Lockside Lounge

Ah man, Lockside.
So, I’ll be honest here. We were initially going for the food market downstairs because it looked and smelled amazing, but Lockside attracted us in due to having seats.
We sat down and there was a bit of confusion as we worked out whether we could order at the bar or whether someone would come to us, as people seemed to be rushing around like headless chickens and there was no queue at the bar, but eventually we realised we’d just have to sit tight and wait.
After about 5 minutes, a girl came over and took our order; a portion of chips, the hot dog/​chip meal and two teas. Did we want English Breakfast tea, she asked? Yes, we answered.
Another 15 minutes goes past before we get our food. No tea though. That’s okay, I’m sure it’ll appear later…
The chips were lovely. Thin and crispy, kind of like Macdonalds chips without the salt but they also had a bucket of condiments on the table so it didn’t take much to get it between a fish and chip shop and Maccy D’s. They even had that ketchup Maccy’s used to use when I was little. You know, the stuff that actually tastes of tomatoes instead of sugar. Still waiting for the tea at this point.
The hot dog was delicious. It was huge so we split one between us but it really was lovely. They’d toasted the bun so it was crisp on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside and the sausage was almost like choritzo. Bright orange with a bit of spice but not so much it didn’t have that authentic hot dog taste. With a dash of mustard and ketchup from the condiment bucket, we were happy. Still waiting though…
Once we were done eating, we sat around for another 5 — 10 minutes, thinking maybe they were keeping the tea back until we were finished. You know, like they do with coffee in a restaurant? But we gave in and asked for the bill in the end. No tea at all.
They billed us for the tea, which we point out we’d never received and they took it off the bill no problem, but… we only ordered three different things. They forgot a third of our order and the only drinks we’d ordered while in there. That ain’t good in my book. I expect to receive everything I ordered when I go out to eat and I definitely expect to not be left without anything to drink. Poor.
The place was really loud too. There’s pub loud where you have to raise your voice to be heard, and then Lockside loud where you have to practically shout at each other and then give up and communicate by signs and smoke signals. I don’t know whether we were just sitting by a speaker or what, but it was difficult.
The food was good, the service wasn’t, they forgot our order and my ears are still ringing from the noise. Lockside really is a mixed bag. But if you like your music pumpin’ and are looking for a decent hot dog in Camden Lock, this is your place. I’m just not sure you’ll be seeing me there again.

First of all, the security guards were really friendly and helpful. We came as a group of over 10 uni students and were finding difficulties trying to find a place that can squash us in on a Friday night. Not only that we were welcomed in, but we also got great sofa, because someone didnt turn on to the reservation.
Really overpriced, as my Guinness with blackcurrant syrup was £4.60… :(
And the music was slightly loud for a conversation.

This place needs a staff makeover. Unattentive, clueless, and zero sense of urgency. I waited for 18 mins with 4 bartenders and 3 total customers! How is this possible you ask? 1 was eating crisps, 1 was creatively wasting liquor on her own homemade cocktail, and 1 was taking her dear sweet time chatting up 2 dudes. For the love of god, get me out of here.

Nice portion of the bar to sit outside when weather is nice. I don’t find this pub particularly unique. The cocktail menu isn’t that extensive and beers are sort of expensive. Have tried the frozen margarita’s and they are pretty good. Always seems to start out very busy in day time but crowd dwindles out as the night progresses.

I’ve been here a few times and both times, it’s been pretty crowded. The outside seating gives you amazing views of Camden Market and of the Lock. So it makes for great people watching and is a fun way to hang out in Camden during a warm summer evening. The bar selection is pretty average and the clientele is a mixture of Camdenites and tourists. So it makes for an interesting mix.
I did run into someone there who was wearing a Washington Redskins jersey but wasn’t from DC or from America. Strange. But hey, it’s Camden!

Camden Town is for the young — and the young at heart, who like to stay up late. When I was here, they were playing a Harry Belafonte album, which I happily sang along to every song — great music!
The predictable selection of beers and drinks. That part makes it a regular bar. Outdoor area is great for watching people, and indoors there’s lots of space if it’s chilly out. It’s a great place to pop into if you’re in Camden Town, but probably not a destination. I’d go back, however, I’d go back in a heartbeat.

I’m not sure what all the great reviews of this place are about, to be honest. The atmosphere is nice enough. Sitting outside at a picnic table is lovely, but the inside can be oddly quiet and awkward. The beers are overpriced. The food is average.
It’s an excellent location, but I work across the canal from it and wouldn’t go there unless somebody specifically asked me to meet them there. You’re better off somewhere else, or buying some beer at the off-​license and sitting by the canal if you want to be outside.

