The Cock Tavern

The Cock Tavern is a force of fun

Average Reviews

About

Looking for a chill spot with a quirky twist in South London? The Cock Tavern in Kennington is your go-to. This place isn't your typical gay bar. Think Georgian building with a past life as a tiki bar. Now, it's got this cool, unique vibe that makes it stand out.

The crowd here? A fab mix, but it's especially a hit with the over-30s. It's not as hectic as some other spots, so you can actually have a conversation without shouting. On weekends, though, it does get livelier with a dance floor that’s all about good vibes and fun times.

Cocktail lovers, you're in for a treat. Their signature 'Cock Punch' is a must-try, and they've got all the classic cocktails nailed too. No kitchen? No problem. You can bring your own food from nearby spots, which honestly, just adds to the laid-back feel.

And hey, if you love a good quiz night, they've got one on the first Sunday of each month. It's a great way to kick back, have some laughs, and maybe show off your trivia skills.

So, if you're in the mood for something a bit different in the London gay bar scene, The Cock Tavern should definitely be on your radar. It's got that perfect mix of relaxed and lively, with a side of quirky charm. Just head to Kennington and look for the Georgian building with a story.

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Reviews

4.2

Based on 166 reviews

Em CY W.

19:21 22 Dec 24

The Cock Tavern near Kennington is a solid spot for a night out. The security and bar staff are friendly and professional, the cocktails are fantastic, and the vibe is upbeat with pop music keeping the energy high.However, the DJ with the skinhead and fishnets was a major letdown. Their rude and unwelcoming attitude stood out in stark contrast to the otherwise warm and lively atmosphere. It’s a shame, as the rest of the experience was great, but the DJ’s behavior definitely soured the night.

Dave Karlovic

11:12 10 Oct 24

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!Amazing drinks selections, lovely staff and amazing music!Always a fun time

Hector Godoy

21:30 02 Oct 24

Great gay bar with amazing music. If you want to chill and chat. Arrive early and if you want to boogie and flirt on the dance floor then arrive after 10 PM.

Tara M.

06:39 31 Aug 24

Food is absolutely delicious, especially the steak pie. Beautiful wooden English pub interior. The seats all have outlets to charge your phone. Would love...

Fraser W

21:31 12 Jul 24

Has the potential to be a great venue but the Friday night DJ plays very dated, ‘function room’ music despite the younger crowd and refuses to take requests (“he hasn’t changed his playlist since the venue opened” according to one staff member)… a real shame, as the vibe was great before the DJ arrived, and the LGBTQIA+ clientele seem to be overlooked so we left much earlier than planned

Yair Cohen

00:51 29 Jun 24

Such a lovely place! The vibes were just right. The crowd and the staff were sweet and kind. We had a great time. Thank you 🤍

Mary Beth B.

10:47 08 Jun 24

Such a lovely pub! The best drinks and such a fun atmosphere. We came twice during our 4 night stay. Definitely recommend for a local place full of character!

Carl Barnes

22:47 18 May 24

Amazing pub, terrible clubGreat bar staff, welcoming and lovely people. However not even in the top 5 corridors I've danced in.As the night goes on the dance floor is a heart felt place full of people enjoying the music...... That are constantly interrupted by people pushing pastYou want to show me looo*oh sorry*People of the world! Sp*don't mind me*

Mike A

17:39 23 Feb 24

Amazing place, extremely friendly service. It’s a dog friendly environment (until 9pm). Best to think about your dog’s health and wellbeing because the crowds start pouring. I love this place 🐕. Some gays don’t seem to care about their pets, thanks for looking out. 🐩 I’m an American living and working in London. Got tea? ☕️I love that it doesn’t matter where you come from, just an amazing place, world accepted. Xox

HP K

20:43 12 Feb 24

Police should come and search everyone in the queue, lots of guys with illicit drugs… Lady Manager is okay with it, one of my friends nearly overdosed on bad cocaine.

ihaydock

01:42 26 Nov 23

‘Gay bar’ aka gay men. Don’t bother going if you’re a gay woman. If you present as any woman you will be judged by most of the crowd. It is quite a hostile environment.

Jean Guimaraes

13:35 11 Nov 23

Very nice place! I just wish that the JD last night was a little more friendly! She was so rude! Visited Friday 10/11/23

Kuba

07:57 10 Oct 23

Very disappointing experience. I haven’t seen such a homogenous crowd since visiting gay clubs in eastern Europe. Everyone is white and everyone is cis. I was absolutely shocked how unrepresentative of our community the bar was. When I walked in, the dj played two songs by Roisin Murphy, a known anti trans artist, back to back. Knew I needed to get out asap.

