Electric Cinema

Awesome cinema. Spectacular. Beautiful. Iconic. From the outside it looks small but once you step inside you realise how stunning the comma really is. There are sofa beds at front but I opted for seats in row 3 which were perfect. You get wine and food delivered to your seat to enjoy when the film starts. Honestly think this is a real London treasure. Go and see a film here. It’s better than the Shoreditch one.

Perfect place to relax. I wish all movie theaters were this fantastic, comfortable, and baller. In the States we could never have anything so nice. Enjoy a glass of prosecco and some snacks whilst you watch a fab film and hang in your beauteously comfy, velvety soft, plush armchair with ottoman, couch, or, yes, bed.

I’m not a big movie-​goer, especially theaters that charge a premium. However, when I had the chance to see Spectre in London a day after it was released in the UK, and a couple of weeks prior to the U.S. release, I looked in Unilocal and found out about Electric Cinema, I thought it had some promise.
I sent an e-​mail asking about Spectre tickets and showtimes. EC responded rather quickly, and they seemed very cool in communicating. Stayed up until 1am on a Sunday night to buy Spectre ticket, glad I did.
Seats are ridiculously comfortable, and being tall, I appreciated getting to stretch out.

Once you watch a movie at electric cinema, there’s just no going back. INCREDIBLE.

The pick & mix, fully stocked bar and incredibly comfortable armchair style seating really sold this place for me, although the ticket prices are a little higher than heading down to your local chain cinema it’s worth it.
The whole place feels as though you’ve stepped back in time, little lamps are set on small tables between the seats and their are even ‘bed’ style seating down the front for those wanted to have a little romance and cuddle up watching a film.

Once you’ve been to the electric cinema, there’s really no turning back. Why would you ever sit down on uncomfortable chairs and crane your neck around people when you could like on luxurious velvet beds with cashmere blankets? Alternatively, if you’re not lucky enough to get a bed, you’ll be almost equally comfortable in a reclining lounging sofa-​chair.
Let’s not forget that you also can have wine and snacks brought to you. I’ve also occasionally brought in food from the Electric Diner next door (with their permission).
Try to reserve as early as you can to get your favourite seats; they are worth every penny!

A friend and I wanted to see Cindarella and the Electric Cinema could not have been a more perfect setting and place in which to watch it.
We sat back with our prosecco in the most comfortable cinema chair I have ever sat in and watched with glee our favourite fairytale. When it started to become a little chilly there are wonderful cashmere blankets neatly stored in your footstool in front of you for you to use.
100% worth every penny and will be heading back very very soon.

One of the best cinema experiences I have had!
You will need to make a reservation quite early to be able to get the ‘bed’ seating at the front, but it is definitely worthwhile.
You will need to keep an eye out for what film they are currently showing, and definitely make sure it is a film you want to see, and you are not just seeing a film, for the sake of seeing a film.
We went to see the Grand Budapest Hotel, and I think the style of the film complimented the the old theatre look, and made the experience even better.
Plus, if you go to the Electric Diner beforehand, you are able to take your food in with you to eat during the film. A huge bonus!

Wow, what an amazing unique cinema. This is such a luxurious experience! From the outside you would never expect to see what awaits you inside, situated in the middle of Portbello Road Market.
As soon as you walk past the booking office, into the cinema, you are greeted with a beautiful cinema with rows of leather armchairs with footstools and side tables, that are so comfortable to sit at. At the back of the cinema are two-​seater sofas and on the front row double beds. Blankets are also available inside the footstools.
We were here to watch the live screening of the Oscars from Hollywood, and what a perfect place to watch it short of being at the Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre! With the huge screen, its perfect.
On arrival we were greeted with a glass of bubbly. On the seats were popcorn and sweets. During the ceremony, we were served by waiters/​waitresses with canapes and bowl food, and chocolate brownies. At 3am we were given breakfast!
More drinks were available at the bar at the back of the theatre, serving cocktails, wine, beer and champagne, teas and coffees.
The event finished at 5am, and when we emerged from the beautiful cinema, the market stallholders were already setting up their market stalls.
One incredible night/​early morning!

it’s a fantastic cinema, armchairs, drinking/​eating something when you watching movie,.