As another Unilocaler said, the term «lounge» tends to conjure up images that are not at all pertinent to the Lockside Lounge. I tend to thing of low, multicolored lighting, overstuffed chairs and sofas and the like.
The Lockside, however, has one of my favourite outdoor seating areas (both times I have been here, the deck has been nearly full, while the inside has remained nearly empty. The outdoor area has a wonderful view overlooking the food stalls of Camden Market, as well as the canal — all of this making the Lockside perfect for a warm afternoon.
The staff is friendly, and also quite knowledgeable about their beer, which is always a plus. The beer selection is not too bad either — in addition to the standard Amstel and Becks, Erdinger and Meantime, two of my favourites, are available on draught.
The Lockside still falls short of the 5-​Star mark, however. This is primarily due to the fact that I think it is slightly overpriced. Erdinger costs £4.50, which is average, but the Meantime and the bottles tend to be about £1 more expensive than other pubs not too far away.
My rationale, though, is that the view and the atmosphere are worth paying a little extra for… every now and then.

Absolutely love this place! Can be touristy on weekend days but weekdays and evenings see more locals and/​or music lovers from all over. They have great DJs, live music and events every week. The staff are always great and friendly but it does get really busy on weekends — the days being busy for food and nights for their events and you may not get as much attention as you would on any other day/​night. Drinks and food are both very good — great fish and chips and pies (homemade)! In the summer its great to sit outside and watch the Lock or the crowd with an Aspall cider and in the winter they serve mulled wine, hot rum, spicy hot pimms, and hot chocolate. This place is a favorite.

Mojitos? In Camden Town? You’d better believe it — and some of the best I’ve had anywhere. Who knew?
A little crowded, but the music was thumping and we felt inherently cool sitting on Lockside’s balcony. Fantastic view of the Camden market.

This bar has a unique location situated above the market and offers nice views of the market and the canal, inside the décor is suited to camden, pink flamigo wallpaper at one end and a huge wall mural off parrotts sitting on a wire is quite impressive.
Friday nights offer free food in the shape of hot dogs which is a nice treat for the afterwork crowd like myself
However after saying all that the reason i would not recommend this place is that the Lockside Lounge suffers badly from pick pockets, as a local, i have had friends who have been targeted. The bar staff simply shrug and say its nothing to do with them. I have in fact tried to come back at lunch time to view the cctv but again faced no help from the staff. This bar needs to sort out this problem urgently. its one thing to have an enjoyable drink with friends, it is something quite different to be on the constant look out for pickpockets. Not so enjoyable!

One of my favorite (if touristy) little spots to sip an icy cider and watch the day go by… It’s really not the place to find locals, but it is a good spot to while away the hot summer afternoons when you can’t be bothered to make your way to Hyde Park…

I normally try to avoid anything with ‘lounge’ in the title. The word makes me think of elevators and muzak. Having said that, with its designer wallpaper, shiny wood floors and ever so polite staff, Lockside Lounge is as pleasant as a ‘loungy’ place can be and is great for a warm up drink after trawling the endless stalls and shops of Camden Market.
More a place to plan an evening than spend one, it nevertheless has a good selection of wines, decent and varied bar food and generally plays easy listening music during the day, switching to a more upbeat selection after dark with live DJs. They get bonus points for serving mulled wine, winter Pimms and hosting Special Needs, a monthly hiphop/​soul/​funk night which is always very fun.

I think how much you like/​dislike this bar might depend on when you go. I have been numerous times on weekday evenings and its a pretty chilled out place which feels fairly spacious and is certainly a more pleasant place to be than when it used to be a club quite a few years back.
It’s got some good outside seating, a fairly ok range of beers inside and the food is pretty good for lunch.
Having said that — come the weekend and it gets rammed and that’s when it turns into Mr Hyde, having not enough room, being too hot, and generally a bit rubbish.
Having said that I’ve always found the bar staff to be a good bunch.
So overall — pretty good location, slightly away from the main Camden drag, but beware the business of the weekends.

Trendy-​ish bar and eatery with no bitter on. Fairly popular just to great position overlooking the food stalls at Camden market, but it’s cheaper to eat down there than up here. That having been said, a great place to sit and watch the hustle and bustle of the market on a Saturday.

The Lockside Lounge is a dreadful, dreadful establishment, no pussy footing around I’ll get straight to the gripe. The venue is effectively one long corridor with a small dance floor at one end. Once the dance floor is in use you will be trapped in a very small area full to breaking point as people try to get in and out of doors and try desperately to get served.
From nine onwards the bar was never less than two deep and for what? Bad cocktails and Heineken! The worst part of the bar is that at 10pm everyone with a drink outside on the admittedly lovely balcony must go inside, thus a football ground-​style crush ensues. Hot and rammed with people bothered by the crush and the heat it’s not a comfortable place to be. The DJ was enjoying playing his music, the rest of the people in there were not able to talk, too loud. Add to the fact that one must pay £3 to enjoy such an atmosphere then the disappointment is obvious. The dissatisfaction was being well aired as people left, encouraging those poor souls queing to turn back.
At what point Camden became so busy is beyond my memory, but it appears that on every visit I consistantly ask myself why. Cultural tourist all over the place and enough pork pie hats (still!) to open a hattery. To be fair to the Lockside Lounge it is probably a lovely place to come during the day, but like most of Camden it is best left alone at weekends and when the sun goes down.