please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
The place only does two beers - San Miguel, or Stella Artois. A bit like Sophie's Choice really, it's not a pretty decision.
I opted for the San Miguel and a famed Bloodshot, and quickly realised why only two horrendous beer options are required. The Bloodshot strips out your taste buds, and your beer is going to get necked in a search for fire relief. Now...I've consumed a lot of stupid things in my time, but nothing before that made my eye sockets feel like vomiting. Wow! I think anyone who fancies themselves as a bit of a spice fiend needs to come here and try one of these. Like the hottest Bloody Mary you've ever had, times 10, in concentrate form.
Anyway, if Bloodshots don't sound like your bag, there's 100 others to choose from. The bar downstairs is nothing much (it's painted ceiling to floor in black, what is there to describe?), and plays metal. The upstairs looks much better, but as we weren't eating we quickly got whisked downstairs. Seemed an odd way to run a business - sweep everyone out of sight (downstairs or in the back patio) so your place looks empty, but it's been around for ages, so must work I guess.
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This place is hilarious. Went in with some mates and just went along with the whole thing, drank some kind of vodka shot with garlic and chilli in it - foul and at £2.50 a shot left me wishing I'd put another 30p to it and got a pint of Landlord at the Dog and Duck ... but nonetheless a comedy interlude, not as funny as Dr Gibbles smashing a rancid cigar like a yank tourist he insisted on buying from that whisky shop on Old Compton Street.
I can see some people would love this place. They probably didn't enjoy school much thoughbut.
anonymous - 6 Sep 2006 23:11 |
Very Metaaaaaal. You can never go wrong with the music at the G&S.
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I love this place! Good mix of people, decor is interesting and good food/drinks. Reaosnably priced and the secret outside spacce is real treat!
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If you like garlic and shots that kill your liver, this is the place for you.
but do try and get the crypt in the back, as the place gets really busy on a saturday night.
Give the mummy at the bar a Liver massage from me.
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Absolutely reeks of garlic, but the experience of being in here was all good!!!
Avoid the "bloodshot" unless you want to achieve the ability to see thru time!
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The garlic shots and metal dungeon aren't quite my cup of tea - the beer garden is heated and a great place to sit and drink San Miguel all year round.
anonymous - 14 Apr 2006 15:26 |
This place is an institution that you'll either love forever or hate dearly. Friendly staff, friendly and cool (in their own way) customers, great music (goth / metal), good atmosphere. A buddy of mine from NY insists on a night out here every time he comes to London. I went after work in a suit once, and was asked (quite reasonably really) by a vampire what I was doing there. I said I'd been drinking there for fifteen years, and the bloke was genuinely apologetic. Cheers!
anonymous - 11 Mar 2006 12:22 |
Small basement bar lacked atmosphere and half of the shots on the vodka menu. Having said that, the chilli & garlic vodka was a treat. Yum!
Beer selection was terrible, but staff were friendly and helpful.
Decor and music were a bit of fun if you like scandinavian prog metal and sub-tussaud waxen zombies.
Must try the food next time, as the stench of garlic was all pervasive and very tempting.
Lots of young hipsters drinking there and a couple of incongruous Wernham Hogg style office workers. Our arrival brought a little colour to a hitherto monochrome clientele.
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Great little place. Great music. Crap selection of beer, but worth a visit.
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Great place for a late night drink with a difference in the Soho area. Escape to the beer garden to seek a break from the death metal. Blood shots are a meal in a glass.
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Sadly, I didn't visit this pub for the first time while I lived in London, but rather on a one-off visit otherwise it might've become my local (even if it was a 20 minute tube ride away).
The crypt has a nice dungeon-like atmosphere and although the musical selection can be repetitive, it was still very refreshing to hear Slayer ("Angel of Death" no less...) and Iron Maiden in a pub. The beer selection is pretty weak (when I visited, I believe the only choices were Stella and San Miguel), but the shotlist is incredible.
It wasn't packed when I went there, but I also believe we went on a week night.
