N1 Bar Elephant & Castle, Elephant & Castle, SE1

Official site of N1 Bar Elephant & Castle - www.n1bar.com

Official site of N1 Bar Elephant & Castle - www.n1bar.com

Having briefly been operated by the Antic chain until their estate collapsed during the pandemic, this place has since reopened as a fairly simple cocktail bar which has retained enough of the Antic aesthetic to make the pub’s previous incarnation relatively easy to guess. Perhaps the most obvious example of this has to be the mis-matched seating, which runs around much of the perimeter for this fairly broad but shallow room, enhanced by a couple of padded banquettes here and there. Nice stained-glass windows, especially to the rear of the room, added some character and the wood panelling around parts of the room gave the place a bit of a private member’s bar feel. The servery is on the back wall, directly opposite the entrance, and has been given a bit of a spruce up, with glittery fixtures and fittings contrasting with the traditional pub counter and bar back. We visited on a mid-week evening during their happy hour but were the only customers for the majority of our ninety-minute stay – a fact which may well explain why this place has since closed its doors for good. On the bar, there were a couple of mainstream keg options but no handpulls. I ended up trying a couple of their cocktails, which were pretty good and reasonably priced if purchased as part of the happy hour deal. The barmaid was very friendly and welcoming, letting us take our seats whilst she prepared our drinks and then bringing them over for us. I’m not much of an expert on cocktail bars, but quite enjoyed my time here, despite the lack of atmosphere on a quiet mid-week evening. Whilst I can’t say it would be the sort of place I’d recommend for a pub experience, it was pretty good at what it did and I’m sorry to see that they weren’t able to keep the place going. Date of visit – 3rd May 2023