Verity's reviews
Review of Empire Fish Bar
11 May 08, 21:51
Proper Chips 
Top fish 'n chips. Pretty decent prices and they'll sell you practically everything in the shop for a quid if you get there just before closing! Best chip shop in Shepherds Bush hands down.
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Review of Zuma
11 May 08, 21:27
Amazing food 
Wow - the food here is amazing! It is expensive but my number one choice everytime. It's a great place to go if you're in a large group - ask for the chefs table and sit back as they bring practically everything on the menu to your table - absolutely exquisite. Oh, and I can recommend the Strawberry Champagne cocktails (definitely more pleasant than the Saki!)
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Review of The Old Ship
11 May 08, 21:19
Top Riverside Pub
This does indeed serve the best Sunday roasts ever. They're under a tenner and the portions are definitely generous. It gets incredibly busy here so get here early to ensure a table on the downstairs/upstairs terrace or in the beer garden. There's also a restaurant annexe which has loads of child high chairs so it's also a great pub to bring the whole family.
Great food, great Thames-side location; absolutely worth a visit!
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Review of The Roxy
11 May 08, 21:10
Great for mid week drinking
I've been to this club numerous times for Panic (Tuesday nights) and Teenage Kicks (Thursday nights). It's cheap to get in, drinks are reasonably priced and it offers an unpretentious place to go if you fancy dancing to some indie tunes on a school night.
The clientele is mixed (people in suits from after work drinks and indie kids who've come out just for the club night) but that's what makes it the unpretentious club that it is - so bring it on!
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Review of Jamm
11 May 08, 21:03
Bizarre Venue 
This is one of the strangest venues I've ever been to. It's essentially a club in a big old house in the middle of nowhere (about a 15min walk from the tube station at Brixton).
The rooms are enormous. There's a stage and bar in one room and the remaining room has another bar with a DJ and a few sofas. I've been down here on a Friday for a rock/indie night and it got nicely busy so it's pretty good atmosphere wise. Unfortunately it's pretty deserted waling back to Brixton so location wise it's not the best place to be walking around on your own, but that aside it's definitely worth checking out one of Jamm's club nights.
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Review of The Astoria
06 May 08, 00:37
Enjoy it while it's still here... (sniff)
The Astoria is certainly one of the dirtier venues of London. In fact it was a bit of a shock when the smoking ban came in and everyone realised what the place actually smelt like when it wasn’t pumped full of cigarette smoke…
The bar on the way up to the balcony gets top marks purely for being called the Keith Moon bar (top tip – you can always get served quickly here – it’s worth nipping out to even if you’re on the ground floor!)
Downstairs the view can be quite restricted at the back so at the risk of sounding old this is the one venue in London where I actually prefer to get there early and grab a table upstairs. Yes – tables! Genius.
(If you don't want to see the Astoria demolished for yet more offices/shops please sign the petition. Save The Astoria: http://www.petitiononline.com/savethea/)
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Shepherds Bush Empire
06 May 08, 00:11
Empire!
I love this venue! It doesn’t seem to matter where you are positioned the view and the sound is first class. The bars stretch down both sides of the venue to the front of the stage so it’s never too far to get a drink and every time I’ve been here the crowd have been friendly and most definitely up for it!
Most preferred position is down at the front, but if you get to the venue early enough (7:30ish) and go up to the first floor you can stand at the very front (left or right) looking straight down onto the stage. It’s an amazing view with the bonus of being able to dance away without being confined to a seat.
It’s always a bit of a crush getting out and if you can avoid using the cloakroom I would (queues are very long) but apart from that it’s a great little venue.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Roundhouse
05 May 08, 23:51
Another great reason to visit Camden
How fantastic! This was a venue that I absolutely couldn’t wait to visit upon it’s refurbishment and subsequent re-opening in 2006. As it’s name would suggest, it’s the most fascinating round building situated at the top end of Camden’s stables market and just below Chalk Farm Tube Station. It looks amazing from the outside, boasts a great all day bar/café and the inner auditorium itself is a work of art.
With the bars navigating the edge of the auditorium it’s really easy to get a drink without missing any of the bands and the sound fills the venue amazingly. My only criticism is the completely flat floor. Without being right at the front or at the back on tip toes it was very hard for me to see the stage. I appreciate that this only affects the vertically challenged so the rest of you out there will be absolutely fine and will no doubt enjoy this venue even more (and let’s not forget the best selection of Camden pubs to visit beforehand!). Top, top gig venue.
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Review of Hammersmith Palais
05 May 08, 23:36
Rest In Peace
Is it right to review somewhere that is now shut? Well, in this instance yes, because Hammersmith Palais is an absolute legend of a venue. Although it’s famous façade is now boarded up I would still recommend that if you’re in the Hammersmith area to head down to the Hammersmith & City Line and check out the wall on the right hand side of the tracks (the back wall of the Palais) which bears the original name ‘Palais De Danse’. This in itself is a beautiful reminder of the history of this building famed as a world class jazz and dance venue from when it opened in 1919 through to the 50’s.
In later days it was of course famed as a live music venue with it’s obvious links to the Clash and played host to bands such as The Sex Pistols and The Rolling Stones. I was only ever fortunate enough to see one band at the Palais but the venue certainly left an impression. Wide as opposed to deep it meant you were never too far from the stage and it proved to be an amazingly intimate venue despite it’s theatre capacity.
It’s a travesty that it is to be turned into offices. So before demolition begins do take a wander down Shepherds Bush Road and cast your eye on a piece of musical history.
Hammersmith Palais; you will be missed.
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Review of Carling Apollo Hammersmith
05 May 08, 23:29
Average Theatre Venue
With it’s sloping floor The Hammersmith Apollo is like the younger brother (or sister) of Brixton Academy. Unfortunately however it just doesn’t live up to the greatness of its older sibling. Though I wouldn’t fault the venue for sit down performances (it’s just the perfect size for the larger comedy tours) it just somehow doesn’t seem as atmospheric when bands play. It seems to sit uncomfortably between being an intimate venue and a larger venue when you want to be part of something big…
It’s perfectly placed for travelling to (if you live in West London…). Drinks queues are exasperatingly long (though in fairness I’m yet to find a venue where they aren’t) and the Apollo operates the most bizarre cloakroom policy I’ve ever seen. All your belongings go in one large black bin bag. Though it saves you paying twice to put your coat and bag in I do feel pained upon leaving the venue and seeing several hundred discarded bin liners flying across the Hammersmith gyratory.
If your favourite band is playing then by all means go and see them at the Apollo, i’m sure you’ll enjoy it, but given the choice and central location of other London venues I’m afraid I would recommend the likes of the Astoria or Brixton.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.