleasant.

I went to the Intrepid Fox last night......i used to go to the one in Soho when i was younger and had not been to this one before.

The bar staff are very rude.......i don't care if they have lots of tattoos and are pierced up etc...manners and service cost nothing..

..i have a lot of tattoos but i am not a rude bitch. There was a group of us inside and one of our friends arrived a bit later on and wanted to come in to meet us...

..she is a tiny petite girl who was very much sober and just wanted to come in to be with us....the bouncers said no....but gave no reasons.

They were so rude and stony faced,giving it the whole 'I'm a Satanic Rock god well hard type as i have tattoos and wear black and pull a mean face all the time'.

I'm a very sweet looking 5'3 girl and i didn't need such hassle from them......i asked one of them if he ever smiled as i felt sorry for him being so angry like that...

..he then launched into a huge argument with me saying he is happy and smiling when i go home....

...i was only trying to lighten the mood by saying he should smile...seriously......i will never go back again.

As someone with only a passing interest in heavy metal, punk and tattoo's I am not the average frequenter of this bar, however aside from slightly indifferent service and a peculiar 'not yet 7pm but I'm in a pub and still sober' atmosphere - this place represents so much of what I love about London.

The walls are adorned with paintings and vehicle parts and a wierd Han Solo in carbonite thing. It is colourful yet dark and proved an interesting contrast to the concert in the Church that we went to afterwards. A visual feast! I would definitely go again.

The Intrepid Fox, a bar for those in the pursuit of Rock and Metal and a good drink. This bar does deliver on all counts of the above mentioned. I discovered the bar during a friend's birthday party & thought that it would be a great place to frequent again with my girlfriend.

I knew that she'd like the atmosphere and the music as I had. Upon my first visit the only complaint that I would offer is when I ordered a neat rum and was presented with a rum and coke.

When I pointed out the error to the barmaid she immediately grew hostile upon which she served me rum with ice with no small amount of disdain.It was then I realised that I had to explain to her exactly what the expression "neat rum" meant; again, hostility. Despite this I gave the bar a thumbs up and put the hostility to the sassy rock attitude and included it as part of the experience.

Until I went back recently. Again the music and atmosphere was good and I found myself relaxing amidst the cacophony of rock. Then, and in only what I can take as the ultimate in rudeness and general disregard toward their customers, the bar staff completely ignored the needs of those waiting patiently at the bar, myself, obviously included. I waited for about 20 minutes before calling it quits and going home for the night.

I understand that bar staff become busy however, these guys, for reasons unknown suddenly begun serving one small section of the bar whilst deliberately ignoring other patrons.

The look on the faces of others who had been waiting longer than me confirmed that I wasn't alone in my thoughts & it did in fact appear as though that all four of the bar staff were solely serving special guests (perhaps the owner's friends) whilst we waited and were ignored.

A good bar to experience metal and rock over a drink, this would apparently be the choice - but be prepared for a bit of sass, some ignorance in the way drinks are served and to be overlook

The Intrepid Fox is home for those who are from the darker side... feel completely relaxed as soon as you walk in the doors. Shame the bar doesn't have more staff, had to wait for over 20 mins to get served recently... but the buzz & the music are worth it. SUCH BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE !

I'm a regular at the Intrepid Fox, and was even before it moved from Soho to St. Giles High Street.



Much more room in the new place, the Soho I. F. Was a rather small Edwardian Pub, this new venue is the old Conservatory Bar and has many more seats. You can actually get to the bar now and then.



Love the place, especially now the smoking ban makes the atmosphere more transparent. Lots of Terry Gilliam-like fantasy artwork and sculptures, lots of Rock and Goth and Metal posters all over, and lots of weirdo people to watch and-or chat with. (The bar girls tend to be wonderfully tattooed, really organic artwork.)



I always chat with the guys on the doors, real cool calm characters who have always behaved like pros. You can't say that about many door staff in the West End.



Only problem is that it's been "discovered" by the trendy types and wannabes which means it can get crowded downstairs, and if the A/c breaks down it gets steamy in the Summer but the upstairs is still old-school, complete with pool table that has a dogleg to the right.



With a 2am licence and no entrance fee (except for occassional music gigs upstairs), it doesn't often make sense going onto a club.

I just would like to say that for the second time I tried to drink something at The Intrepid Fox and for the second time I was refused. I work until half ten and on Fridays I want to drink something to relax after all week working hard. But I can`t drink at The Intrepid Fox because I`m not wearing all black clothes or something with a band logo on, like Metallica - the security guy told me this name.


Well, if my clothes show what I think, I need a hospital because I`m a crazy. This kind of selection is ridiculous, and stupid. Sorry guys but you just lost one more customer.