The Star In Shoreditch — Restaurant in London

I recently visited The Star in Shoreditch with a group of friends for a gig, and unfortunately, the overall experience left us extremely dissatisfied, primarily due to the appallingly poor customer service we received. It wasn't surprising to witness this, considering the numerous bad reviews I can read, but it was still shocking to experience it firsthand.

My friend has been accused of stealing a pint and although it was evident that the bartender had made a mistake (he only charged her for 1 pint), my friend sincerely apologized to resolve the situation. However, instead of acknowledging the misunderstanding and handling it professionally, the bartender was snarky and continued to accuse her even after she had apologized (and paid for it!).

Dealing with customers is an integral part of the service industry, and it is essential to provide a welcoming and respectful environment for patrons. Regardless of any bad day the staff may be having, there is no excuse for treating customers with such disrespect and hostility.

Considering the consistency of negative reviews and our personal experience, it leads me to believe that the management needs to take a serious look at their hiring process and training methods. A friendly and courteous staff can make or break the reputation of any establishment, and it is apparent that this pub is failing in this aspect.

A part from that...

How is this place even open?

Do not get me started on the toilets in this place.

Downstairs they are unisex, with no toilet attendants what so ever. Ladies do yourself a favour avoid this place, it is not safe in the slightest.

As for the toilets in general...pretty sure they haven't been cleaned since the dark ages. Even that is probably being too kind.

Soap and water, you should get your staff to try it once in a while.

The bouncers clearly have been told to let as many people as possible in, which leads to an uncomfortable experience. The dance floor is non existant, as it is turned into a stop-start highway for human bodies. Don't bother trying to dance as every 5 seconds someone will push past you or need you to move out of the way.

If you want to be surrounded by 18-year-old muppets then this is the place for you. If you want to be able to get to the bar to order some drinks and have a conversation avoid this place like the plague.

As getting to the bar is akin to climbing Mount Everest, the number of bodies you have to climb over and push through. That is unless of course you set up base camp at the bar all night and shuffle across as the endless stream of revellers tries to order.

This place is great if you enjoy making poor life choices and or want to re-live your youthful days.

If you are older than 20 though maybe stick to the pub. You are old enough to...

Kind of a weird vibe. Had a full pat down before entering, bar was mostly dead but a DJ was playing music on the Saturday night. Bartender seemed annoyed to serve us beers, some of the patrons near us got into a confrontation with the door guy and that was entertaining for a little while to try and figure out what the issue was. Seemed like it was the patron’s fault.

Then, curiously, the other patrons near us left their table one by one to go use the handicap restroom to puke, as the men’s restrooms only had urinals, and I guess they had more class than to toss into a urinal. Cheers. One of them came out of the restroom and tried to coach us on Polaroid camera photography because he did a stint as a photographer on a cruise ship, sometimes dressed like a pirate (his words). I thought the Polaroids came out alright for low light & no-flash… but what do I know.

Probably wouldn’t go back, tbh but I live a few thousand kilometers from here so don’t put too much stock in that part of the review

EDIT: rereading one year later I was second guessing how I know the bros were tossing in the bathroom and not going in there to do bumps of booger sugar, but my beautiful wife confirmed to me that the door was ajar and we both saw them and heard them as they were heaving. sometimes I’m glad my memory...