Karaoke Hole
Grab a mic and unleash your inner diva because the stage is yours!Average Reviews
About
If you're cruising through East London and in the mood for a kaleidoscope of karaoke, cabaret, and drag, then The Karaoke Hole, lovingly known as the K-Hole, is your go-to destination. Nestled on Kingsland High Street, Dalston, this LGBT-friendly bar promises an electrifying mix of entertainment led by the most dynamic drag queens of East End. As a sibling to the renowned Dalston Superstore, the K-Hole carries a legacy of vibrancy and inclusivity.
The K-Hole isn't just a regular karaoke bar; it's an immersive experience where you can unleash your inner superstar on stage, with a backdrop of glitz and glamour. The bar offers a dazzling array of themed events and interactive fun, ensuring that every visit is uniquely memorable. Whether you're planning to book a table for an intimate sing-along or looking to throw a full-blown party by booking the entire bar, this venue adapts to every whim and fancy.
Open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7:00 PM till the early hours, The Karaoke Hole invites you to grab a cocktail, soak in the neon-lit ambiance, and join the revelry. Their policy of being LGBT-friendly ensures a welcoming and safe space for everyone. The K-Hole is not just a bar; it's a celebration of the vibrant gay culture, offering a slice of London's best drag and karaoke in a flamboyant setting.
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Reviews
Based on 174 reviews
Antonio Rubio
08:44 24 Mar 24
Very nice place to spend an evening with friends.Lots of people singing very nice songs. Super cool, energetic and save atmosphere with people from all walks of life.We ordered some beers, they weren’t very cold but very nice though.There some marvellous drags hosting the karaoke (and singing too) super star material :)⚡️A LGBTQI+ must see in London!Elijah Turrell
01:55 03 Mar 24
They aren’t really fair on the order of karaoke. Other people sang multiple songs while mine got skipped for the full five hours we were there. Also, even though it is a queer bar it was 80% straight girls. Literally three different bachelorette parties and they got to sing all the songs while the queer people were ignored.The bar staff were friendly and the drag queens were funny. The atmosphere is one star but the staff bring it up to three stars.Isa
01:04 27 Jan 24
Door girl was so rude it ruined my mood. Service was slow and bar was bare expensive. Drag queen was great but everyone else wasn’t. Would not recommend, bare stuffy couldn’t breatheTimothy Choi
01:28 07 Jan 24
Probably London's only legit karaoke bar. Staff are all very friendly and the drag queen hosts add to the atmosphere. Nobody cares if you sing badly, just make it fun.A few tips, as I don't think some of the 1 stars here are justified:1. The drag queen hosts are there to help you be entertaining, as it's not like most people sing in tune anyway. Treat them nicely and they'll treat you well!2. Avoid requesting too many songs in one go. One is good, two is pushing it.3. Check the Singa app often. Your song is only on the host's list when it is approved. If your song was approved then deleted, it's likely another person before you requested the same song as you.Some issues for the venue:1. People request 5 to 10 songs in a row then get angry at the host for skipping through. I think there should be a restriction that you can only request one song at a time, and after you've done your song you can request another one. Hosts can then prioritize new names.2. The breaks are sometimes a bit long where you could have squeezed in 4 to 5 songs easily. The break can also be at during when the hosts change.3. I think the show can start earlier, maybe when 5 to 6 people have already requested songs.4. No TP in some cubicles. Yeah, this one's real.Laura Carmona
12:33 28 Nov 23
What was good: The atmosphere was great; it was really fun, and there was ample space for dancing or seating if you wanted.What was bad: We requested several songs, but none of our requests were played. We complained to the bar manager at the end of the night, and we were told that the drag queen had repeatedly asked if anyone wanted to sing but received no volunteers. This didn't seem accurate, at least from our perspective when we arrived.Overall, it was a fun experience, but we didn't pay an entrance fee just to watch other people sing. We would have appreciated a more responsive response to our complaint from the karaoke host.Poppadums Peter
11:48 04 Nov 23
I was told to buy a ticket and then refused entry.I came to the Karaoke Hole for 7th October at 21:55. Online it says doors close at 22:00 so I was on time. There was no queue.I asked the bouncer if I could buy a ticket on the door and they said I had to buy one on the website. I bought a ticket on my phone while standing in-front of the bouncer. By 21:58 I had bought a ticket and showed the ticket to the same bouncer. She then told me it was sold out.They told me to request a refund online, which I did and was ignored.No regard or care for people. I was made to feel like a mug. An appalling way to treat your guests.Maria Teresa Dabrowska
08:07 04 Nov 23
