BAR REVIEW: Worship Street Whistling Shop (Shoreditch)

Not too far off the Finsbury Square main road and just 10 minutes walk away from Liverpool Street Station is the Worship Street Whistling Shop, a bar which epitomises Shoreditch “edginess”.

The cocktails were all extremely steep (£10+, no Happy Hour), but that was expected given the location. What was not expected, however, was that there was no such thing as getting served at the bar, which is pretty standard of all other bars and pubs I’ve been to. 

I wondered why they would make their life so much more difficult for themselves with this needless bit of bureaucracy, but then I saw the answer: by serving us in our seats, they could heap on an extra 12.5% tip. For bringing the drink from the long length of the front to 10 yards away. There’s your service charge. (to add insult to injury, when I asked a simple question, "can I pay for each drink before I receive it?", the waitress gave me a long, needless rant about how much she hated tabs. Me too! That's why I asked that question, duhh!)

I’m not really a big fan of hipsters, so I didn’t really like the vibe of the place either, and the lighting was so dim it’d make Hollister look like Disneyland. The drink itself was impeccably presented, but the taste itself was lacking, and the quantity, for £11.25, was nothing short of shocking. 

I don’t know about other people in Shoreditch, but when I go to a bar, its with an aim to get drunk and have a good time. I fulfilled neither criteria yesterday at this bloated, quirky-for-quirky’s-sake place, and thus, I really could not recommend it.

 Grade: E