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Goths. Biker jackets. Metal. Garlic. Always packed out between about 11 and 12 due to the late licence but a great atmosphere. My advice is to grab the big table in the crypt if you can. The Bloodshots are simply awesome - they'll cure any illness known to man. Many a legendary drinking session in here - it's always an adventure. Good food too, and given that many of the punters look like vampires ingesting that much garlic is probably a wise move.
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This place at first seems tiny however the more you go the more noks and crannys you find. It has lots of character kind of goth but tounge in cheek with road signs for tables?! The music is good and the shots are alright. It's a Swedish bar so alot of Scandinavian women go there and they are hot too. Jeff and Janet the bar staff downstairs are ok but the ones upstairs are grupmy, maybe because they do the garlic side of things (ie cooking) up there rather than the shot side downstairs? However it gets packed,too packed and I'm a man who likes to drink in my own comfort.
LOL81 - 21 Oct 2005 20:59 |
Mind blowing METAL downstairs!!!
Some nice rock chicks too, hope to see you again January. ;)
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Great place to have a drink if you can catch a night when the bar is visible beyond the oceans of hair. No draught available, but a mean list of shooters calls for beers with chasers all the way - go for the Blood Shots or Tony Montannas. Shame the Kopperbergs pear cider is gone mind, and death metal all night long can get a bit much. A bit of decent punk would be nice! That said a good place for a session.
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The best pub in London for metalheads. This is by far my favorite pub in London even though the downstairs bar is (a) tiny and (b) the only one you can buy beer a-la-carte from. I have made more than a few friends here. I just wish they'd vary the music more and play more new stuff. How many times do I need to hear old AC/DC or Iron Maiden songs? That stuff's cool occasionally for nostalgia's sake, but there's a ton of killer music out there that many people haven't heard. And if the kind of people who come to Garlic & Shots heard it, they'd ask about who's playing, guaranteed . . . a win / win situation.
Jeff Bunds - 16 Sep 2004 18:19 |
The most fantastic place on earth.Tasos-Norway
Tasos - 1 Sep 2004 20:03 |
Downstairs very entertaining (and I'm not the world's biggest metal fan). Great atmosphere.
anonymous - 31 Aug 2004 16:32 |
Love the downstairs dungeon style bar,it is very quirky with a model of a mummy for good measure.Beers are limited in choice,can be pricey and the bar is tiny,but hey its culture man!
Nick Hamer - 9 Jul 2004 18:40 |
Love this place - Great when everything else is shut. The staff are hospitable and dont do things by halves (when I used to drink here it was double shots or nothing. Out the back is good on summer nights. Gets packed with continental metalheads.
Aaron - 14 May 2004 04:07 |
Heavy Metal! If you like it heavy and getting absolutely annihilated on various flavoured vodkas this is it! Staff are super friendly - make sure you buy the bar staff a shot when you're there. I recommend the Bloodshot or the Harley Davidson Oil.
There's a beer garden out back with heaters for when it's cold. Garlic and Shots is open slightly later than the rest of the bars in Soho. Gets packed full of European rock chicks and goths after 11:30. I LOVE IT!!!!!
The - 27 Mar 2004 18:01 |
Straannnggge. Resembles what I imagine 'metaler' hangouts in the Med to look like. Upstairs latin fuses with goth whilst downstares things take a darker turn. Here the barman does not know what a white wine spritzer comprises of, which is rather disturbing, as is his extremely stoned demeanor. Absence of draft lager/bitter a problem but what saves this pub from total oblivion is it's wonderful beer garden. Hemmed in by the adjacent buildings it's like a private party in some baroque back alley.
Good for: summer evenings of course
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Can get REALLY packed downstairs. So much so that it's actually hard to leave sometimes! Having said that there's usually a great atmosphere - make sure you try some of the shooters!
Chris - 24 Oct 2003 13:07 |
cool rock pub thing, serves very very garlicky food, and even puts raw garlic in your beer, should you want such a thing. has an inside food/bar bit, an outside patio area thing and downstairs bar with not a lot of seating... does a range of about 100 different shooters, priced about £2.50 each. the beer is expensive, £1.90 for a half I think it was... but nice. the garlic bread is great, half a crusty loaf smothered in garlic butter and really hot for £2.95. :)
sarah - 9 Sep 2003 16:26 |
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