The Birdcage

Qwerky lovely little place. The staff, although friendly to us, we’re pretty sarky to other customers whilst we were sat at the bar. Where we sat was clearly by their cup/​glass washing area, so instead of asking us to move they kept cramming glasses onto the bar, leaving us little room for our drinks. The stools should be moved if you’re not meant to sit there. Other than that it’s a nice place to have a drink and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the flower market.

Traditional bar with seating inside and outside. Good beer on draft but unfortunately no karaōke anymore (at least on Fridays)

Located in a quiet nook away from the hubbub of Bethnal Green Road, The Birdcage is a warm and cosy drinking hole.
It strongly reminded me of The Drafthouse chain of pubs — was it the font? the wooden décor? Anyhoo, I kept thinking I was in a different place. Somewhat disconcerting.
The pies were delicious and reasonably priced. I had the veggie option with onion gravy, but would definitely try the other sauce next time — the herby one.
Lovely little neighbourhood spot, perfect for a quiet pint.

Newly developed and renovated in last year or so. Less grimey (though I liked it this way) but it’s very nice. More hipster admittedly but a lovely jewel in pub crown by Columbia Road Flower market amidst residential area.

This place takes Karaōke seriously, so don’t come here without having warmed up both your singing voice and your dance moves. The Birdcage is jam-​packed with regulars on Friday nights, business men in suits to local hipsters from more creative offices, waiting their turn to transform the pub into something that could only be likened to X-​Factor auditions. It’s something everyone must experience once, I’ve never seen a man belt out Adele in almost perfect pitch anywhere but here before. Drinks are cheap, service can be a little slow sometimes due to the sheer amount of people in there jostling to get their order in, probably not great for those who need a decent amount of personal space either — but that’s part of the charm.

Great place to stop in and have a Sunday pie (and a pint of IPA) when you’ve just done a bit of shopping at the Colombia Flower market. Interiors are typical of a London pub, a few «trendy» touches here and there, what do you expect, this is in Shoreditch. Clientele straddles the line of yuppie families who also like to get pissed drunk on a Sunday afternoon. Food? Great pies!!! Delicious homemade gravy (cream based one), absolutely lovely.

Let me just start out by saying I’m from Los Angeles and I was looking for a great karaōke bar on a Friday night in London and the birdcage was listed as number one with Unilocal.So a couple of friends and I took a cab out to the birdcage to experience what we hoped would be top-​notch karaōke and craziness rolled into one. Much to my chagrin the bar no longer offers karaōke and is under new management. Also, with the doors closed the bar does not ventilate very well and smells musty much like a coed locker room after a ball game. Really disappointed that Unilocal hasn’t even caught on that these guys don’t even offer karaōke anymore!!!

Walked in after visiting the flower market on Sunday morning. Found out that they only served pies, but we were willing to try. Seated ourselves but we were ignored by all four members of staff. Couple walked in and sat down after us and were immediately seen to. Overheard waitress say they were only serving filter coffee. For a restaurant/​pub open on a busy Sunday morning this was unacceptable. We walked out.

A proper boozer for East Enders with a little karaōke thrown in. By «thrown in» I mean a stage with a huge screen in the most central focal point of the pub. Having done karaōke regularly in New York for almost a decade, I was really missing it here in London. I knew it was here but many places required hiring a room for a group of friends and, sadly, most of my singing friends stayed back in NYC. This is why accepting my buddy and fellow Unilocaler Shevin Tantula has been a godsend; it’s public karaōke at its best. First of all, the crowd is incredibly supportive, especially as the night goes on for perhaps obvious reasons. There is an amazing mix of people from all walks of life and the bar tenders all take part in the singing. It feels like a real community, especially once you start going week after week, which you will be tempted to do once you spend a Friday or Saturday night there. Furthermore, the drinks are cheap. Don’t expect craft beer or fancy cocktails but the bar tenders will serve you with a friendliness and care and they will get you supremely sauced. If you get there early, you’ll get a table and potentially get to sing more than once. Even if you don’t like to sing, you’ll have a blast people watching and participating in the inevitable rock anthem. I’d like to personally thank the Birdcage staff for their fantastic service and the Birdcage punters for always being polite and shaking my hand or doling out high-​fives after each of my performances. You rule and I hope to see you again very soon.

