All Bar One, Waterloo, SE1

Went here a few years ago. Neither the best of the chain nor worst. Not my kind of thing anyway but only went here as a friend had suggested it as a group meeting place.

Official site of All Bar One - www.allbarone.co.uk

Official site of All Bar One - www.allbarone.co.uk

Caught on the Southbank in a torrential downpour, I found myself ducking into this branch of the ubiquitous pub chain for shelter and a bite to eat. This is a large bar which was almost entirely given over to diners on our weekend lunchtime visit, with the bar over in the left hand side of the room offering a limited amount of seating space for those just wanting a drink. The place has the usual super-bland corporate design scheme which makes it acceptable to a wide-range of potential customers and ideal for large groups full of fussy pub-goers. We found ourselves tucked away to the rear right, but if possible, you need to get a table at the far right hand end of the room where large side windows give you a partial view of the London Eye. The food is pricey but perhaps not unreasonably so given the location and four of us ordered a selection of their small plates which we found to be pretty good quality and arguably decent value for money. It will come as no shock to learn that there are no handpulls on the bar, but the fridges do contain a few interesting bottles including beers from Brewdog, Siren and Adnams. I tried the Four Points Session IPA, which I thought was pretty good and had the novelty of being served from a can. Our waiter was very smiley and helpful and dealt well with what was a pretty packed room. It’s really difficult to recommend these places as pubs, as they really don’t offer anything other than a neutral space for unimaginative work groups or lost tourists to gather. However, as somewhere to hide from the rain and enjoy some tasty light bites, the place worked out pretty well and whilst I can’t imagine I’ll ever return, I was at least pleasantly surprised by how painless the whole visit was.

Anonymous modern bar / rest, with various seating areas. Achieves the remarkable feat of being even duller than the Slug & Lettuce next door. No real ale, so opted for a swift Meantime London Lager (£2.50, half) before heading for the train.

Pretty awful instantiation of this tired chain, full of drunk tourists, a large aggressive crowd blocked the door made it difficult to get in, and no real ale on entry. It was loud, uncomfortable and smelly, really no fun at all. Really not worth going back.