Fluid Eating's Review of The Loft
If you want a spot where you can relax in funky surroundings while gazing out on London life unfolding before you, then The Loft in Clapham is for you. This restaurant and bar oozes chic urban design and is both spacious and light, with plenty of comfy couches on which to enjoy drinks as well as a dedicated area for dining.
The dining experience is well worth reserving a table for. It’s modern European and among the starters there is a wholesome Vichyssoise soup of creamed leeks and potatoes, as well as an excellent three pepper and fennel salad with deliciously tangy red pepper dressing topped off with appealingly thick slices of home-cured salmon.
There’s also great choice among the mains: try the 21-day hung fillet steak on a bed of spinach which was tender and delicious in its accompanying red wine and shallot juice. Alternatively there is a homemade pasta dish which changes regularly (on this occasion a tagliatelle in a rich sauce with asparagus).
Be absolutely sure to make room for dessert. The warm treacle tart was melt-in-the-mouth scrumptious and it came with a homemade rhubarb sorbet which was truly out of the top drawer. It was given stern competition by a decadent vanilla cheesecake with fresh fruit swirled lovingly in berry sauce.
The drinks menu offers a thirst-bustingly wide selection of Andy Campana cocktail creations as well as carefully selected spirits and beers. The team has made some cracking wine selections too – among the reds the Santsbury pinot noir has the luxurious flavour of dark fruits with the perfect level of tannins to accompany a selection such as steak. The bar staff were even unswervingly accommodating for a companion who wanted a non-alcoholic selection, whipping up an excellent fruity concoction.
Finally, look out for some great promotions including 50% off the à la carte menu and 2 for 1 cocktails on selected evenings. One’s thing for sure: you’ll want to show your mates the cool contents of this Loft.
Reviewed by Arthur Browne
Description:
Opened at the end of 2007, The Loft is located on Clapham High Street, on the first floor of a modern glass building. The Loft bar and restaurant is the brand new venue from brothers James and Andy Campana, also responsible for the award winning Plan B in Brixton.
Mixing industrial with comfy vintage and urban cool, The Loft is a step up from its contemporaries. A galvanised steel and wood panelled ceiling, vast 10m metre concrete bar and raw, exposed brickwork contrast with 70s retro furniture such as swing Sigurd Ressell’s ‘Falcon’, Eames and Arkana chairs to create a modern edgy feel. Soft standard lamp and Davey ship lighting, banquette leather seating and smoked black glass tables add a stylish side to this relaxed, unique venue equally suited to lounge lizards as gallivanting gastronomes.
If music is your thing but your are not in the mood to move manically in a mélange of strangers, The Loft promises to play the latest selection of sounds whilst retaining a sense of casual calm. Courtesy of high tech audiophile quality EM acoustic sound system, Friday sees sweet soul mix with laidback, eclectic funk, Saturdays nod to NYC disco combined with proper boogie and Sundays feature forgotten favourites with 80s classics and easy listening. (Updated 23/07/2009)
The Loft Food & Drink Menus
Listed below are few sample food and drinks items available at
The Loft. These lists are not enhaustive, but are instead designed to give you an overview of the venue's
offerings and assciated prices.
The Loft Food menu
We’ve revamped our food offering to bring you a selection of great dishes for every occasion – all priced under a tenner! Best of all, you can enjoy them all anywhere in the venue, whether you’re sitting at the bar, lounging in the sofa, or in the restaurant section.
