Far Rockaway

I called several times to book an area for my partner’s birthday and was told I would be called back with confirmation and potential package options. Nothing. No one called me back and when I told them this I was told that they were very busy. I was prepared to reserve a booth for 10 people and spend a minimum of £100 on package options. This fell to £0 and no booking very rapidly. Far Rockaway would have made quite a bit of money out of my group and I, but alas no! This is terrible customer service before I even stepped in the place so I dread to think what happens there on the actual night. I would have given this zero stars but it won’t let me. I’m not impressed with this place and shall never go there.

I called into Far Rockaway against my better judgement (I’ve had 2 other disappointing visits here) as I was hungry and couldn’t get a table at The Blues Kitchen. The place was pretty empty so we went for one of the famed 18″ pizzas thinking that it would be hard to mess that up. Sadly I was wrong.
The pizza was definitely big enough and we needed another table just for that. Unfortunately things started going downhill from this point on. The pizza was one of the driest things I’ve ever eaten and I’m not sure if it even had any tomato on the base. I asked for some sauce to try and get some moisture and was given chilli oil, chilli flakes and vinegar. You read that right… VINEGAR!!! At a cost of £25 I was expecting a lot better.
I would have given this place 2 starts but combined with my other trips (once for food and once just for drinks) I’d say that this Far Rockaway is best avoided.

I looked at other Unilocal reviews before I went, and my experience was pretty consistent with them. Started with Friday night drinks in the front bar, which was busy due to a networking event. It’s a large space and the rear bar was buzzy too. I ordered a classic margarita straight, and it was quite good — the best I’ve had in London so far.
We eventually gravitated to a table for dinner. I was a bit concerned given that there had been a variety of strange and/​or burnt smells coming from the kitchen during cocktail hour. Nonetheless, my hot dog was very good, more of a German-​style wurst and high quality. The chips were perfectly cooked and the coleslaw was nice too. Hubby’s burger was undercooked despite his «medium» order and his comment was that the quality of the beef was so-​so. The service was friendly when the waitstaff could be bothered to show up. It was somewhat busy, but the waitstaff would turn up en masse, deal with orders and requests, then completely disappear for long stretches. It was a lot of effort to flag someone to take our order and later bring some condiments.
Prices were reasonable, and I’d give it four stars for the food and two stars for the service. I wouldn’t go out of my way to return.

I’ve been to this place twice, once on a Thursday evening and once on a Saturday afternoon. Both times havnt been that busy, so I feel like I still need to experience it when the place is pumping.
What I can say is the décor is fab, the walls have been decorated by well known street artists. If I had to choose my ultimate inspiration to decorate my home this place is it.
Choice of food is good, it’s all American influenced and a cool gimmick is the food comes out on skateboards. Cocktails are good, and again there is a vast choice.
It is pretty pricey, but I wouldn’t say you’re paying any extra than most bars in town.
I will definitely be back to visit again, they do a 90s night on a Friday so this is maybe my calling !!!

Poor quality of food and aggressive security staff.
Friends ordered food, yet food took over an hour to arrive and waiting staff repeatedly got the order wrong.
Furthermore security were incredibly aggressive and unfriendly. Upon my entrance into the venue, they followed me into the toilet and demanded to search me, threatening to hand me over to the police if they found anything. As a long standing attendee of the establishment, and someone who had just entered the venue on this particular evening, this is completely unacceptable. They should treat customers with greater respect and not make wild and unfounded accusations.
On a plus point, there’s a good choice of beers and the music was decent.

My friend saw Far Rockaway’s promotion for its Double Denim 90s nostalgia night and, as children of the 90s, she thought it would be the perfect way to celebrate her birthday.
It was advertised as every Friday, with Pizza, Pot Noodles, Um Bongo cocktails and cheesy tunes. We couldn’t have been more excited at the thought of donning our worst 90s outfits — chain mail halter tops, floral cycling shorts, puffa jackets and Doc Martens. Honestly, our inspiration ranged from Nirvana to B*witched.
You can imagine our disappointment when we arrived dressed in this very fashion only to realise this night was no longer taking place. ‘Every Friday’ must have ended the week before. Instead it was like any other Shoreditch bar (only less crowded).
We saw the funny side of being the only ones dressed up, but were upset to miss out on the Um Bongo cocktails. I requested the listed Rhubarb and Strawberry Daiquiri in its place but the barman didn’t know what Rhubarb was and the other staff said it wasn’t in stock.
Had I gone without the 90s expectation I may have liked this place, but the bar staff seemed slow, the drinks average and the atmosphere lacking.

