Fudu Lounge, North Finchley, N12

Its changed Names yet again its now called Googoosh. Its Still similar too before but its more of a trendy licenced Indian Restaurant than a bar now. In fact the sign outside just says (Googoosh Indian Restaurant) It don't even mention bar now. So it should probably be just marked as closed rather the the name changed yet again.

This trendy bar has traded under various names over the years with the last one being the Embassy Lounge which closed about three years ago. The closed building has been a blot on the North Finchley landscape since then until recently reopening as the Fudu Lounge which to be honest is much the same as the previous incarnations. There is a room at the front that houses two pool tables and a couple of plasma screens that were showing muted R&B videos on MTV whilst some up to date dance music played loudly in the background. The bar can be found in the rear area that stretches back a surprisingly long way and there are another three plasma screens and a DJ booth that must be used at the weekends when there is an advertised late licence. There is minimal contemporary seating throughout as one would find in many late night dance venues. Unfortunately there were only two other customers when I visited at 19:30 on Tuesday evening and I thought that it would be a lot busier as there are signs outside advertising Sky Sports and England kicked of a European qualifier at 20:00. In fact when I left ten minutes before kick off there was still no sign of the football and the barman was fiddling around with the channels and asking customers if the match was on TV. The bar has a few premium and standard draught products and the Guinness wasn’t very good to be honest. £3.20 for a pint is on par with other establishments in the area, but I would rather pay the extra 20p and drink in the Elephant up the road where the change isn’t returned on a plastic tray. There is a decked area out the front that I’ve never seen anyone use other than smokers when I’ve passed by. There is no seating and it is usually full of rubbish from people throwing McDonalds wrappers and empty cigarette boxes in there. I’m not sure why the management think that this place will succeed as the business model seems doomed to failure as North Finchley is hardly a Mecca for celebrity and the trendy set of North London are a fickle bunch and can become bored with a new establishment on their vacuous scene very quickly. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but I certainly cannot envisage any scenario that would have me returning to this place.