The Alley Cat

Only a quick review but at 1.30am on a friday night/saturday morning, this place was packed and totally hit the spot. Living in london we had no wish to go to a £20 entry place for a drink and dance so Alleycat at a fiver entry and £11 for 3 drinks did the trick. The place was hot, sweaty, packed to the gills and open til 3. Fabtastic. more

What is a dive bar exactly? The preferred haunt of someone like Greg Louganis? An atmosphere-free wreck recalling university unions with urine-sodden floors and beer served in plastic cups. Cheap, dark, mildly unpleasant. Other parts smelled of plasticine and hospital wards.

A few black leather banquettes and lacquered tables reminded one of a Polish-builder- tenanted Finchley Central flat... more

I'm a big fan of dive bars, but this one just didn't hit it home. Came here for their "The Book Stops Here" book readings which was really cool to check out. Overall the bar was ok, but nothing amazing. Definitely worth coming to to check out the book readings.

Likes: Happy hour til 8, cool basement vibe, "The Book Stops Here"

Dislikes: minimal seating, bar staff not very helpful more

We accidentally rolled into this bar one evening after a busy day and just liked the place. As a music promoter, the stage has back line, is well lit and the venue is the right size for introducing up and coming artists to Central London. As a music fan, the history of Tin Pan Alley and being in the basement of Regent Sound Studios was a plus. Only been a few times but have had seen some great... more

I really want to like this and I see potential in this place. It has this slightly alternative vibe of a basement bar with cool interior, nothing pretentious and a little stage for live music.

However, the drink quality needs to be improved big time. They try to do cocktails and there were two people behind the bar, one of which had no idea how to do any and was just referring orders to the... more