It was amazing. We had fun, group evening out and we couldn't pick a better venue. Plus, the repertoire of songs they have is impressive.Laura Carmona
16:34 30 Sep 23
What was good: The atmosphere was great; it was really fun, and there was ample space for dancing or seating if you wanted.What was bad: We requested several songs, but none of our requests were played. We complained to the bar manager at the end of the night, and we were told that the drag queen had repeatedly asked if anyone wanted to sing but received no volunteers. This didn't seem accurate, at least from our perspective when we arrived.Overall, it was a fun experience, but we didn't pay an entrance fee just to watch other people sing. We would have appreciated a more responsive response to our complaint from the karaoke host.Jouni Salasola
13:11 29 Sep 23
Best karaoke in town! Really fun experience and inclusive and laid back atmosphere. Had all the best karaoke songs as well. Also from my home country. 🎤🎤🎤❤️Ella Sutton
18:46 11 Sep 23
Went on a Saturday night between 10pm-1.30am and requested at least 20 different songs, but not once got selected to sing. This seemed wholly unfair given some people went up and sang multiple times during the night. I don’t even put this down to it being too busy (i’d say there was about 50 people max at it’s busiest) or the choice of song, as other people got picked for songs we had already requested a couple of times. What’s the point in a karaoke bar that doesn’t let you sing lol? Put a fairer system in place or people won’t return. Drinks also well overpriced (almost £6 for a can of madri for example).Libby Wales
12:14 24 Aug 23
Had such a fun birthday night here. Great drinks, dancing, hosts and karaoke such fun. Mostly girls and gays so the atmosphere was obvs 10/10. Booked in advance via design my night. Will be back!Sammy Murphy
09:48 20 Aug 23
We planned a special Friday night out to the Karoke Hole with our four friends. We arrived early in the hope we would get a chance to sing a few songs before it got too busy.After waiting such a long time, we were very excited to see our song come up on the screen, until the host decided to skip it. Such a shame as we spent £8 each on entry and lots on drinks.The karoke host came across more rude than funny, and made the experience uncomfortable enough that we ended up leaving.However, the bar staff were all very kind and attentive. I spoke to a member of staff upon leaving who was very sweet and understanding.This is supposed to be an inclusive and safe space for all. I hope they will consider booking a more welcoming host next time.Victoria Pérez Fernández
10:36 15 Aug 23
Super fun! It was a great karaoke and the drag queen shows were super welcoming and hilarious. Great plan for a Friday night with friends!Elisa Pulido
23:57 12 Aug 23
Apart from paying £7 which I honestly think it's a lot for only being able to access - anyway, welcome to London - the night was my friend was really fun and the staff was lovely so we'll absolutely repeat. Better get early to have songs selected otherwise it'll get packed and they'll be selective...A F
12:52 30 Jul 23
Great fun, loved Mahatma Khandi and Barbs! Only problem was the obnoxious and annoying hen party that dominated the room, scraping me with their annoying sequins and stumbling around. I completely get what gay men are complaining about when hens go to gay bars.Phoebe L
08:22 30 Jul 23
Used to come here all the time and was a super inclusive venue. Front of house, staff and queen is on a high horse and power trip now. This place is not inclusive and staff made us feel very unwelcomed.They “couldn’t get the Karaoke machine to work” for an hour, when we asked what was going on they told us the app isn’t working. We were the only group in the venue for an hour and spending money on the bar and paid to get in. As soon as another table arrived a hour later the karaoke app magically started working and they started to play their songs. When I asked them why they are only playing their songs even though we queued 10 songs before the other group arrived the queen pulled a face at me as if I was being stupid and when I spoke to the staff at the booth and she threatened me saying “don’t you dare touch the screen if you do we won’t play your songs” - even though all I did was go up to the booth and asked what was going on. The queen then said we only start the music when the venue gets busy and the karaoke app has had a few songs queued, but it was apparent they only wanted to play the songs they chose to.Save yourselves the £10 entry unless you want to be treated like a child and have staff turn your nose up at you.Gareth Vorley
15:39 21 May 23
Loved The Karaoke Hole! Brilliant team of friendly and attentive staff who go the extra mile to make sure the venue is a welcoming and safe space for LGBTQIA+ and POC alike. Entertaining queens expertly hold together the chaos of alcohol fuelled wannabe pop stars with karaoke all controlled by the nifty Singa app. Everyone in our group got a turn or two on stage. Cocktail pitchers were good value for our group at £26 each. We booked a table and were allowed to keep it for the whole night. Order delicious pizza from Voodoo upstairs to keep you going when the alcohol hits. Absolutely recommended for a night that will leave you starry eyed and probably a little hoarse. We’ll be back!C Steves