This is the cinema that made me start a cinema blog!
This place is banging. Period.
On a scale of one to ‘the best cinema to have around the corner from you, ever’, the Electric sits firmly on the epic-​win end. Now I’m living in Notting Hill, it’s a few minutes away, and really, I’m pretty spoiled to be able to call it my ‘local’.
I’ve been visiting the Electric for years, which is owned by the Soho House Group (SHG) and sits in the same space as Electric House and Electric Diner. Of all three, I think the cinema is the biggest draw. While brunch in the Diner is nice, the Portobello Road mainstay is one of the oldest working cinemas in the UK, mixing old school glamour with SHG’s trademark polish and plush décor.
Opened originally in 1910 and getting a HUGE 2m remodel in 2001 (funded by Monsoon founder Peter Simon no less), the listed-​building is now one of London’s most loved cinemas.
As with most luxury cinemas, tickets are hardly cheap, but with Secret Cinema pushing the top end of the price bracket further and further upwards (read: taking the piss), the £18 cost for one of the 65 armchairs with side tables and footstool doesn’t seem too bad. Especially when multiplex seats go for around £14, and you’d pay more for an IMAX showing.
On top of the armchairs (which drop to £15.50 on a Monday and £15 on a Sunday), there are six front row beds — yes, actual beds — you can pick up for £30 standard rate and three two-​seater back row sofas for £45.
As you’d expect, there’s a bar that opens 10 minutes before the advertised programme time, serving cocktails, wine, beer and champagne. There’s also hot food and snacks galore, plus a super-​cute retro pick & mix stand out in the foyer. To benchmark, a burger will cost you a tenner, wine starts at £15/​bottle, so it’s not too pricey.
The Electric is also home to SHG’s Edible Cinema concept, which pairs classic films with a multi-​course tasting experience. I went to the Romeo & Juliet showing earlier this year (actually held at BAFTA), but tickets sell out FAST when they’re back on home turf. Well worth signing up to the newsletter as details for upcoming events get distributed there first.
If you’re after a civilised cinema experience in plush surroundings, minus the kids throwing popcorn, this is definitely your best bet.

The best cinema — ever!
Make a reservation (about a week in advance) for a ‘bed’ in front of the cinema.
— CHECK.
Order a bottle of wine.
— CHECK.
Order a burger from the restaurant next door.
— CHECK.
Cuddle up with your significant other and watch the film
— CHECK.
Seriously, can it GET any better than that (with Chandler-​intonation)?!
They only show one film, so please keep an eye out that it’s one you actually would like to see and note that you can’t order drinks during the film (see #2: order a bottle of wine). Truly, this is the best way to spend your time in a cinema and even if you can’t get one of the front beds, the lounge chairs looked amazingly comfortable as well. Ooooh I want this cinema SO badly in Amsterdam!

This is a movie experience complete with libations. You can’t miss it, even if the movie is terrible.
Enjoyed dessert, coffee and wine during Godzilla over the summer? Excessive? No, I would say it’s expectation.
Great for a date. Will be returning next time I’m in London.

I can’t believe I’ve never been to the Electric Cinema as it is only 10 minutes away from me.
Well, that was because I had the misconception that it was REALLY expensive. Then I realised that the prices in Notting Hill hasn’t really gone up in the last few years (so great to live in an area that is «inflation proof because it was too expensive already») so now everything is normal price! Woop. If you think about it, a 3D movie in westfield costs about 17 quid, so for 18 at the Electric, it’s a bargain considering how much nicer it is.
I mean, who doesn’t want to be curled up in a super comfy leather armchair with a cozy (but suspect) cashmere blankets, eating delicious fried chicken wings and sipping a pint while watching guardians of galaxy. WHO? There are also beds in front and sofas at the back if you want to do some spooning during the movie.
The only bad thing is that the cinema has a history of flooding (apparently according to the website) — that might be why we had to go all the way to the duke of wellington to go to the loo. Boohiss.

