The Elgin

Sorry, that’s just not good enough … deducting a couple of stars here, for what it’s worth.
OK, so we moved on to the Elgin for a drink on a Friday night, bands were playing in the back room, busy local crowd at the bar and smoking outside. I really do want to love this place and make it my new local now that The KPH is no longer (more about that in a separate review).
I have had decent wine here before, probably making a more considered choice when ordering my own. On this occasion I accepted a friend’s offer of a drink and just asked for a glass of rosé and got the house wine. It’s always a bit awkward when someone buys you a drink and you don’t like it, I usually shut up and swallow. On this occasion I couldn’t, the wine was utterly undrinkable. My friends and the bar tender agreed that it must be off just by giving it a little sniff. I was happy to accept a replacement of the same house rosé — just for it to be just as bad as the first …
Cue a more senior member of bar staff who admitted that he wasn’t happy with the new house wine. Apparently they don’t make their own selection but have to go with whatever head office decides — shame on you Geronimo Inns! I was happy enough to be offered the chance to get a different wine, provided I paid £1.50 extra for the difference in price. At least the alternative tasted like wine — nothing special mind.
Call me old-​fashioned but house wines are a bar’s calling card — at The Elgin you get an inferior selection for maximum profit margin. I am left with a very bitter after taste.

Wow, what a major disappointment!!! Went to the pub on Saturday night with friends to have a few drinks and eats. And we must have waited about an hour for food to arrive. It was ok, we weren’t starving but still the wait!!! Waiters were non-​attentive, didn’t care if we needed drinks or what not. I ordered some sweet potato fries and they arrived after everyone had eaten including myself. They were black! Burnt to death. I waited for waiter to come by to ask if all was good but of course-​no one in sight for ages. Finally he came by to take payment, I opted to sweet potatoes and said they were burnt. He looked at them and just nodded: «yes». That was it!!! Not-​can we change them gif you, is there anything you’d like instead, nothing!!! I’m actually shocked-don’t go there for food. Minus starts

Music a little loud, but cool atmosphere and full of locals.
If eating at the back, be careful of the band on a saturday night.

Great music, great atmosphere!
BUT
£11 for a Becks and a G&T?!
No ice.
Painfully bad service…
They take your card and do the contactless payment thing behind the bar so you have no idea how much you just paid unless you ask for a receipt. SKETCHY AS HECK. You’re expecting to put your pin number in and they just waltz off… and that’s if you’re lucky enough to get served. I waited at an almost-​empty bar watching some woman spend eight minutes on a round of three drinks. I can’t even.
So, so poorly staffed which seems like a terrible waste as everything else was spot on. The music, the people, the décor etc…

Great place to stop and enjoy a drink after wandering around Portobello Market. Be careful you could get stuck there all afternoon and some of the night. Loads of live music here so getting stuck may not be such a bad thing after all.
What is written above more or less happened to me wandered the market came for a drink and stayed all day. I had the delicious Elgin Burger, big serving for a slight girl but managed to munch my way through it. I forget who was playing the evening I went but it was toe tapping stuff. The atmosphere of this pub is great and will become a regular stop on the way home from the market.

Just a short walk from Portobello Road, The Elgin is the perfect place for a post-​market boozy lunch.
It’s not the cheapest, but you do get what you pay for — decent range of drinks, an ever changing delicious menu and great service. Pick the day right and you’ll also get to listen to live music for your money too. And not just a shoddy man and his guitar kind of live music, next big thing kind of live music.
If you go for after work drinks or on a Saturday night, be prepared to stand or get squeezed between fellow drinkers. But definitely the best and closest bar to Ladbroke Grove

Typical pub fare, atypical ambiance.
Sunday roast is amazing here, not necessarily for the food or drink, but because there are couches where families bring their children and dogs and just hang out for a few hours. I felt like I was in a ski lodge, or with Jude Law in The Holiday.
Pub quiz is tons of fun as well, for a nighttime activity. Questions range from «no way in hell I’m getting this» to «so easy I’m embarrassed.» A good time.
My favorite part was the pianist playing songs by Katy Perry, Tinie Tempah, etc. The perfect way to get some culture without really actually at all. I loved it.

Not your average pub, it seems.
Spent a memorable evening here with the analytics crew from work. Turns out they feature various musical artists all year long.
The Elgin was a honky-​tonk on the 5^th of December. Would’ve never expected to play audience to a southern country music (British) band — involving a banjo, no less. Good, clean fun.
Much love to Jazz Morley, the female vocalist that night. That voice made my week, honey:

It was a rainy day (in London, unheard of) and we stopped in here on our way to Portebello Market. We hadn’t had lunch and this pub seemed to be a great place to wait out the storm in what seemed to be a beautiful, traditional style British pub. Not sure if the locals think of it as a traditional pub, but it felt that way to me. The interior has a large bar, sofas, antique chairs, and large stained glass windows that allowed plenty of light in. It wasn’t too busy inside. There was an elderly couple drinking a couple of pints, both sitting facing the bar in a booth. They just sat there, barely said a word to each other.
Anyways, the server was patient and attentive. I think she was french, and she tried her best to answer our questions.
Straight to the food. I ordered the Ploughmans (Mature cheddar, egg, pickled onion salad and crusty bread). I asked the server why it’s called the ploughman? Basically a ploughman is a farmer/​labourer, and the meal represents a very common meal that ploughman eat in pubs 60 years ago. I basically picked it for the name, and while it’s not the most exciting or flavorful food, I enjoyed all the components.
The fiancée ordered a beer battered cod and chips with a pea mint purée. She definitely liked the cod and chips, but the bread is a little thicker the she’s accustomed too. Same is true for the bread on my dish.

