The Haggerston

I would give this place 0 stars if I could. I walked into here Saturday afternoon to order takeaway pizza from two surly barstaff. I asked for the vegan pizza (with tomato sauce) but to make it non-​vegan. So add cheese, no sauce, but all the rest of the toppings: artichoke, mushroom, courgette etc. One of the barstaff, a woman with long brown hair, basically threw her hands up and said to her colleague in this exasperated tone, «What? I don’t get it. Help me understand.» Seriously, I am STANDING RIGHT THERE A**HOLE. The other staff member (a guy with glasses and gages in his ears) explained to her in a bored tone that yes, it can be done, it’s fine. So he took my order and then charged me 11 quid, «extra» for the cheese. Only after paying I realise this made NO sense as all other pizzas on the menu are 9 quid. All I asked was for the tomato sauce to be replaced with cheese. Whatever, not going to argue with these jerks. I did however, ask the guy about the DJs on the weekend for which he replied in monosyllabic tones. Wow, makes me really want to go return: sarcasm:
I got my pizza and opened the box to check it out. A) It’s burnt. Yes, large sections of the crust are burnt as are parts of the pizza. B) It’s bland. So.very.bland. The other comments on the good pizza (and this is why I trekked here) made me roll my eyes so hard. Obviously they have never had good NY pizza. I thank the lucky stars every day I grew up there so I know amazing pizza and this is so far from it.
If the staff wouldn’t have been such douchebags, I would have considered returning for a weekend night. At this rate with terrible humanity behind the bar + shitty pizza= place should go out of business.

Saturday night. Nice space. Quite lively, drinks well priced, dancefloor check, but music was terrible top40hiphopr&b, unadventurous.

For a West Londoner the Haggerston is quite a trek around town. The fact that I keep coming back for more and missing my last train home speaks for the pub! The fortnightly open mic sessions in the upstairs room could easily become an addiction … they differ from other nights in this vein in that they are very intimate.
The room has the feel of a private living room (home of a member of a long standing family of East End gangsters judging by the photos on the wall), and there’s usually enough chairs for everyone to sit down. What a difference this makes, no talking all over the music! Mind you, the music is exceptionally good, too.
The night is hosted by Phil and Otto who between them have worked with just about every big name under the sun: Amy Winehouse, Bob Marley, Ray Charles and the list goes on … The standard of the singers and musicians who put their name on the list for the night is similarly impressive making this one of the best open mics in town.
And the pub downstairs keeps serving long beyond the midnight hour. The house wine comes from a tap but is surprisingly more-​ish, the selection of beers very eclectic. I’ve yet to arrive in time to sample some of the food — the pizzas look and smell amazing.
One of my favourite pubs, just wish I lived nearby! Will definitely try and make one of their Sunday jazz nights.

This is a live music recommendation for Sunday jazz. The Alan Weekes band play here from 11pm till 3am on a Sunday. Yes, not brilliant if you have an actual job, but it’s well worth staying up for — the band have been playing here for TWENTY YEARS, but far from being jaded they are super hot. Amazing musicianship — it’s trad jazz with lots of improvisation and very exciting.

Cosy pub with great selection of beers and open till late at weekends. Can get pretty busy but one of my favorite drinking holes.

As some of you may know, this venue has been described as quite Hipster and Trendy– no doubt people will claim only cool people go there, to be around cool people. Whatever your reason is for going, you can’t deny just how good Sunday night Jazz is at The Haggerston, whether you’re an expert or novice when it comes to the genre.
Reaching there around 7/​8pm sees you guaranteed a seat, as once it’s showtime, finding a seat– is like finding out that not one single blogger/​stylist is in attendance, just ain’t going to happen.
So– you’ve got your seat nice and early, you have a few drinks, the DJ’s got you trying to Shazam his whole set and before you know it, you’re a lil bit «wavey» and the band has just walked in and are about to set up (this is usually around 10pm). Oh– but before I go any further, try not to sit next to the door on the right hand side (as you walk) this is actually the stage area, and you will politely be told to keep it moving and stand in the middle of a cramped bar with no seat or anything to lean on, once the band arrive and the place is jam packed, as that actually ends up being the stage area.
This may not sound ideal, but it’s your first time here, your a newbie, you can’t expect the same perks as the regulars, now you know for next time right?! Despite all this, you still enjoy the great live entertainment (and DJ warm-​up set), vibrant diverse crowd, and all round good vibes. The aesthetic of the place screams cool, laid back, and classy without even trying. The Haggerston is ideal for a few mates to go for a drink, or even a nice date if you are trying to impress a special someone (nothing says sophistication like live Jazz).
I’ve only ever been to this pub on Sunday nights, and now I’m one of those regulars. Furthermore, in a none mean sounding way, would love to see more new faces coming in enjoying themselves, and being told to move seats because the band’s arrived. So hopefully see you there this week around 8pm.. .

