If you think Islington’s party scene is all about Upper Street, you couldn’t be more wrong. After many of the bars have closed, this club keeps on pumping out the tunes for an up for it party crowd. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but that doesn’t stop the crowds inundating the dancefloor week after week.

The Venue
Salmon and Compass is a little off the beaten track from the convenient bar crawl area that is Upper Street; although it’s a relatively short walk from Angel tube, based as it is on Penton Street. Ideally, there’s a mini cab office just across the road in case you don’t fancy cutting your night short to get the last train, and a couple of cheap kebab places are practically next door – enough said!

For those not used to this area of Islington, wandering up the long road you may start to feel a little anxious as the main high street disappears from view and a decidedly more ghetto feel starts to take hold. You may even start to doubt that anything exists up here. Persevere, however, and soon it will appear as if from nowhere. It may look closed from the outset – with an exterior that will remind you of a pub rather than a clubby bar – as it’s very well contained with minimal overspill, but pushing through the heavy set doors, throwing a smile at the bouncers, you’ll soon be enveloped in the world that is Salmon and Compass.

Basically, the main floor consists of one large, metallic, basic looking main bar with a couple of hot, trendy bar girls behind it and a huge dancefloor with a DJ booth at the end. It is rather refreshing in a day and age where any pub can call itself a DJ bar, no matter how small the dancefloor is. Even nearby Embassy is put to shame with the vast expanse here. Minimal tables and chairs don’t perturb those out to boogy - you can rest your weary feet in the taxi on the way home, after all. A huge plasma screen is the only break from the minimalist warehouse feel, showing cheesy movies like old Japanese Godzilla flicks. The hot, sweaty and basic feel to this club won’t be to everyone’s tastes but many just don’t care and it is undeniably a decent place to kick back and let loose.

The Atmosphere
The word ‘eclectic’ is thrown around a lot, but never has it been so apt as to describe the crowd at Salmon and Compass. You’ll get everyone here from glammed up girls to those who have bearly made the effort, rocking the grunge look. You may even spy a couple of 'mad fer it' lads and lasses complete with glowing neon bands around their wrists and necks. There’s a friendly aura that emanates from the crowd, and considering where it is trouble is kept to a minimum – perhaps because of its slightly tucked out of the way location.

The bar staff are friendly, trendy and attractive and manage to keep the punters happy and the drinks rolling. Although, to be fair, many of the people who come here don’t arrive until late and are already tanked up courtesy of the Upper Street bars, so there’s not a huge demand at the bar come 1am.

The Music
There’s a range of nights here, playing everything from soulful house, broken beats, live grooves and disco boogie on a Saturday to Friday’s weekly fiesta sounds. It has a slight cheesy edge – certainly nothing cutting edge – but it’s an undeniably fun sound that will transport you back to your school days when house music was oh so cool. Unfortunately, the mixing is a little hit and miss and the Saturday night DJ looks more like the type of guy you’d expect at a dodgy wedding reception. Still, the crowd seem happy enough and are usually too drunk or in the zone to care about the odd record skip.

To keep the crowd happy the rest of the week, Tuesdays see the weekly comedy night taking centre stage and Wednesdays are open deck nights, where you can register to play DJ for the evening. A good way of breaking new talent.

The Drink
The drink offering here is better than at many clubs, and with a lower price tag. There’s a decent selection of bottle beers and even a couple of draughts – although these are uninspiring, it’s nice to have a choice. There’s a pretty basic selection of spirits, but there are a few premium spirits thrown in, including a couple of decent whisky choices such as Johnny Walker Black label. They even have a small cocktail menu, although they only offer a handful of classics, it’s a good effort on their part that they’ve not ignored the drink selection in favour of the tunes, which is undoubtedly where the main focus of this venue lies – especially at the weekends.

The Last Word
Salmon and Compass may not be to everyone’s taste with its minimalist design, tunes, DJ that tends towards cheesy house, and come as you are crowd. However, if you’re tired of the overly-rammed bars along Upper Street and want to party after venues like Embassy have closed their doors then this is a decent choice.

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