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Dogstar, Brixton, SW9
SW9
SW9 8LQ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about Dogstar
Large one roomed pub with the bar to the front. No hand pumps - just keg. Nothing special.
On 23rd September 2019
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Dogstar Bar & Cafe
They only had a couple of Christmas ales on when I dropped in here on Saturday afternoon. This is not good by the standard of other Antic pubs that I’ve visited. Antic pubs seem to specialise in shabby chic, and this one is much like that but without the chic. It’s gloomy and dingy, but maybe that appeals to its customers. The pinball (unfortunately not switched on) is still there, along with the pool table and table football. The main bar area has a large empty space in the middle of the room, with benches and the like round the sides. I doubt whether I’ll make a return visit to this one.
On 15th December 2013
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Dogstar Bar & Cafe
Large corner pub (formerly a hotel) with a partly-curved frontage. Inside, there are three slightly-raised seating areas plus a small rear lounge housed in an alcove to one side of the bar. Dark, with limited decor except for some pictures on one wall. Sparsely furnished, but some of the wide window ledges form bench seating and there are a few side booths. Food limited to brief pizza menu (but it is difficult to imagine anybody coming here to eat). Pinball, plus a rear games room with pool and table football. Notices indicated that a 'Makerhood Workshop' (whatever that is) was happening in one of the upstairs function rooms. Just Doom Bar (£3,20) available from the pair of handpumps. Overall, rather rough and unappealing.
On 20th October 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Dogstar Bar & Cafe
This sizeable street corner pub has played an interesting role in Brixton’s history, having had various phases in which it was popular with either the black or white community, thereby making it a target during the Brixton riots of 1981 and 1995. The pub was quite badly damaged by a fire after the latter disturbances and reopened as the Dogstar some time later. The pub is now part of the Antic chain and focuses on late night DJ and live music sessions.
Entry is to the main bar, which has scruffy wooden flooring and low bench and banquette seating on raised platforms around the edge of the room. I found the place really dirty and unappealing and having decided not to sit on one banquette due to a number of footprints on the seats, we moved nearer to the window where, to my great annoyance, I managed to sit on some chewing gum. The rest of the room has standard table and chair seating, although the further you move from the windows, the gloomier the room becomes. A large screen had been unfurled to show the afternoon’s play-off final and those wanting to avoid the match were able to sit in a lounge area past the right hand end of the bar counter. This area has a few sofas and some large paintings on the wall, which the website suggests creates a ‘Surrealist Boudoir’, although the only surreal thing I can find about it is their choice of description. Doors here lead into a games room that was closed on my visit, although I could see that it had a pool table and table football. There is a ballroom upstairs where bands regularly perform and other rooms are available for hire.
The two hand pumps were dispensing Sharp’s Doom Bar and Cottage Lazy Hound on my visit, so I gave the Lazy Hound a try and thought it was okay. There were a few unusual keg options as well including Brewdog 5am Saint.
I’ve visited several Antic pubs prior to this one and generally I find them to be very good, but this place was a real let down and could certainly do with a good clean and lick of paint. I had hoped this would be a good alternative to the Trinity Arms for pre-Academy beers, but I think I’ll rule out future visits for a good while.
On 7th June 2012
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Dogstar Bar & Cafe
Previously the Atlantic Hotel, this Victorian corner pub found itself at the forefront of 1981 Brixton Riots being one of the initial buildings that was targeted. After a period of closure in the mid-1990’s it reopened as the Dogstar, one of London’s first DJ pubs and that essentially is how it remains today.
The main bar is a single large open space with bare floors, a row of settles along one wall and slightly raised window seating around two sides. The bar at the rear has the DJ to the leaft and an extended area of seating off to the right. There are assorted pictures and retro movie posters on the walls and an abundance of theatre style drapes over the bar as well as large draped curtains. A pinball machine is housed in the main bar and to the rear is an additional room containing a pool table and table football game. This also leads to a small enclosed patio area. It is on the whole a little drape and dingy but some of the more psychedelic décor that I recall from my previous visit has now gone.
One major improvement is the beers. I recorded no ales on my last visit and an exceedingly expensive Guinness so it was serendipitous to find 2 Real Ales have been introduced, Doom Bar + Black Sheep albeit the latter was off. At £3 a pint the Doom Bar was a good value and decent enough quality. Food wise, there was a small pizza menu on each table with prices around £7-£8.
This is very much a place aimed at the Brixton nightlife with late night opening obviously a major draw to the clubbing fraternity. It should be noted that it doesn’t open at lunchtimes or all day on Mondays. It is certainly not without some kind of appeal although it is aimed at a certain demograph of which I am probably not one. That said, it has certainly has gone up a few notches since my initial introduction to the place.
On 7th August 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]