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Oxo Tower Bar, SE1

Pub added by Quinno _
Barge House Street
SE1
SE1 9PH

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blackthorn _ left this review about Oxo Tower Bar

Located on the eight floor of the famous Oxo Tower on the South Bank of the Thames, this is certainly not a pub in the usual sense with no draught drinks being available, but is instead more of an upmarket cocktail bar, although there is also a small range of bottled beers. An unusual feature that I’ve not seen elsewhere was a row of padded coats ready for patrons to borrow if they were popping out for a smoke and had left their own attire at the cloakroom by the entrance.

They certainly make the most of the views which the entire front wall of the pub consisting of a sloped plate glass window giving great views across the river and towards St Pauls. There looks to also be some sort of outside terrace, although being cold and dark when we visited we did not investigate this. Décor wise it’s very modern, with much glass as noted as well as steel and some sort of curved blinds on the ceiling. Flooring was pale wood strip and as well as the tables and chairs there were also a few stools along the bar counter. A complimentary bowl of nuts was provided whilst we perused the extensive cocktail menu.

As noted, there were no beers, or anything else on tap, although there were a few bottles available including Oxford Session IPA, Five Points Pale, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Five Points Railway Porter and the local Hiver. However, with many of these coming it at £7 for a 330ml bottle, that works out at an eye watering £14.45 per pint by the time you’ve added the 12½% service charge. We opted for cocktails since that seems to be their speciality, and my From Dusk Till Dawn with Patrón Silver Tequila and cassis liqueur built with ginger syrup, fresh orange and lime juice and topped with OXO Brut champagne was very good and a most enjoyable drink. It’s just a shame that it was my round, and with four drinks topping £60 I left considerably poorer than when I arrived.

On 5th February 2020 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1937 recommendations about 1850 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


E TA left this review about Oxo Tower Bar

As described below, this slightly trendy but also very pleasant bar is not for the faint-of-wallet. Bar snacks start at around £7.00 and include traditional pub food such as crispy octopus and Oxo-burger and chips (chips work out at 73p each). It's somewhere to go if you want to impress or enjoy a spectacular view of the City lights reflected in the Thames, but it really doesn't work for a crawl.

On 5th December 2013 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3272 recommendations about 3237 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Quinno _ left this review about Oxo Tower Bar

A swish, urbane bar located on floor 8 of the iconic Oxo Tower on the South Bank of the River Thames, owned by fashion retailer Harvey Nichols. The tower was rebuilt in 1929 in an Art Deco style for the manufacturers of OXO, who, to get round an advertising ban on the tower, built it with four sets of three vertically-aligned windows - each of which ‘coincidentally’ happened to be in the shapes of a circle, a cross and a circle.

The large semi-circular bar is split into two sections - a drinking area on the left (south facing) and a brasserie (north facing) which both afford panoramic views of the capital from the large plate glass windows. There’s a baby grand piano that gets tinkled as part of the live jazz music that takes place most nights.

Drinks-wise, there's a fair selection. Beer comes in bottles (Meantime and Adnams both spotted – over £5 each) along with a comprehensive wines and spirits list, a lot of which are eye-wateringly expensive. Better value are the cocktails (retailing for around a tenner) as most contain 2-3 shots of higher-end spirits (for example, mine had Laphroaig in) and are a cut above what you might get in a normal bar. Beware to order drinks from the barman, as table service incurs a surcharge. Whilst a dress code isn’t advertised (and our group got in looking less than suave) I suspect that tracksuits and builders garb may be politely refused at the door. Food is available and there’s light background muzak on the go.

All in all, it’s worth a visit to say you’ve done it. If you have a hot date or an anniversary to celebrate, you could do worse than bring the recipient of your generosity here.

On 20th September 2010 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5045 recommendations about 5028 pubs]