Came here with a friend to talk work stuff and catch up after work. We got there at about 6:30PM on a Tuesday night, so it was super quiet. Was starting to pick up a little bit when we left, but a Tuesday night is a Tuesday night even in Shoreditch.
Service was meh. Food was ordered at the bar, and the staff were so cool they didn’t care about serving. Even without a queue at the bar.
Food was good. My burger was a bit pink inside and only £7.75 (that’s without a side order of fries, which are extra). It had good flavour, a weak bun, and yummy sauce. All in all, I’d eat it again, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it. My berry mojito was good, and just dandy for £5 (there are £5 cocktails before 7PM on weekdays).
The vibe was Brooklyn skate scene in the 90s, and it was trying very hard to look like it wasn’t trying. I felt right at home in skinny jeans and a flannel shirt. It was quiet, there was a lot of space, and a section with very comfy chairs for hanging out with your drinks and talking. I could hear my friend, and the music wasn’t too loud or awful.
I will probably go again simply because it’s so hard to find a place to hang out with a drink and talk over cheapish decent grub. Great for a post-​work drink and chat session, and that’s more my bag these days than a club night. If you want a place you can sit down, chill for a bit, and drink in peace — this is your joint.

This is a pretty cool place. In fact it may be too cool for me :-(
I popped in here on a Thursday afternoon with a friend (we were working, I swear) and it was empty. I’m sure when it is full on a «popular» night (I no longer even pretend to know if Sunday or Tuesday is the new Friday) huge alarms would sound if I tried to get in. Even worse, I was in business attire after a client meeting!
Seriously though, it is a very fun place that has been decorated to within an inch of its life. There seems to be a wall full of comics that no one seems to be guarding and loads and loads of very modern (and not all good, but some spectacular) artwork.
They sell Brooklyn larger and their food looks pretty cool (obviously!). The service was very friendly and I really enjoyed the 20 minutes I spent in there trying to look like I belonged in a super cool bar in Shoreditch.

The venue is amazingly decorated with music memorabilia, skateboard decks, and neon lights, it really does look the part.
However, as much as I was hoping for the food to be brilliant, I was pretty disappointed at best. My side of BBQ baked beans at !£4! tasted bad, the beans were hard and cheap tasting and nothing really good about them; the fries I think were cheap crinkle cut frozen chips and again overpriced at £4 for a very small bowl.
My cola ribs were ok at £13 — tasted fine. The rest of my party agreed with the food, all saying it was average and overpriced.
Staying in the theme of overpriced– it’s £7 for a bottle of Brooklyn which is extortionate, and 1 other craft beer was £9!
Service wasn’t great; no one asked how the food was during or after the meal. When I told the waitress about my bad beans she just told be she didn’t like them either and that was it!
I would maybe return for a drink and to enjoy the awesome décor of the venue, but not going to eat there again.

Of my three years in London never have I heard a DJ drop Biggie at a club, at all. Far Rockaway’s did.
Think of FR as a dive one would find at the Bowery (talkin’ to you New Yorkers) but with the organization and space of a TGI Fridays. Loud but not deafening; dressy but not clubby.
It isn’t definitively a hip hop joint, nor is it a dancing venue (though the space does allow for it but seldom do Brits break out in dance anyway). But there’s no denying it’s straight poppin’ on a Saturday nights.
Security is polite, staff is helpful. Bartenders could pick up the pace a bit.
Great times, good memories. Will certainly be back.

Just visited Far Rockaway for the first time and I am impressed. It’s a huge place, looks like it’s primarily for evening use as there’s a big bar area as well as a separate, equally big dining area. The decoration is cool — lots of illustrated posters, neon, artwork and skateboards but with just a hint of cheese from the surfboard tables.
The menus look good — there’s clearly some influence from the dude food trend that’s sweeping London but with a good range to choose from (don’t be put off by the boring looking burger photo on their website). We had a pizza from the specials menu: buffalo mozzarella, steak and rocket and it was awesome, both in size (all pizzas are 18 inches) and flavour. The base was not far off a NY pizza and the toppings were great. There’s definitely enough here to feed two, but we had some hot wings on the side as well. The wings were as good as anywhere else, nice and crispy on the outside with a good sauce coating (not buffalo). The food didn’t even take too long to come out, but this was a quiet lunchtime, it might take a bit longer during a busy dinner service.
I was skeptical of Far Rockaway initially as it looks like a big budget opening of a low-​brow restaurant which isn’t always the best combo (see Jamie Oliver’s Diner) but I was very pleasantly surprised. I’ll definitely be heading back there, probably for dinner sometime, and I look forward to seeing what the rest of the menu has to offer.