Venue Review – Core Bar, Bank

Here’s a place I’ve been to a number of times over the Christmas period – one of the few late-night places open around the Bank/City area, and a 5/10min walk from St. Pauls, it’s been around for a number of years and a really good place to go.

Core Bar is one of those places that’s multi-purposed – during the day it’s a good restaurant/bar area, serving lunch, etc and in the evenings it opens up to a Bar/Club-type vibe.

It’s split into two floors, and a small area outside the main entrance for smoking/sitting outside. The top floor is somewhat small/tight as it’s most seating areas with a bar on this floor, and where the main restaurant area is during the day, and then more of a chilled-out catch-up area in the evenings.

The downstairs area is pretty big and split into two distinct areas, a big Bar area and a Club/dancefloor section. The Bar area is a big open space with lots of tables and chairs – seating as little as 4/5 to large tables for 10-20. When it’s busy, there’s a really good vibe and a very good choice for company parties etc, as the area is really big. There’s lots of seating areas all around and tables/chairs and never feels too packed/crammed. The Bar takes up one length of the room, and quite wide so there’s little time to wait (with a very wide selection of drinks available). It’s a really good ‘hub’ area and it’s got great decor/lighting so, whilst it’s a downstairs area, it doesn’t feel gloomy like most places are.

The Dancefloor area, passed through some double-doors within the downstairs area, is really good. Essentially you’ve got a medium-sized open space for dancing, surrounded by secluded seating areas all around (and some sectioned-off VIP areas, enclosed with some metal grating – giving it some industrial-type of aesthetic). It’s moderately more darker in this area with smaller/lower lighting and a good soundsystem. No issues with the music here as on a few nights they’ve played good 90-00s dance/pop/hip-hop/RnB tracks and the area is normally quite busy. There’s also a good Bar area here too, so you don’t have to walk back to the main Bar area to get a drink, so it’s well self-contained.

The usual cloakroom, toilet and amenities are available, and never had excessive queues for waiting for anything and some great staff available. Also booking areas on the phone is really quick and easy, with staff giving a variety of booking options, and it is, in my view, fairly priced, given the part of area that it is in.

Overall, it’s a place I’d really recommend if you/friends are looking for a late night place to go for a dance (or a night cap!), although it can be very busy on most nights, it’s got a really good vibe/atmosphere and it really should be checked out

http://www.corebar.co.uk