Bethnal Green Working Mens Club

Bar in Bethnal Green

8 / 10 from 1 review

Address
44 Pollard Row
Bethnal Green
London
E2 6NB

Map

Telephone
020 7739 2727

Region
Bethnal Green

Nearest Station
Bethnal Green Overground
0.27 miles

Category
Bars

Website
http://www.workersplaytime.net/

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Bethnal Green Working Mens Club Picture Gallery

All In London Review

Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

Something of a local treasure, The Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club has been hosting the craziest parties for years.

Not quite as standard as the name might suggest - although it does retain a working men’s club in the basement – the space caters for a multi-disciplined selection of entertainment. From rockabilly nights to burlesque performance art, the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club remains one of the most original venues in London. Weekends are the best place to visit but you will find the occasional poetry/book jam/vintage fairs on other evenings.

At its most basic, it is one vast room, however, when evening comes and the decorations dress the walls it has a certain seedy swagger to it all. The stage comes complete with a bright pink heart fashioned from light bulbs, rickety furniture surrounds a proper dance floor and what passes for a bar is what appears to be a serving hatch located in the back. Makeshift chic was never such a perfect description.

It is cash only behind the bar and most of the time the drinks are simple offerings of bottled lager along with generic spirits and mixers. But this place isn’t about the drinks, the entertainment is such a mixed bag that you could turn up on a Saturday night and stumble into a Coney Island boardwalk night and not think anything of it. It’s just that kind of place, which is what makes it that local treasure.

Reviewed by T.A.O
Published on Sep 28, 2012

Best For

Cheeky! London's best burlesque shows

Including cabaret, comedy, art, retro-titillation, drag and spectacles for the, let's say: adventurous...

Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club host’s experimental cabaret, burlesque and performance art on stage beneath its hallowed pink heart. Being East London, you can expect a lively, adventurous mixture of shocking fun. There’s nothing formal about it and that’s half the appeal.