Let’s get it out of the way: Yes, this is the cinema with beds.
Yes, I said beds. In a cinema. They are here.
Ok, they’re not really beds in the normal sense, more like giant red lounging sofas that have pillows and blankets and you lay down on them and watch a movie.
So. beds.
Electric Cinema is one of those places that I’ve been meaning to get to since I first came to London. How could I not, it combines my two favourite things in the world — lying in bed and watching a movie. What! Amazing.
It’s a giant refurbed theatre that still feels like a theatre (unlike some other spaces that you can’t even tell what it was). The space is grand and beautiful, the seats lovely, there’s even an old school ticket counter and concession stand before you walk in.
Now, the beds in front take up the front row. I was worried we’d be too close to the screen, but it was actually fine once we laid down and got comfortable. There are about five of them in total and they cost £30 for two people (or £15 a ticket). There are also two-​person sofas in the back of the room, if you don’t want to lay down but you still want to share the seat.
Rocking solo? No problem, the rest of the theatre is made up of giant, comfy seats. That’s what I think I love most about this place. They’re not cramming you into anywhere, it’s all about the comfort here.
Also, they have food service and will bring it right to you when you order it. Right before the movie started, a man came to our bed and went, «Do you want these free nachos?» And handed us two plates of free nachos. I assume everyone doesn’t always get free nachos, but damn if they didn’t win over my heart but giving us spontaneous free nachos!
The screen is giant, the sound is good, the movies are fun (they do classic and new-​in-​cinema). The only issue I had was that this place was seriously hot in the summer, but once I stopped moving and laid down (laid down! In a cinema! Amazing!), I cooled and it was fine. Five stars and electric fun.

Without a doubt this is the most incredible cinema I have ever experienced. I attended a Sunday afternoon screening of ‘The Two Faces of January’. Frankly, the movie wasn’t excellent but the comfy seats, amazing snacks and beautiful décor made up for it. I was impressed by the cinema’s ability to acquire movies not yet widely released with fascinating premises.
Go to the Electric Cinema! Seriously.

I truly love this place. I feel fairly confident that no matter how poor the flick, I would always treasure an Electric experience.
From the absurdly comfy chairs to the cashmere blankets (sneakily tucked away under your foot rest — I was so excited to make that discovery!) and the champagne to the gourmet snacks, truly a viewing experience matched by no other. Call me a sucker, but it also just feels cool.
If I could watch every movie I ever saw and ever will see at the Electric, I would.
I definitely plan on bringing out-​of-​town visitors here to wow em

I went here recently to see «Bling Ring» with a friend. We had just had dinner at Pizza East and were walking towards another theater and walked by this one, realizing that they were showing the same movie at a more convenient time. While the theater looked a bit run-​down and dingy from the outside, we figured we were here, we may as well.
When I went to pay, I kind of died a little on the inside. £18 to see a movie? As a recent transplant to London, I was expecting to pay more to go to the theater, but I did not expect a price this steep. I forked over my £20 note and hoped somehow I wouldn’t feel as guilty.
Guilt quickly disappeared once I stepped inside this theater. It is unlike any theater I’ve ever been to and I immediately knew it was well worth the money spent (not even caring how the movie turned out). We sat in these plush beautiful tufted leather chairs with cozy lamps on tables between the chairs. There were also loveseats as well as sofa beds that could be bought where couples were cuddling (great date idea!). The theater was nothing short of beautiful, cozily lit. They had a café with great looking desserts and pastries, but my friend and I opted to share a carafe of white wine to go along with the movie.
We settled into our chairs, stretching our legs out on matching footstools and covered ourselves with cashmere blankets (provided), to prepare for the most comfortable and enjoyable movie experience I’ve had at any theater. I could have sat in that chair for hours after the movie ended.
I would highly recommend this place for a date and/​or if you’re looking for a thoroughly luxurious and cozy movie viewing experience. Definitely something to wow out of town guests with. :)

As a (recent) stay-​at-​home mom, I admit that I get a bit bored bouncing my bebe on my knee all day at home! Searching for an escape from laundry, dish washing and staring contests with my kid, I stumbled upon Electric Scream at Electric Cinema. A mommy’s paradise… a mid morning showing of a recently released flick that allows to mom’s with babies 1 yr or younger to attend. I was a bit nervous that my own baby would scream the entire time and disrupt other moms (or the child next to me would make it impossible to hear the movie), but with the exception of a few whines for a bottle, the babies seemed just as content as the moms watching Leonardo Dicaprio’s handsome face on the big screen during the Great Gatsby!
The show I attended was sold out, so I suggest booking quite far in advance! Strollers/​prams are welcome but need to be left at the back of the theater, so expect to hold your lil one during the movie. If there is a screamer next to you, subtitles are turned on during the flick to ensure you don’t miss any key lines. Coffee, tea, water and other refreshments were sold but they lacked big tubs of buttery salted popcorn… which is the only thing that could have made the experience better.