| Item |
Price |
| Pork Belly |
£9.50 |
| Gloucester Old Spot pork belly with mustard mash, braised red cabbage and our homemade spiced apple chutney (served ‘thin and crispy’ or ‘fat and juicy’) |
| Chicken Breast |
£9.50 |
| Corn-fed chicken breast on a warm potato salad with roasted red peppers, grilled aubergine and pesto. |
| Halloumi Stack |
£8.50 |
| A Halloumi cheese, aubergine and beef steak tomato griddled stack served with a roasted red pepper sauce on a sweetcorn fritter. |
| Sirloin Steak |
£9.90 |
| Sirloin steak, 21-day hung, with chunky chips or shoestring fries
With a homemade Béarnaise sauce or Gorgonzola sauce (add £1.8) |
| Bangers and Mash |
£8.50 |
| Choose your own bangers and mash, served with red wine jus and crisped shallots (Choose from pork and leek, Brindisa chorizo or tomato and basil sausages |
| Fishcakes |
£8.00 |
| Smoked haddock fishcakes served with baby leaf salad and homemade Béarnaise |
| The Loft Burger |
£8.50 |
| Handmade, in-house from prime aged Scottish beef. (Add cheese for 50p, bacon for £1). With chips and our special sauce. |
| Loft Club Sandwich |
£9.00 |
| Corn-fed chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato and homemade mayonnaise on ciabatta. With chips. |
| Brownie |
£5.00 |
| Chocolate fruit and nut brownie, served warm, with double cream on the side |
| Cheesecake |
£6.00 |
| Homemade cheesecake topped with banana and toffee sauce |
The Loft Drink menu
Designed exclusively by co-owner and chemistry graduate Andy Campana, cocktails are where The Loft excels. With over 50 innovative creations, drinks which reach the dizzy heights are divided in to ‘Crowd Pleasers’, ‘Infusions and Concoctions’ and ‘Plan B Favourites’. ‘Shakers and Movers’ pay homage to some of the best bartenders in the world such as Salvatore Calabrese, Dick Bradsell, and Tony Conigliaro. There’s even the mini mixology set with ingredients such as lemon and lime juice, white and brown sugar, orange or angostura bitters which you can add to your cocktail, drop by drop, to decipher if you prefer to walk on the sweet or sour side of the street.
| Item |
Description |
Price |
| Jasmine & Elderflower Collins |
42 Below Passionfruit vodka shaken with muddled lemongrass, homemade jasmine tea sugar syrup, elderflower cordial and lemon juice, topped with soda, served tall over ice.. |
£6.80 |
| The drink with no name |
Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif shaken with pear liqueur, homemade cinnamon, cardamom and star anise sugar syrups, with lemon and orange juice and wild flower honey, served tall over ice.. |
£6.80 |
“Had an amazing party in the loft on Saturday night. The bar was packed with a really cool good looking crowd. The cocktails were awesome. One of my mates did complain that they weren't serving draft beers after a certain time, but most of us were drinking cocktails, and the bar's happy hour ran until 8pm when there is a really good choice of 241's!”
Rating: 
— sam campbell, london
(01 Feb 2012)
“A terrific bar. The cocktails are to die for, and ther happy hour is excellent value.”
Rating:
— caroline potter, london
(31 Jan 2012)
“I am a big fan of the Loft. For friendly service, some of the best cocktails in London, comfy sofas, and tasty bar food, You can't go far wrong, and its all on my doorstep!”
Rating:
— shmorgansbord, london
(09 Dec 2011)
“Really nice cocktail bar. Drinks are top notch, and for a bar this nice to do 241 cocktails all week is rare.”
Rating:
— wellers, london
(08 Dec 2011)
“Went to the Loft on Saturday night for one of my friends birthdays. I hadn't been before, but will definitely be going back! The bar has a great atmosphere, really nice crowd, delicious cocktails, friendly staff, what more could you want?”
Rating:
— helen, London
(31 Jan 2011)
“Excellent venue, friendly staff made us delicious cocktails. The food is well above average for a bar, and they do a great 241 deal of cocktails early every day.”
Rating:
— Miss suzy cater, london
(24 Jan 2011)
“Maybe nice for a drink but terrible for a sunday brunch. Had to wait 20min for the drinks (2 tea and 2 hot choc), had to wait an hour to get food served and it came Cold!! asked to be reheat but still came cold! poached eggs were overcooked and not liquid and the salmon was grey and not pink. Avoid the brunch!”
Rating: 
— Mrs Helene Arhab Luis, London
(06 Dec 2010)
“Clapham's Best.”
Rating:
— francis, london
(20 Aug 2010)
“Excellent bar. Well done.”
Rating:
— steven wilkins, london
(19 Aug 2010)
“Went on a Saturday night, and it was great. The cocktails are excellent, and the atmosphere electric.”