Daniel Martinez

19:40 06 Oct 23

I’m not gay, but had an awesome time to drink and dance.

Kuba

01:23 16 Sep 23

Very disappointing experience. I haven’t seen such a homogenous crowd since visiting gay clubs in eastern Europe. Everyone is white and everyone is cis. I was absolutely shocked how unrepresentative of our community the bar was. When I walked in, the dj played two songs by Roisin Murphy, a know anti trans artist, back to back. Knew I needed to get out asap.

Darren Broadhead

10:40 12 Aug 23

Fun crowd, nice staff, great venue. Liked the music

Chris Thomas

21:35 23 Jul 23

Love it. Our first visit and the atmosphere were great with good music. The drinks were lovely and the bar staff were nice to look at, which is always a bonus. We will return when we can. Shame it isn't open 7 days a week.Liam looked after us really well. Thank you for being so welcoming l.

Mike A

09:49 23 Jul 23

Amazing place, extremely friendly service. It’s a dog friendly environment (until 9pm). Best to think about your dog’s health and wellbeing because the crowds start pouring. I love this place 🐕. Some gays don’t seem to care about their pets, thanks for looking out. 🐩 I’m an American, so I love that it doesn’t matter where you come from, just an amazing place, world accepted. Xox

Raymond Matthews

19:27 18 Jun 23

Great atmosphere and very friendly staff! My new favourite gay bar in London

Cole Turner

02:50 18 Jun 23

I really loved this place until my visit on the night of June 17, when I was using the toilets. I’m having a terrible bout of hay fever and needed toilet paper to blow my nose, so I used a stall. Upon trying to exit, the stall door came loose and hit me in the face.I was not offered help when I explained the situation to cost check or anyone else. Unfortunately for these folks, I’m an American attorney, and intend to enlist a British analogue to rain hell on these people for injuring me and offering no assistance.

J W

12:39 03 Mar 23

A great place with good music. Surprisingly quiet for a Thursday night. Lots of beer and drink options and some good comfortable seating.

Max Willson

18:25 16 Dec 22

I always enjoy coming here. Wonderfully decorated, unique and relatively friendly gay bar with a good selection, reasonably priced drinks and music! A welcome change from the drab, all black walls of soho gay bars. Would highly recommend

Jeremie Herpson

13:21 13 Nov 22

What a great new venue in Kennington. I really enjoyed the place last night. However, the owner was so rude and impolite. An absolute disgrace. Due to lower back issues affecting my sciatic nerve, I sometimes need to lean on something to give a rest to my painful leg, so that I can keep enjoying my night out. The owner shouted at me when I leaned on the bar claiming that I had to move as waiters were not taking orders where I was located. When I tried to explain my health situation, she did not try to understand what was going on. I did try twice until she ran away from the discussion. I had to complain to one of the waiters. He was nice but totally clueless on how to handle the drama that was taking place. Message to the owner: when you have a LGBTQ business, the whole point of it is not only making money, and consequently ignoring customer service and any kind of issues that your attitude can cause. You should instead be proud of promoting diversity and be capable to understand your customers, or at least make an effort to take them into consideration. Some people have some health conditions that you might not be aware of, bear that in mind in the future, thanks. 🙏

Lee Wardle

20:27 12 Nov 22

So INCREDIBLY friendly. I’ve never been made to feel so welcome in a London bar. LGBTQ+ or different.Thank you so much!

Ryan Kelley

21:42 30 Aug 22

Really impressed with the friendly and fast service here on a busy Saturday night. Staff are awesome.

S E

23:22 23 Jul 22

Guys, you earn money a lot. Time to buy more air conditioning machines. It is super hot inside.

Daniele Bevilacqua

04:23 20 Jul 22

Lovely atmosphere, great to hang out before a night club or spending there an evening with friends.

Jimmy Gatsos

08:00 07 Jul 22

Great friendly vibe - every time! Just go.

Basilio Martino

01:33 12 Feb 22

What to say ….‽ words can’t describe how I feel about this place! I love it here so much! Staff is on point!!!! 10 out of 10!!! You are the best!

Hendrik de Vries

21:56 29 Jan 22

Attending a friends wig & birthday party, lovely staff, quick service, great place with character. My kinda dance music, buzzy atmosphere.My 2nd visit here. More to come!

Alexandra Malmqvist

11:40 18 Jan 22

Great atmosphere, lovely staff and nice place. Had a lot of fun here!

