The question I hear most often when deciding where to go out in London is “clubs or pubs?”
Personally, I prefer the pub scene. Yet somehow this question becomes central to the majority of people’s experience here.
With over a thousand pubs in Greater London, one would think the choice would be easy, but yet here we are with this supposed ‘whopper’ of a question. In the grand scheme, does it really matter?
Again, this impostor of a serious question transpires almost every weekend, “clubs or pubs?”
If it’s early enough the group might just go to a pub, but then again by the time people start to crack the question it might be too late, since most pubs close before midnight. And when I tell my London friends we have twenty-four hour bars in New Orleans, like Miss Mae’s, their jaws drop.
In London, the closest thing to Miss Mae’s would be one of the many night clubs in Leicester Square (the Times-Square of London).
Leicester Square attracts many tourists sadly yielding many ‘sharks,’ mostly club promoters trying to offer free drinks inside Zoo Bar, but also the European booty grabbers; their hair usually as greasy and slimy as their personalities.
Unfortunately, some of these night crawlers slither their way inside the clubs, grabbing women as if they were taking a toy off the shelf to play with for the night. Most of the time, my guy friends and I have to create a barrier around our female friends just to protect them from these circling predators.
To try and avoid the tourists and ‘rubbish’ in Leicester Square, one might head to the East End to Fabric, a club formed out of an old meat-packing plant. Interestingly enough, Fabric ranks at number two on the ‘DJs top 100 clubs in the world.’
Fabric has arguably the clearest sound one will ever hear and it instantly pumps the heart of anyone within range to the pulse of the music with Star Wars-like light and fog effects to accompany. On Friday nights at Fabric the DJs play ‘dubstep,’ a form of music with overwhelming bass lines and thick drum patterns all done live (with the occasional vocals).
But, however exciting Fabric is, I have to say I can only go there maybe once a month for the sake of my own sanity. As I said before, I almost always side with the domesticated milieu of the pub.
On my quest for a ‘proper’ watering hole, I will say the Argyll Arms is my favorite. This pub, tucked away amidst busy Oxford Circus, holds a tasteful demeanour with small booths hugging the bar, the Victorian ‘wedding-cake design’ casing the walls and ceiling, and a good crowd that threads the whole atmosphere together. Argyll Arms also supplies delicious bangers and mash and a fantastic Welsh ale called “Brains.”If I have a choice I will chose pubs over clubs eight out of ten times, where I can sit and enjoy a conversation. That said if the mob pulls me along I won’t fight it.
Plus, if it’s too late I might have to go to a club anyway to grab a drink.
Russell Shelton is a mass communication senior and is currently studying abroad at Richmond University in Kensington, England.
Russell Shelton can be reached at