11:13 23 Apr 23
Came here with really high hopes, group of queer karaoke fans and fans of sister venue Dalston Superstore. Friendly staff but after 2.5 hours not a single person in our party of 5 got to perform a song, despite asking staff politely multiple times and while others got repeated songs. DJ and host Queen terrible at recognising this. Came to do Karaoke in a queer space and did not get to. As a result would not come back any time soon 🙁Ashley Mckay
01:13 23 Apr 23
The whole experience was horrible. I live locally and brought some of my queer friends here for a fun night. Ultimately the queen and the man behind the mixer only chose people they fancied to sing songs. Our gay group who were there for 3 hours didn’t get a single chance to sing a song. It’s really sad that a venue that has queer values didn’t value us enough to sing a song. We all came for a happy queer night and spoke to the staff and they said it was based on what the DJ liked. Really expensive disappointing experience. Just because the drag queen wants to touch the straight men doesn’t mean the queens shouldn’t get a go.Leigh M
10:50 01 Jan 23
So so rude. From the moment I arrived. Forced me to eat pizza although I wasn’t hungry nor drunk. Then went and double checked I ate? I’m not a child. Then walked in and said woooooo as I was excited to be there and the door lady said if I do this again il be chucked out? The bar staff WOW! Most rudest people iv ever met please remember you are not better than everyone. My friend then asked to sing to be told there was a big queue? There was 5 people in there and the worst atmosphere ever, defo wasn’t a queue. Everyone just had a massive chip on there shoulder and make the whole experience awful. Would never return.Luca Meola
21:58 20 Nov 22
Drag queens, host & bar staff all amazing. We had a great night but on various occasions the security where confrontational towards various members of our group and others without reason, some basic training and manners needed. We will go back and hope this situation is resolved.Nicola S
19:26 06 Nov 22
Came here with a big group for the end of my full on 40th birthday weekend.We thought Lori Mae was a really great host (would happily see her again), lovely staff and we generally had a great night.Speakers could have been turned down (felt louder than big music venues I go to) and would have liked to see more of our group get a chance to sing, but not bad overall. Definitely felt a bit old here at times (which I don't generally feel when I go out) but I assume just generally a young crowd. Our lads getting chosen to sing without knowing was hilarious though and made the night!!!Jack Gibson
22:31 13 Aug 22
Big group of us turned up and me and my boyfriend wasn’t let it, the only queer ones in the group- with a lot of unpleasantness from the bouncers. For a place that claims to be a safe space didn’t seem very inclusiveAshwini Deshpande
11:33 11 Aug 22
Celebrated my birthday here and it was AMAZING. Highly recommend. Try coming early if you wanna sing more. We booked in advance and got there by 8pm so we got to sing loads. Great vibe, great pizza upstairs. Love this place.Emily Jones
22:58 06 Aug 22
A really weird setup. We’d got talking to a party whilst waiting to be let in, and as they were far fewer than the fifteen they’d paid for suggested that the four of us (two couples after a dinner) joined them. Upon overhearing this, the overly eager blonde security guard decided that wasn’t allowed and we couldn’t possible joined them. We were more than happy to pay the additional charge to enter, and suggested to do so however the security guard was adamant that the venue was full (despite already knowing that they were at least 6 entrants down)I never care enough to write a review either way, but if I owned the venue I’d probably like to know the weird commercial choices the staff were making off my behalf…Laura P
09:05 16 Jul 22
What a place!Firstly, a massive thank you to the Karaoke hole for honouring a date change for a large booking incredibly last minute! The compassion and flexibility meant the absolute world! (Huge thank you to Dave who was absolutely lovely over emails and phone)We had the most amazing time and I had the most memorable birthday (30th)All staff and queens were so accommodating and lovely.,I cannot recommend this place enough, we’re going to have to make this place a regular now!Thank you karaoke hole! XHenry Chong
23:13 06 May 22
It's just not worth your effort or time - you'll be lucky to get one song in 2.5 hours, and expect songs to randomly skip the queue in front of your request.The drag queens are fine, but honestly this place should just be called The Hole. Go to something like Lucky Voice instead if you want to actually karaoke. I regret wasting my Friday evening here 🤷♂️Dylan Walsh
08:24 24 Apr 22