A great little boozer with friendly bar staff and an impeccable music policy.
The craziness of the long established karaōke nights on Friday and Saturday is sandwiched between 2 of the best little club nights to move over to East London. It all kicks off Thursdays at 8pm with Ross Allen’s Meltdown and ends the weekend with a smile and a boogie on Sundays with Luke EVM and Corinna Grey’s Sunday Soul Sessions. This is what London is crying out for, 2 guaranteed belters to start and end your weekends.
It’s pub prices and cheap pub prices at that, 3 pints can still come in at under a tenner here. And that’s a good thing because with a 2am license you may wind up spending a little more time in The Birdcage than you intended.

For a while there it looked as if this beautiful old Victorian pub would slowly fade away like many others in the area. However the Birdcage has not only survived but thrived as a ‘real east London’ pub experience for the Shorditch set. And this is a good thing. The karaōke nights are a wonder with a hugely mixed and friendly crowd basically partying like 1999 (and most of the songs predate then). And boy is it packed, really packed, but great fun. Outside these nights the pub reverts back to what it always has been: a big ol’ Victorian pile which quietly serves the locals and the Sunday flower market long may it continue.

I came in at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon with a hoard of my colleagues after a work community day on a Tower Hamlets estate.
When we descended upon the place, one of the old men at the bar said, and I quote, ‘What is going on??‘
That is the sort of place this is. In the middle of the day on a Wednesday, at least. Old men sitting at the entirely convenional pub bar, minding their own business, watching sports news on the television.
Plenty of high street lagers on tap and beers in the bottle. One ale that I could see — Doom Bar — was available, although only for two pints before it apparently ran out.
Slightly over-​the-​top silver fleur-​de-​lis wallpaper and — as the namesake would suggest — birdcages hanging from the ceiling: A generally inoffensive mix of old-​school pub furnishings with modern flourishes is the Birdcage in a nutshell.
And to round off this perfectly serviceable establishment, the friendly lady publican provided effective and friendly service. Well done.
I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, but it’s a solid option if I’m ever back in the area at 2pm on a Wednesday.

There comes a point in most evenings when you say to the group you’re with «Wouldn’t it be fun to sing some karaōke?» You’ll also notice at this point that you have slurred your sentence and your swaying slightly.
Never fear, The Birdcage is here! Walking into this pub on a Friday night is one of the craziest things you’ll find in the area. A mix of hardcore locals with hip wannabe east London cardigan wearers. There will be old beards and new beards and furry upper lips on ladies who wear more gold than Argos stock. Then you’ll have the singers, the regulars who have been doing this for years who holler at the tops of their lungs tunes that they have rehearsed in the mirror at home.
You’ll arrive and not be able to get to the bar, you’ll have people’s elbows in your face and drunk people groping you in wonderful ways. You’ll never be able to find the song list book and you’ll be lucky enough if you can squeeze yourself onto the improvised dancefloor. It’s amazing. Don’t come in a bad mood, don’t come sober and don’t come with your attitude.

Where have you been all my London Life!!!
As an American haling from the great musical cities of Columbus, OH (and yes, I did say Columbus, OH) and Nashville, TN, my first mission was to search out and find a real karaōke bar.
Karaōke has been one of my favorite pastimes for that past 7 years and I was determined to find a good place here in London. At first the only place that came up was Merphis. My friends and I went a few times, but it was always awful. And don’t even get me started on there sound system.
In steps Unilocal*to save the day! On my long lost quest to find a great karaōke (and being a somewhat avid Unilocaler) bar I finally decided to combine the two and see what I could come up with. I was not disappointed.
My birthday event turned into a brithweek event and (somewhat) ended with Karaōke at the Bird Cage. Once on stage, I had the world at my fingers AND a good PA system. Oh what a night! It wasn’t late September, but it was still A-​Mazing.
Awesome People. Awesome Pub. Awesome PA. What more can you ask for in a night of Karaōke?