Rating:
— jeremy Bower, london
(18 Aug 2010)
“i went to the loft on a sunday night and really enjoyed myself. I was with a good friend and found the crowd to be young professionals having a night out. It was a little quiet and noticed the staff sitting around when there were lots of dirty tables around. the service was good though and i really liked the views.”
Rating:
— fiona, london
(31 Mar 2010)
“Really great night at Loft for my birthday. Had a great area reserved near the bar, which gave us a great vantage point for the evening. Great atmosphere, great tunes, really recommend this venue.”
Rating:
— Lewis Jones, London
(16 Mar 2010)
“Had my Birthday there on the 26 Feb - Fantastic night
THANK YOU”
Rating:
— Shivaji Sockalingum, Streatham, London
(03 Mar 2010)
“I've been to The Loft a few times since moving to Clapham and decided to try out the free booking service for my birthday party last weekend. There were about 20 of us and we were given a massive area with really comfy sofas and lots of room. The music was great, everyone had a brilliant time and we didn't even need to go to the bar to order our drinks thanks to the very helpful waitress who made sure our glasses were always full. Fully reccommend this place either as one on the list of a bar crawl around Clapham or as somewhere to spend the whole evening. Thanks for a brilliant Birthday Party!”
Rating:
— cathryn, Clapham
(27 Feb 2010)
“I had my birthday party here in early Feb 2010, having never been here before and nervously booked a seated area (for free) for my friends and I. We were all thrilled with the bar - the sofa area they had given us was perfect, the service was faultless all night with super-friendly waitress and no-nonsense approach. And the atmosphere (particularly for Clapham on a Friday night) was really great - not too cheesy or sleazy - great for a birthday party. I would HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone wanting similar - chilled, cool surroundings with great, accommodating atmosphere...Thanks so much, Andrea”
Rating:
— Andrea Currie, London
(24 Feb 2010)
“My friend and I went for dinner, great value with the taste London card, with 1/2 price food. The Happy hours was great, 2 4 1 cocktails. Had a great time, atmosphere was very good. Will definitely be back!”
Rating:
— Sharon Smith, London
(23 Feb 2010)
“easily one of the best bars in Clapham. Stylish and a good crowd without being pretentious. Gets packed but who wants a dead bar on a friday / saturday night out?”
Rating:
— Steve, London
(23 Feb 2010)
“The best bar in Clapham by a mile.”
Rating:
— j9, london
(25 Jan 2010)
“Was really impressed with this place. Nice clientele, delicious drinks and friendly staff. Definitely recommended.”
Rating:
— becky w, london
(13 Jan 2010)
“The best bar in Clapham, with the possible exception of Lost Society.”
Rating:
— oscar lake, london
(14 Aug 2009)
“Great bar, with a fantastic chilled out atmosphere. All the staff were really friendly, including the door staff (unlike aquum & revolutions!) The cocktails are amazing. Well worth a visit!”
Rating:
— Bonnie Jacobs, Purley
(04 Aug 2009)
“This is a great bar with brilliant atmosphere, comfy sofas and friendly staff. The wine is chilled, the cocktails are amazing. If you haven't already tried this bar out, go along with some friends and you won't be disappointed.”
Rating:
— Hannah, Tooting
(30 Jul 2009)
“Best bar in Clapham. Lovely staff, the place looks really cool, and the drinks are excellent.”
Rating:
— james, london
(14 Jul 2009)
“One of the best cocktail bars in London. Period. An awesome cocktail list, which is incredible innovative, but also a grat beer and wine list. Place looks great too.”
Rating:
— gemma wilkinson, london
(13 Jul 2009)
“not a massive complaint but more of a feeling...pretensious staff that made me feel uncomfortable. cocktail were nice but I we went to the cocktail bar opposite and that was great! kinda a shame that it wasnt a great experience because its feel quite a sexy bar.”
Rating:
— brixtonite, brixton
(09 Jun 2009)
“Great cocktails, great music.”
Rating:
— Josh Stewart, London
(09 Sep 2008)
Like our review? Has one of the customer reviews for The Loft amsued you? Share it with the world!