Service was not terrible but it also wasn’t great. It took a little while to get seated and there seemed to be some confusion getting the menus. Maybe our waiter was new? The interior is dark and has the typical pub feel.
The burger and fries were pretty good but I would be more inclined to come back if the service was better. Too bad since we live so close by. Elgin burger with smoky bacon and cheddar, skinny or hand cut chips

I’ve not eaten here or been here at peak time but my first impressions are of a really nice pub that creates a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. If I’m in this part of town again I’ll definitely come back.

I liked it here, its a nice space to hang out in, either inside or outside. They had a steel band on last night as a pre-​carnival warm up, which was excellent. The restaurant area looked good too but we didn’t order any food as the bar staff warned us the kitchen was too busy so the food would be really slow

Attracted by the lovely décor, roaring BBQ, awesome looking outdoor seating, traditional pub fare, and interesting nighttime music listing, we came in here for lunch.
I ordered a BBQ chicken salad which was very good. Unfortunately, the staff took a very long time to take our order and to deliver the food, and one of our orders was botched. The staff seemed extremely flustered, like they were all there on their first day of work. Very strange! I suspect when the staff have things right, this place is probably amazing. If in the neighbourhood, I may give it another try.

Four people head into a pub. One, your good reviewer, heads to the bar. It’s moderately busy, but not excessively so. He waits. And waits. And waits. The bar staff acknowledge his presence then choose to meander off or serve somebody at the opposite end of the bar.
In desperation, ten minutes later, another member of the party heads to a different part of the bar. He gets served very quickly. «Can you serve my friend a little way down the bar?» he asks. We’ve been waiting ages. «Sorry,» the barman replies, «this is my area of the bar and I cannot leave it.»
There is nobody else waiting now at this part of the bar.
So that’s the story of The Elgin. An average, overpriced, somewhat pretentious pub that largely depends on whether the bar staff can be bothered to move from their corner of the bar or not. Which they couldn’t. I won’t be back.

⁵⁄₅ — Second visit:
I am loving the Elgin. I’ve been there twice now so this will be a kind of combined review of both times. Undoubtedly I will be spending a lot of time there in the future.
The décor is gorgeous, more like a wine bar than a pub. It is modern yet comfortable; a place where I can just chill with my friends but still feel pretty cool and classy while doing so. They seem to attract a mix of clientele, but when I went there at about half 10 on a Friday night there were particularly numerous attractive young men in their twenties, which pleased me greatly. There was plenty of space to sit down inside, ranging from sofas to tables to barstools.
They have a specialty «gin palace» but so far all I’ve drunk there is beer. They have a great selection of beer on tap including Budvar and Staropramen, but also some great local/​seasonal/​unusual choices. There is definitely a drink for everyone, and the prices are standard.
Bathrooms are nicely outfitted and clean. No problems with service so far. There is a little patio area outside for smokers. On my first visit there was a live act in the back section of the pub which was excellent, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for when they have live music on.
My only gripe is that I looked at the menu and didn’t see much choice for vegetarians — just a mushroom risotto, and an expensive one at that. I suppose they are trying for gastro-​pub type quality, and I might consider paying if they come up with something more exciting for us herbivores.

The fish cakes were delicious and so was the mackerel dish.
Lovely ambience. Decent service.

This is one of my favourite pubs in the area. It is really nicely decorated with sofas, the food is great, service friendly and they have two types of Czech beer on tap! You can never go wrong with the Czech Budvar or if you prefer, you can have Staropramen. I also noticed today that they have live music on some days. I will be definitely coming back to see how it is.
Also, if you are going to the nearby Portobello Road market, this is the perfect place to go for a drink and leave the crowds behind.

This is a beautiful pub divided into three rooms so although it is big, each room has a unique personality and it makes it not so overwhelming. Great old-​world field that just makes you want to settle in, without feeling old or stuffy.
The Sunday roast was very good – although not blow-​my-​brains out delicious. The half chickens were good, although every-​so-​slightly dry.
They have live music starting at 3pm on Sundays – a great bluegrass band was playing.
Definitely worth going to for food, drinks and games, or both.

I moved into the neighborhood over the summer while the Elgin was closed for renovations. I had never been before, but now that it has re-​opened its one of the nicest pubs around!
The food is absolutely delicious! The goat cheese salad — yum! Also, the drink selection is very nice as well
I really enjoy the atmosphere. Its kind of calm, laid back yet somewhat sophisticated. I’ve only been a few times, but it hasn’t been rowdy or over-​crowded which is nice
When I went last Wednesday with my parents, there was an open mic night with 4 different solo acts performing. The great room in back was perfect for it — intimate but you dont feel rude for eating while someone was performing. While we were there the owner, Rupert, came over to see how our evening was going. He was extremely nice, as are all the other staff
I definitely recommend if you’re in the neighborhood– and if not, its worth taking a trip to!

I’d say this is mostly a sports pub. It’s fairly traditional, there’s a big wooden bar and a really nice original looking railway style clock that counts down your night as you drink. It does it in a slightly decedent and entirely passive way though so it’s ok. Doesn’t make you feel like it’s watching you waste your life or anything — some clocks can.
The interior is really big; this is a great pub for groups, especially during the day on the weekend. And as I say, if you’re into the Premiership and other big sporting occasions it’s perfect. Haven’t had the food but I know they’re always pushing their pie or sausage of the day and the prices are around 6 to 8 quid so you can have a reasonable enough meal here if you don’t choose the rib eye steak or the lobster. Actually I don’t think they do lobster but you get what I mean. It’s an example of an expensive dish. Just in case you didn’t get what I meant.