190 City Road,
Clerkenwell,
London,
EC1V 2QH
0844 3302 005
The ViewLondon Review
Beer, more beer, Bavarian barmaids, and even more beer is on the menu at the Bavarian Beerhouse Old Street.
The Venue
A skip, jump, and stumble away from Old Street tube, Bavarian Beerhouse comes as a subterranean surprise in an area dominated by Moorfields Eye Hospital. The picture of a large glass of beer outside should tell you all you need to know: you’ve come to drink in the best Oktoberfest tradition. Don’t fret if it’s not October as the tide of long, wooden tables are available whenever you fancy sipping a range of genuine German beer - from massive glasses.
This isn’t high-concept design, nor is it East End cool. This is drinking - Bavarian style. A room, decked out to resemble a Bavarian ski chalet, is available to hire for parties and is slightly more attractive than the sparsely decorated main area.
The Atmosphere
No waiting at the bar for you, my friend. Waitresses (provided with special training that allows them to carry glasses and glasses and glasses of beer all at once) totter to your table and encourage you to make full, fun use of the menu. Smile enough and they will even take in German practices, such as downing shots of vodka with mouthfuls of sherbet. They do so, of course, wearing traditional Bavarian outfits called Dirndl. The German masters know their clientele – the groups of city lads appreciate the necklines.
If you’re looking to lose sobriety in October, come for live German entertainment. Fat men in lederhosen singing German classics. Far more fun experienced than read.
The Food
The food is better than you might think for a place that sells itself as a venue that concentrates on drinking. A range of traditional German dishes are available. If you’re fond of spice and sausages, try the spicy sausage platter - a plate full of piquant meat served, of course, with mash and the ubiquitous sauerkraut. If you’re sober enough to focus on your wallet, you shouldn’t be put off by the reasonable prices.
The Drink
You want to drink beer, but not sure where to start? Go for the Bavarian Beer Experience – three half-litre glasses of different beers. Wheat beer, dark beer, blonde beer, they’re all here; the majority are Bavarian, a few are German. All are delicious enough to make the inevitable hangover slightly easier to handle.
When the sad time comes that you fancy something other than beer, do try the aforementioned sherbet-vodka double whammy. And what a whammy - Porno Brause, as naughty as it sounds. Trains of German schnapps are on offer too, though probably best to share with a group of like-minded hedonists.
The Last Word
Whether busty Bavarian barmaids or big boned German men in lederhosen are your thing, Bavarian Beerhouse Old Street is somewhere that has to be experienced. There’s beer aplenty, and they know how to have fun in Bavaria. Danke schon.
Bavarian Beerhouse Old Street has been reviewed by 23 users