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Poll for date of Halifax crawl. with ROBCamra
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Submitted on Sunday, 26th January 2020
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Detail Pages
The Camden Assembly, Chalk Farm, NW1
NW1
NW1 8AN
Served areas
Camden Assembly
Tomorrow! American singer-songwriter Jaime Wyatt joins us in Camden! This is not a show to be missed, grab the fin… https://t.co/GYSyCJT5dm
10:41 AM Jun 12th from Sendible
Reviews of The Camden Assembly (Average Rating: 4 of 10) see review guidelines
hondo . left this review about The Camden Assembly
As described by Pub Signman not one for a session.
On 5th October 2023
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Pub SignMan left this review about The Camden Assembly
This is the ground floor pub space for the Camden Assembly live music venue which is perhaps best remembered from its heyday at the centre of the Britpop movement, when it was known as the Camden Barfly. It was a bit of a basic boozer back then but has been spruced up and now has more of a cocktail bar feel to it. For all that, the scuffed floorboards, unusual, patterned ceiling tiles and exposed brick walls remain as a reminder of its proper pub days, but there are now smart banquettes down either side of the room and a run of high tables and stools through the centre. The bar is to the rear and has a pretty cool glazed tile counter front with a pewter top and glazed brick bar back. TV screens above the bar continuously looped promotional material relating to cocktails, happy hours and the like, with no mention of beer, and the décor was pretty basic, with very little visual distraction in sight. A surprisingly loud Hindi soundtrack played throughout my stay, masking the sound of the bass from the venue above. The venue itself is upstairs and accessed via a separate entrance down the side street – it’s a pretty decent space with its own bar, so don’t make the same mistake as me by coming here for drinks first – they won’t let you take them up with you.
There’s no cask ale here unsurprisingly, and the most exciting keg options were probably Brooklyn lager and Shipyard Pale, with the latter clocking in at £6.00 a pint. There was only one person manning the bar on my mid-week evening visit, so despite the place being almost completely empty, it still took 15 minutes for me to get served thanks to the complex cocktail orders going in before me.
This was a real disappointment and a bit of a sorry state for a pub whose name will resonate with generations of music fans. I can’t really think of anything positive to say about this pretty sorry pub-going experience and won’t bother again if I come back for another gig here.
On 24th April 2023
- rating: 3
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Camden Assembly
We'd never been to what was once the Monarch later Barfly before and neither of us care much for live music venues, but this is the mainstay of Camden Town; if you can't stand the heat...However, we only went here because we thought it was a specialist beer rather than music venue. Wrong. It's still a music venue but rather than being an artisanal beer venue, it doesn't sell real ale at all. The closest it could manage was Goose Island IPA at £2.80 a half.
Beverages are dispensed from chrome fonts and there's an illuminated craft beer and lager menu behind the metal-topped bar in the manner of a cinema fascia. The floor's lacquered, walls are bare brick with some industrial wall lights, thereafter illumination is provided by pink tea lights on tables; it's painfully dark in here and music is loudish. Furniture is both conventional and semi-industrial along with peripheral leatherette banquettes. Some weird 'arty' sculptures are applied to the walls and the ceiling is covered in ceramic tiles, punctuated with circular aircon vents. Glasses are plastic.
As Mr. Button writes, this is one for the Camden Weird Brigade.
On 4th October 2016
- rating: 2
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
View more reviews of The Camden Assembly (5)
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- Official site of The Camden Assembly - camdenassembly.com
- Twitter - Camden Assembly
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Camden Assembly - whatpub.com
Camden Road, 0.54 miles, 10 min walk (show)
Kentish Town, 0.78 miles, 15 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 24 April 2023 by Pub SignMan
- Car Park : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Function Room : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Jukebox : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Live Music : Yes last updated 05 October 2023 by hondo .
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Quiz Night : Yes last updated 04 October 2016 by Tris C
- Real Ale : No last updated 05 October 2023 by hondo .
- Real Cider : No last updated 24 April 2023 by Pub SignMan