This place gets booked quickly. I tried to get tickets for Silver Linings Playbook on Thursday night for a Friday screening of 9:30, and all the seats were booked. We resorted to getting front row armchairs instead for a Friday screening of 6. After many experiences of sitting in the front row and craning my neck painfully for Harry Potter movies, I was prepared for more awkward movie watching when I stepped into Electric Cinema.
Relieved when I saw that the armchairs, despite being in the front row, was a comfortable distance away from the screen. Even more relieved to see leather seats (is anyone as sketched out as me by fabric seats?) and cashmere blankets stored under the footstools. I saw that the couches in the front were actually beds, conducive to couple canoodling (note to all the gentlemen looking for a date location), and the decoration at the place was absolutely gorgeous.
You pay for the experience (15 quid for the movie ticket, 5 quid for peppers, 8 I think for the burger) but it’s more comfortable than the standard movie fare, and coupled with a pint of beer, it was just the place to wind down on a Friday evening.

Youyou ! Je suis la Première à poser un avis en Français sur l’un des plus anciens cinémas de Londres, si ce n’est le plus ancien…
Situé sur Portobello Road, je dois vous dire que c’est mon quartier quand je vais à Londres, quand je vis un mois par an à Londres. Mon frère habite à cinq minutes et c’est lui qui m’a fait découvrir le lieu, il y a des années !
Depuis l’été de mes seize ans, été où je passais trois mois en Ecosse pour apprendre à parler couramment l’Anglais (Mes Parents eurent la riche idée de rajouter un peu de piment à l’apprentissage de La Langue de Shakespeare ! Non sans rire, apprendre l’Anglais en Ecosse…), les Cinémas Outré-​Manche m’ont toujours fasciné. Tu parles… On pouvait fumer (mais je né fumais pas encore heureusement), manger, boire des tas de boissons innommables, etc… Mes souvenirs de séances à Edimbourgh sont ENORMES !
Cela dit ! J’ai du mérite ! Je revins Bilingue !!!
Et voilà-​t-​il pas que des Années plus tard, je découvre l’Electric.
Bön, on né fume pas, plus, à l’Electric et c’est bien ainsi.
On pénètre dans un Cinéma qui extérieurement n’a rien d’exceptionnel, mais lorsque l’on est dans la Salle, on se rend vite compte que c’est Géant ! Un cinéma à l’ancienne, comme un théâtre. Des fauteuils de cinéma, mais style «Club» ! Ah oui, on a de la place. On enlève ses chaussures. On peut allonger ses jambes. On a sur le côté de petites tablettes où l’on peut poser sa boisson, un cake, un sandwich,… The Top of The Top !
La programmation est toujours à la hauteur de mes attentes, puisque c’est forcément une salle d’Art et d’Essai.
Ce que j’aime par dessus tout, ce sont les séances du Dimanche matin. Moins chères et réservées aux Familles. Le Kiff Total ! De beaux dessins animés, de bons films pour les enfants qui viennent accompagnés par leurs parents, leurs grands-​parents. Un bar se trouve dans la salle, faiblement éclairé. Gran Mum prend une bière à 10h30,… les enfants tout ce qu’ils aiment, moi un café et un gâteau. Et puis on s’installe dans cette superbe salle. ET LA MAGIE OPERE !
A noter qu’il y a au fond, deux très grands espaces familiaux (Il vaut mieux réserver…) où l’on peut quasiment s’allonger. April allaite le dernier, pendant que Tom dévore ses sweats et le film !
C’est Magique ! C’est la Salle de Cinéma que je préfère au Monde !
So, Amis Français, Offrez-​vous ce plaisir-​là !
Entre l’entrée et le reste, comptez ¹⁵⁄₂₀ euros par personne, mais La Magie n’a pas de prix !
ps: J’ai pris des photos de l’intérieur. Je me suis fait gronder. C’est interdit. Elles sont donc rares !.

Zur Portobello Road gehört auch das Electric Cinema, ein Kino, dessen Inneneinrichtung noch im (restaurierten) Zustand von 1911 ist. Okay, an Leinwand und Ton hat sich inzwischen schon was getan, aber der nostalgische Charme ist noch da. Man sitzt in tiefen, großen Ledersesseln mit breiten Armlehnen und viel Beinfreiheit (auf den besseren Plätzen gibt es extra Hocker für die Beine), zwischen den Sesseln sind Tische, es gibt eine Bar …
Wir haben nur was getrunken, aber das Essen (zum Standardangebot gab’s div. Tarteletts mit Lachs, Spargel etc.) sah gut aus, kam aus der neben dem Kino liegenden Brasserie.
Wer hin möchte: Karten reservieren ist auch unter der Woche Pflicht.