If hipsters could breed, this would be a meat market. I’ve never seen so many tight, strangely coloured clothes and superfluous non-​prescription glasses in my life. The staff are friendly, and thankfully don’t touch you too much.

Lovely place with friendly staff and good grub.
but it does attract a certain crowd prentious crowd. but if you can ignore the sea of creeper wearing hipsters you’ll be fine.

Came here Bank holiday Sunday after a day at Carnival, I’m glad i decided to go because i found one of my new favourite hidden spots in london. I’m a jazz fan and sunday nights are live. Highly impressed by this venue which is a stomping ground for talented musicians and singers, not to mention pretty people. Highly recommend a sunday night for drinks and good times. Plus its open until 3am, great find.

If you live in Dalston (but didn’t grow up here) and you are middle class and aged 19 – 35 you have almost certainly been here. It’s one of the fixtures on the area’s nightlife map, with a generally positive reputation which I feel is totally unfounded.
To sum up the service, I think a short anecdote will do the trick. One quiet weekday evening I had popped in and ordered a pint from the terminally disinterested and unsmiling barmaid (whose manner and facial expressions suggested she was suffering from twin addictions to ketamine and facial botox) I nipped out for a cigarette. Realising I didn’t have a lighter I went back in and asked at the bar: «Have you got a light I can borrow?» Barmaid just about manages a ‘no’. «Are you sure, there are loads of candles about — maybe you’ve got some matches?» A shrug. «Well, you must have lit the candles somehow?» Another shrug and a scowl.
And that was that. And also a fair reflection of the service on other occasions too. Staff are just arrogant and unfriendly.
On another occasion they had no beer at all, and were totally unwilling to see the funny side of this fact, or try to fix it by suggesting bottles or anything. Really didn’t seem to give a damn.
On busy nights it’s totally rammed, takes ages to get served, really noisy, and not very friendly. I must own up here and say I don’t like the kinds of bars and pubs where you are squashed in like farm animals and subjected to loud, poor quality sound. Surely pubs are for conversations? If these places don’t bother you you might like it.
On a more positive note, it’s a nice spot to bask in the setting sun and have a smoke outside, and the décor is quite good, but really it’s not a fun night out.

In need of a quick eat? The Haggerstone Pub offers cheap, eclectic pizzas. I opted for the beetroot vegetable pizza and my friend went for speck and pear. Both pizzas were quite nice. The beetroot was the base for this piece and is cheese free (sadness!). Now you and I both know this. I like my cheese, but if you’re lactose intolerant, you know what to order. The speck and pear when combined are a nice salty and sweet wonder.
Prices range between 7 – 9 roughly. Food is served quick.

I came here one night with a few friends before heading off to Passing Clouds. The crowd is quite hipster and very friendly. The staff were nice and the drinks are reasonable priced. The atmosphere is a mixtures of east end cool and rustic charm. Each table has a candle on it that’s been places inside an old bottle of booze. The bathroom situation is also interesting as both the men and women are sharing an area to wash their hands but strangely enter the semi-​communal space from different doors.
I tried one of their vegetarian pizzas which came with a balsamic vinegar topping. It was actually really tasty and very fresh. As I was here early on a Friday night, it wasn’t hard to get a table. But after a couple of hours, the place was starting to get really crowded.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the vibe of this bar and would definitely come back.

Great boozer on Kingsland road, just around the corner from Passing Clouds!
It’s a small pub & it has an outside area that’s nice in the summertime.
The crowd is a young (not too young), hip, arty, office workers, students etc… Mainly people who have moved to the area, not many native Londoners but lots who have made London their home!
Bar staff are pretty friendly, drinks are fine, nothing fancy –they do sell Coopers pale ale & they serve wine in tumblers.
Music is funky & they do a Jazz night on Sundays (gets rammed!).
Overall, a great laid back boozer.

