Garlic & Shots

Garlic and Shots in unique in so many ways, it only serves food with garlic, it has a large shots menu, it has a heated outside area, and it is a Gothic venue (though everyone is welcome).

I had the meat burger (there is a vegan option) that came with fries. I'm not a huge fan of garlic but I didn't find it overpowering. Everyone else in my group of six people liked their food as well. I'm not into shots so didn't try them.

The restaurant and bar are in the front. Out the back there is a heated outside area where you can smoke. Downstairs there is a smaller room with another bar with some more gothic decorations.

The venue plays rock/metal/goth music but at a reasonable level so you can still have a normal conversation.

Overall, it is a unique venue with good food and somewhere you'll remember.

What to say about Garlic and Shots? Overview: Smelly, dirty dungeon with bar staff (/waiters?) more offensive than the stench. Loads of shots on the menu, a huge proportion of which are like drinking a liquidised bulb of garlic. Drinks: Great, if you like liquidised bulbs of garlic. If you like anything else, don't bother coming here. Food: Portions small and overpriced. Opted for the ‘XXX HOT chilli’ which was 2 teaspoons of shredded grey meat with no spice whatsoever, accompanied by a bowl of raw onions (great to go with the garlic breath), and garlic white sauce stuff. Sent back to the kitchen asking 'where's the chilli', only for the waiter to look at me as if I'd thrown up all over him and say 'OK… I'll change if if you will be satisfied.' Swapped for chicken dish which took 25 minutes to arrive and was basically a deep fried garlic kiev. Awful. Service: Appalling… Rude, sulky, pouty staff with no desire to help, and a feeling of superiority over the customers. Flatly denied any goodwill gesture when asked for one, and delivered the bill saying 'I haven't added any service charge, so…' – thanks mate! Sadly we tipped anyway as the American in our group insisted. Difference in culture here ;-) General: Went on a particularly windy day, and the back door was constantly left open, despite repeatedly asking for it to be closed. I think the waiters liked tormenting us… Toilets filthy and graffiti everywhere. Was this supposed to add to the gothic charm of the place? I don't know but one thing's for sure, Garlic and Shots left a very bad taste in my mouth…

I visited Garlic & Shots last night with some friends, to introduce them to the “Bloodshot” – a shot that tastes like a blended garlic-infused pizza. Sounds weird, tastes rotten, but its still an experience. However, the whole experience was completely ruined by probably the rudest person I've met in my 18 months in London – horribly rude barman downstairs who kept shouting at us to hurry up and choose a drink – we were looking at the menu of over 75 drinks, but he was so rude and wouldn't let us choose one, so we soon gave up. However, when we went upstairs and wanted to speak to the manager to give him feedback on how rude the barman was – the manager was even WORSE. He was absolutely awful, left us feeling embarrassed and upset, shouted at us repeatedly he was so rude and really put a dampener on our night. I'm so disappointed I let this happen – and I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, after the foul service we got.