To be honest, I really enjoyed my night here… but the hosts faces were as if they were sucking lemons.I attended Karaoke hole on the 24th of April and was told I was “over performing” :)I sang chico time (I know, iconic for the X factor fans reading this), and asked the hosts (virgin and another lady) with very glum faces to join in. When they wouldn’t, I asked them to smile a bit more (cheeky, I know). I then proceeded to get hushed off the stage by them, v profesh xxxxI told our host about the divas (who had an unbeknown hatred to the beloved Chico) to be told “you were out performing the hosts” by DavidTALENT IS TALENT, try respect that and have a bit of fun xxDylan Walsh
00:00 24 Apr 22
To be honest, I really enjoyed my night here… but the hosts faces were as if they were sucking lemons.I attended Karaoke hole on the 24th of April and was told I was “over performing” :)I sang chico time (I know, iconic for the X factor fans reading this), and asked the hosts with very glum faces to join in. When they wouldn’t, I asked them to smile a bit more (cheeky, I know). I then proceeded to get hushed off the stage by them, v profesh xxxxI told our host about the divas (who had an unbeknown hatred to the beloved Chico) to be told “you were out performing the hosts” by DavidTALENT IS TALENT, try respect that and have a bit of fun xxMelike Deniz
09:33 22 Apr 22
We had an amazing night at the Karaoke Hole! It was just perfect. The staff was very nice and also the other guests. It was like a huge family gathering. I felt very welcome and accepted. Unfortunately we had to leave early because our friend injured her ankle during the day. The staff even gave us ice to put on our friends ankle, very kind.:) We could have stayed the whole night and next time we definetely will! Please tell the very nice lady from security that everything was absolutely perfect for us, she wasn't sure because we left early. Thank you for everything and see you soon!Elly Bryant Frost
15:10 31 Jan 22
Had my birthday party here on Friday, what an amazing night. Me and my friends stayed from 8pm til close and all of us had a blast— staff were so great, and drinks were delicious and not overpriced. Best moment of all was one of the bar staff singing an opera cover of Creep by Radiohead— wow, they were amazing!! Bravo!!Julie Doleman
11:49 30 Jan 22
Been to the karaoke hole before for an absolutely brilliant time with incredible hosts/hostesses. Saturday night was incredibly disappointing - Bloon and the Virgin (I think that we’re there names) drank so much tequila that between themselves, their not very entertaining banter and the bar staff’s need to sing there were very few opportunities for the paying customers to get any time on the stage. The place wasn’t packed and multiple groups walked out making it painfully obvious that it wasn’t the customer song queue that was the issue. Really annoying. I recommend checking who is hosting next time… avoid these two for sure.Daniel Thompson
02:29 09 Jan 22
Booked a big table and not a single one of us got to do karaoke despite our songs being on their system for 3 hours. Lots of bar staff got to perform though.Noeono Ohno
23:09 08 Dec 21
It was a transformative experience. I came out with worse hearing, but a better life.Bad Lay-Dee
11:54 24 Nov 21
One of the best karaoke venues in London! Great staff and entertaining hosts! 🙌🏾Tessa Hodgson
10:18 15 Nov 21
Brilliant fun. Shigella was a great host and kicked off the karaoke in fabulous style. All the staff were great fun and even when the Singa App crashed they kept everyone amused and found a work around. Didn't dampen the party spirit at all. Great cocktails and drinks at reasonable prices. Can't wait to go again.sameera jahagirdar
19:04 04 Jul 21
An amazing place...felt that I am in my world! I will always cherish this memory...Emma Weber
01:50 14 Mar 20
5 stars for the positive vibes and amazing crowd, 4 stars for the drinks/ prices and 3 stars for the mood the bar staff and security were in.I'll come back either way. Always good to see a place welcoming everyone with open arms, no matter who you identify as or who you love!T lam
13:11 29 Dec 19
Had the best time last night but sadly lost my debit card. However popped in today to see if anyone had found it and couldn’t believe it but they had found my card and kept it safe. Such a lovely place with lovely people. FAB.U.LOUS XXXXparres1111
15:48 14 Nov 19
The staff were lovely and the DQ’s brilliant but the same 5 people will sing every song and they let about 20% more people in than they should. As a consequence it isn’t a karaoke night where you will get to sing karaoke and you will spend the whole night sweating and being shoved around by people as there is literally no room to move. We booked an area, we still had no room at all and spent the night being pushed into the tables. 13 people and not one of us got to sing, despite submitting songs early. It’s a good night but don’t expect it to be amazing.Krista G.
19:05 07 Jun 19
This place was lit! The people were so friendly and definitely the PERFECT crowd for a good time and of course KARAOKE!! This LGBTQ+ friendly Karaoke bar is...Jaabir Ramlugon
08:51 10 May 19
Fantastic venue and really great atmosphere. Also love the fact that you can book a table in advance. The crowd were really supportive and singers were fantastic and fun. The host Rodent was very enthusiastic, warm and encouraging. I will be coming again. 🙂
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