I came here on a Saturday night, I live just round the corner and have passed it many times but the sight of a hoard of hipsters rammed into a small space has resulted in me walking on towards the Talbot. However, on this occasion we thought we’d give it a go.
Once we got in there and nabbed a space to stand/​perch we had a great evening. Some old uni friends turned up and that was it, the beer was flowing, the music playing and it was all pretty cool, I was already composing my 4 star Unilocal review in my head…
And then I used the toilet: one cubicle and one urinal for the guys meant one helluva long queue. The girls had no queue, I know this because there is communal trough to wash your hands in and you can see the girls entering and leaving on the other side. No wonder people piss in the street outside. It’s a really simple fix: wall up the division between the ladies and the gents and put a large urinal there.
Probem solved, now get cracking on it.
PS — when we left there was a queue! A queue for a pub with a bouncer and all! No dancefloor, just a pub. Ummm, I’m not seeing it.

Sooooo, for a start, it’s the Haggerston. No e. Secondly this is one of London’s hidden gems. A place where the locals go, and yes they might be of the Dazed and Confused hipper than hip ilk, but you can’t begrudge a bar for its busyness and pretty clientele.
The main draw is the Sunday night jam, a night that transports you almost immediately to one of those Manhattan underground clubs that you stumble upon as you’re about to go home. However, this is actually just a pretty nice spot to hang out in. Drinks aren’t extortionate, even if the bar staff take their time, there’s a spacious garden (which isn’t really spacious because it’s always rammo), and Fridays and Saturdays always have a pretty good selection of tunes. For people who want to know where people in the area hang out, this is it. And they’re a faithful bunch. Until the next hippest spot in the area comes along.

you know those types of places where you walk in and suddenly you feel like you’ve been transported to another time/​place/​world?
this was one such place.
i went on a late sunday eve, when they have a fabulous jazz night that goes till 3am. im not a huge jazz fan, but can certainly apprciate it. with the naked light pubs, raw wood and tiles, it fit the atmosphere perfectally. the bartenders, while not the fastest in the world were friendly and remembered your drink, and it didnt cost an arm and a leg for a basic cocktail. one thing however, when i got there around midnight it was absolutely rammed — we’re talking takes 5 min just to get to the bar from the door, another 10 to get a drink and then another 5 to move away from the bar again, by which time you need another drink again. but within an hour it thinnned out a little, so it was still crowded, but at least managable.
yes this place reminded me of NYC. and you know what? im totally fine with that. i still loved it.
being that i live up the street, i feel like i might be going frequently.

Came here Sunday night to listen to jazz with friends. The jazz as meant to start at 10.30pm, but as a guy in the toilets said they forgot to book the band, and they always start late anyway. Music did start at about 11.50pm, at which time the bar was insanely packed. The crowd itself was hip, but not so far gone that it was unpleasant. The DJ prior to the jazz was too loud; to the point you couldn’t talk to more than one person at a time, and you still started losing your voice (probably also brought on by the huge number of people present). The jazz, once it started was nice, but it was just way too crowded to really appreciate properly other than as background music. (There were so many people it was impractical to order another drink at the bar after 11.30pm!) I was told they have a nice kitchen, but on the night we were there the kitchen was closed, but the manager kindly allowed us to get take out. The staff in general were nice. Presumably due to the large numbers of people the toilets were pretty dirty and crowded (I have never had to queue at the men’s before — I heard the women’s were worse).

Hey Haggerstone! Williamsburg called, they want their hipsters back!
All kidding aside, should you want to come to London and feel like you’ve never left Brooklyn then this is your spot. It’s laid back and sure to be packed with people on a Saturday night. You’ll find many folks on the back patio smoking Drum cigarettes, or in process of rolling their next.
A destination worth traveling to it is not but if I lived down the block I’d be here regularly for a pint.

By virtue of its location and the forever fickle affections of the hipster class (see SHOREDITCH TWATS) The Haggerstone has been elevated from evidently humble circumstances to the kind of party destination one only finds amongst the painted-​on jean set. It’s far less pretentious than many of its cohorts and one can happily pass an evening here, get wasted, flirt, perhaps move your body ever so slightly without wanting to resort to fisticuffs. That’s perhaps a long-​winded way of saying that I like it despite its too on-​the-​cuspness and will likely extract a few more enjoyable evenings from it before it really gets out of hand.

This venue is my favorite in Dalston. Previously known as Uncle Sam’s, it has had a bit of a make over, but has managed to maintain the rawness and edginess that makes it what it is. I believe it was a jazz bar under the name of Uncle Sam’s, but still has a strong live music department as the Haggerstone.
The raw brickwork and dark lighting contributes to the grungy feel of the place, and the uni-​sex, communal, trough style sink makes for an interesting bathroom experience.
Although it is well known around the trendy East London crowd, it is not too pretentious, and is the kind of place that you can have good old fashioned fun.