What a place!
Following friends up the road, I wasn’t expecting to walk into this. It looked like a karaōke van had ram raided into a pub full of old locals-​but they didn’t care one bit! There was such a great atmosphere, as swooners and crooners paraded around the bar drinking jovially and clapping enthusiastically at the constant stream of, slightly better than average, non-​singers.
There was all sorts of types around, swigging and swaying like the raucous bar in Oliver. One guy even gave me his flat cap, I wished I’d of stayed here in stead of traipsing over town to a very disappointed Matter.

Came to the birdcage for the infamous karaōke all nighter and was seriously looking forward to some crooning in public!
Unfortunately, despite the «every week» advertising, yesterday was «country and western» night. The pub was filled with geriatrics dressed as cowboys complete with guns which was extremely sweet but disappointing. One of the old men was dancing around and he had a necklace of fake teeth which he kept putting in his mouth. Interesting.
I quite like the décor in the pub, especially the shiny birds in the cage, but feel that my time here would have greatly improved if I got the promised karaōke and may be some darts in. There was an electronic score board but no actual dart board. Weird.

This used to be my old local, I fondly remember grabbing a rickety old chair, propping it up next to the faded wallpaper and watching the FA Cup Final with a gin and tonic (no ice) in my hands. The clarets burping and slurping by the bar, watching an epic final which saw which Premiership giant depose them in an epic penalty shoot out? Sorry if this review is turning into a pub quiz, but that’s just the sort of activity you’d find in this East End boozer, conveniently situated on the corner of Colombia Road. Oh, and cheap beer by the shed load.

The Birdcage is an interesting one. I went there on a Saturday night with some friends and the place was jam packed. Interesting mix of people, some in a faily intoxicated state.
There is a pool table, which is useful if you get bored of listening to people having a laugh trying to sing which probably wont happen as Karaōke here is pretty entertaining. My pals and I laughed so hard.
I have yet to try it, one day, one day! I also spotted a dart board which might be exciting for dart players out there. The atmosphere is great, really friendly and happy, great mix of customers, from locals, young people and artists.

Situated a short walk from Shoreditch Church, The Birdcage is the place to exercise your vocal skills and tap your dancing feet! The first time I walked into this consistently packed pub I was swept along by a sea of checked shirts and skinny jeans. I sighed and though, ‘great, another trendy boozer’. I found a seat and sat with my reasonably priced pint (£3, very cheap for Shoreditch). Suddenly I’m struck by a stench of fish and notice a rotund older gentleman selling cockles and muscles from a cardboard box! He makes his way over to a table of amazing couples, all over 50, all dressed up to the nines, all tapping their feet seemingly unaware that their local had been taken over by a younger crowd. So they sit munching their fresh seafood and I take in the ambience. Suddenly the karaōke machine is cranked up and we are introduced to Michael. I can truly say I have never experienced anything like this in my life. Stevie Wonder’s classic ‘Lately’ was given a remix. I can say no more other than he is there every Friday and has to be seen to be believed. After a man belted out ‘Wuthering Heights’ with more theatrics and falsetto than Ms Bush I was sold! They have a huge choice of songs and if you can’t find what you want in their book, ask them and cances are they have it! The night ended with a stage invasion during the final number of the night (‘Rockin’ All Over The World’ sung by the two compares of the night) at 3.00am, an hour over schedule. I’ve never experienced a friendlier karaōke experience with clapping, dancing and a lot of entertainment, it is free to get in, drinks are cheapish and the staff are sensational — a weekend must for all singing, all dancing Londoners!

I can honestly say that one of the best nights of my life was spent in this unprepossessing little pub at the end of Columbia Road. The reason? Its unrivaled karaōke.
Now I’m no singer, in fact I’m pretty sure if I was capable of ‘projecting’ my voice my Art Deco glass collection would be a goner, but The Birdcage puts on hands down the best karaōke nights I’ve ever had the privilege of witnessing.
Refreshingly for this area, The Birdcage’s legendary karaōke nights are not ironic, knowing or tongue-​in-​cheek but instead populated by older east enders who quite possibly had their sights set on a singing career once but that went kaput, or still fancy themselves as possible contenders for next year’s X-​Factor title.
The drinks and décor might not be much to write home about but The Birdcage’s authentic east end charm simply could not be recreated. And for those shy of singing there’s a variety of costume choices, wigs, etc — I kid you not — to take the edge off of performing as yourself.