Belushi's, Camdenback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
It is with an extreme sense of sadness that I recently took the decision to no longer visit Belushi’s, which was a regular haunt for me and a number of my friends ever since we first moved to London to go to university around 8 years ago. Back then Belushi’s was always guaranteed to be a great place to go: cheap drinks in a place with a great atmosphere, cheesy music and happy vibe. Cheap, cheerful and good fun. We continued to frequent Belushi’s after we left University, as it reminded us of the good old days, and was still a good place to get a drink, catch up with friends and enjoy a fun night, inexpensive night out.
Around a year ago things changed for the worse. Perhaps I should preface the following comments by describing myself and my friends as it may put the inexplicable change in attitude in a better context. I am a 25 year old guy working in the city in a decent, respectable job. My friends are all in similar positions, after graduating from university we are now all working or training for professional qualifications. We all have money to spend, and we are all nice people, a mix of guys and girls.
Every time we go to Belushi’s we are well behaved (our getting paraletic drinking days are behind us now!) and are just there to have a good time. We regularly spend three figure sums at the bar over the course of an evening, and pump money into the quiz machine like pound coins were going out of fashion.
You would think that we are the exact kind of clientele that would be welcomed at a venue like Belushi’s, but for some reason around a year ago the attitude of the place changed, and it has been getting worse ever since.
We now have problems every time we visit the place, with inexplicable dress codes and incredibly rude bouncers. I was thrown out of the venue on a recent trip (probably to be my last) as I was very, very rudely told to leave the venue due to the fact that I was wearing white trainers. This is after I had been there for 6 hours celebrating a friend’s birthday having personally spent over £100 on alcohol and food. God knows how much we had spent as a whole group. The manner in which we were spoken to by the bouncers was disgusting – as they ordered us to leave, and then made me suffer the indignity of having to confirm that I had ‘understood what they were saying’, being told I should ‘speak to them properly, who did I think I was?’ Unbelievable. Not once did they say sorry, or address us politely. Just rudely marched over and told us to get out with an obvious sense of satisfaction.
On another occasion we were ID’d by the bouncers who knew full well that we were over the age of 18, with one of our party completely bald, and some of us dressed in work clothes. Again the door staff seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in asking us to speak to them in a manner they deemed appropriate. Absolutely pathetic. On a different occasion we were told we could not leave the bar until they had finished IDing another group coming into the venue. Never before have I be told I could not leave just because other people are coming in, and there was clearly enough room and no trouble was going on. Another power trip. I could go on, there are many other instances.
I have myself had personal experience of working in nightclubs as a promoter, and have visited hundreds of venues across the city both professionally and in a social context and I can safely say that the Belushi’s bouncers are the worst I have ever come across.
The incredibly rude, unprofessional and aggressive door staff are one of the main reasons contributing to the downturn in the quality of the Belushi’s experience, but their attitude has seemingly permeated throughout the whole venue, and the place has got worse in almost every respect. The food is now awful, the toilets are completely disgusting, and the fun has been completely sucked out of the place.
Ironically the only people that go there anymore are the rowdy local rude boys who pass through the security as their trainers are the right colour, but create an oppressive atmosphere that is the complete antithesis of what Belushi’s used to stand for.
It is sad to say it, but I cannot see myself going to Belushi’s again unless I hear that they have completely reconsidered their policy on how they treat their customers, and most importantly, until I hear that the management has started to run the place again instead of the door staff who are currently holding the place hostage.
Tim, London
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Awful. Terrible. Full of Australians who can't take their booze. At least it gives them somewhere to go away from anywhere I'm likely to be, I suppose.
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The notices clearly stating zero tolerance to drugs and violence is not the most welcoming of things to see in a pub and I have no doubt that late at night this place is a bit of no go area, especially given some of the comments below. That said, as somewhere for a meeting place or a quick early pint (in my case pre Koko) it is a reasonable place that won’t burn a hole in the pocket like some other pubs around here. A short walk along the sheet metal path leads to the bar although don’t expect anything too exotic and sadly, in my case at least, nothing in the way of Real Ales. The place has a bit of a worn, tatty and slightly slapdash approach to it with the walls and ceilings cluttered with notices, old movie posters and even a set of traffic lights. The tables are littered with freebie magazines, papers and flyers for various events in and around Camden. There are several TVs showing multi channels but the screens are far too small to be of any practical use (unless they have a big screen tucked away somewhere). The blue sofas match the exterior colour scheme and there are high backed stools for people who prefer something a bit more rigid. I have certainly been in a lot worse places and have no major issues with the place. It is cheap and cheerful and when quiet, friendly enough. That said I wouldn’t necessarily make it a regular stop.
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I've only ever been here during the day, so I cannot comment on the reviews below reporting a ragey night out.
Very standard beers (shitty lagers and alcopops), very standard quality.
Last time I ate here I had to chase the staff twice for a steak that turned up after 40 minutes tasting like it had spent the whole time being slowly boiled with a bit of old cardboard. Inedible and truly fucking awful food. If you're stuck in Camden and want to see the All Blacks game, you're better off going to the Tup.
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Had a terrific night in here a couple of years ago for a birthday
It was really enjoyable. Cocktails were grand, and a uni was having a night out, schoolgirls style!
Future visits may never be as great, but it made one memorable night out!
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I didn't think this place was too bad really... a bit pretentious.
although i did think the food was a bit overpriced and the DJ was some cocky youngster and the manager was a bit rude but on the whole a nice place
I think the drink selection was very similar to OH! bar though and as much as it pains me to say this out of the two i think oh! bar is the better venue
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Fancy starting fights for no reason? This is your place!
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This is my favourite venue in London by a long shot! Cheap drinks, amazingly friendly barstaff, great food and one of the best club nights London has to offer. On a Saturday night there's a rock/alternative night called Animosity which is just awesome.
anonymous - 11 Aug 2005 15:20 |
Seemed all right to me. Food took a while though and the one barmaid seemed to have to do everything from pint pulling to food ordering to glass collecting. Probably cooked too for all I know.
Full marks to the barmaid, ok marks for the pub.
What is a 'real' drinker anyway? There arent real drinkers, only pretentious ones.
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Surely this isn't a pub?! I've only been in there once, and as it was midweek it wasn't too crowded. The jugs of cocktails were good value for money, and the staff were friendly. But I felt really old and out of place in there. Only recommended if your young and want to get off your head, but not for the real drinker.
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The worst pub in Camden, maybe even in London.
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Surely this place is some kind of sick, southern-hemispherical joke on people from Camden. As if there weren't enough backpackers' pubs. Camden definitely doesn't need or deserve (not sure about that one to be honest) an Outback style dump.
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awful.
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this pub can gurantee a fight every friday/saturday night because of the youngsters drinking smirnoff ice and thinking they are better than others, best avoided
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Excellent atmosphere with a great mix of people. LOTS of live music and all for free.
Plus a hostel attached too if you don't really wanna go home.
don - 21 May 2004 17:16 |
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