Roy Shanks

03:12 17 Jan 22

Great place to go for bottle of wine and a bit of a dance.

Fouad

14:10 01 Jan 22

A true gem of a place, great cocktails, great music, great ambiance and loads of fun and games. A must if you live in London or just visiting. It will keeping coming again and again!

Gmail Sucks

09:51 31 Oct 21

Friday great and lovely staff but recent Saturday, very bad music. Older crowd milling around, confused by a DJ who basically is playing the current top 40 on automatic most of which was dross. Come on Fridays, but not Saturdays.

Gmail Sucks

22:58 30 Oct 21

Very bad music. Older crowd milling around, confused by a DJ who basically is playing the current top 40 on automatic. Go to the 2 Brewers.

Anish

10:52 17 Sep 21

Thank you so much Bonnie for a wonderful evening - you treated us with so much kindness and love. LGBT friendly and POC friendly!

Markaiu Mason

18:36 12 Sep 21

Friendly waiters who were quick and polite not to mention attractive. Was a great atmosphere with cool and and camp party goes. Great for just bar drinks or for a party party.

Pete Thompson

21:10 29 Aug 21

Seriously cool bar. Love the decor

Paul Guillemot

16:35 15 Aug 21

Great venue, great music, GOOD bar service. Will be back!

Keith Trimmings

08:28 01 Jun 21

This was my first visit and i must say the girl who served me was so welcoming and extreamly helpfull she smiled and made me feel good. The male staff member when i asked where the toilets were he escorted me to them i was amazed . The decor was good and the layout was outstanding .the staff were even dancing and they made me laugh . It is well worth a visit go for yourself its a lovely experience.12 stars .

Sam Hill

22:44 21 May 21

Friendly, welcoming and excellent LGBTQ bar. Popped in for my birthday tonight and absolutely loved it. Welcoming staff, efficient sanitising and cleaning, fantastic cocktails and attentive service. My wife and I left very happy after a great evening. Looking forward to returning very soon!

Mark N.

16:28 08 Sep 19

Probably everyone has a place where it is as convenient as at home. For me, it is here - and tasty, and drunk, and fun, and sad, and romantic, and calm. The bar has a separate room with a good bed for privacy. I always make new friends here👍👍There is a small trick: if you want to get a free cocktail and a separate room for free for 2 hours, you need to register on site 909gay,com 😍and tell the bar counter the profile number or provide a screenshot. The drain should work👍👍

Kim Y.

09:13 07 Sep 19

I love this place! The beer is cold, bartenders are helpful and the place is just so cool, a must goto place.

Robert Gerchalk

08:05 03 Aug 19

This was well rated as a Gay space. We went on a Friday evening at 10 pm. There was a queue to get in, all straight couples. We were disappointed and left. They seemed to be nice folks having a good time, but was this straight night? Change of format? Or is this how Gay bars are going? I’ve seen this in New York too.

SHAMAILA K

19:30 05 Jul 19

Lovely bar with a relaxed vibe. Went for happy hour cocktails which were mixed very well by friendly bar staff who took care with each cocktail. Nice interior and layout and very clean.Tiki elements and cool ceiling. Comfy seating and outdoor space too. Look forward to my next visit. Well done guys. 😀

Piotr Włodarczyk

12:33 19 Jun 19

Unique and cool LGBT place in Kennington, an interesting mixture of standard pub and tiki decor. Good music, nice atmosphere and really good cocktails (blood orange margarita was a treat).

Pande Monki

19:25 03 Feb 19

Newish gay bar. We came on a Sunday afternoon, it was quiet before the quiz. Pleasant music. Good atmosphere. Drinks seemed a bit on the pricy side.

Miro Demucha

00:36 20 Jan 19

Awesome place. Very chilled. I always say that even if I didn't live nearby I would commute here. Also, pretty much everyone is over 30, which makes things so much easier. No attitude whatsoever and great music.

Carl Dalton

23:33 17 Aug 18

GREAT door staff (made a joke about age ,(we're a gay couple)) GOOD bar staff, GREAT venue, great music, GOOD bar service. Will be back!

Monica O.

14:42 10 May 18

Had some friends from Phoenix in London as the same time as I was so we thought it would be cool to meet up at a pub and grab some beers and The Cock Tavern...

Al O.

05:05 27 Nov 15

Nice he olde pub just behind Nike town near Oxford St. This is a Samuel Smiths pub and for those unfamiliar with them they are a British brewery that sell...

The Cock Tavern reviews from Google Maps, Yelp and WhereIs.Gay