BYOC Camden: Good value, but the concept is limiting

When the first London Bring Your Own Cocktail bar opened up, there was a little head-scratching happening from London’s drinkers. A bar where… you bring your own your drinks? And they charge you for the pleasure of it? It’s a funny conceit, sure, but it does really work and, if you’re going for a big night, it can work out fairly cheaply. You bring a bottle of booze, pay £30 entry, and they put together cocktails throughout a two-hour booking.

Is this good value? Basically. It depends on how many drinks you want – admirably, they recommend no more than five “and then we’ll see how you’re doing” – and it depends how much you splashed out on whatever you’re taking. If you drink the entire bottle, you’re paying around £7 a drink, and there’s the bonus that you’ll drink the spirits you like. The downside is that you’re likely limited to one spirit the entire evening and the bars don’t provide spirits for mixing, which seriously number of drinks they can mix. It’s a real shame as handing over £30 and then being told you can’t have what you want is irritating.

Still, staff are always affable. Try sister venue BYOC East, too, which benefits from being under the spectacularly good James Cochran’s EC3.