Knowhere Special

Small place and really oddly shaped, this is a good place to get some interesting drinks!
A side door next to a restaurant (called Somewhere over Knowhere, hint hint), enter and go down the stairs to find your secret bar.
Without a reservations, this was a long shot but we were offered the boudoir area, where we could lounge on the long cushions and order drinks. I think it may previously have been where they stored coal a long time ago…
The drinks were interesting, often coming with little side dishes and other bites to enhance the drink we were having and they were both strong and well made enough to warrant the price. It’d be fun to spend a while in here going through their menu.
My advice, book early and only for a max of 4 people (2 is better).

What a fun spot! Was brought here on a date, which was lucky as I wouldn’t have found it otherwise.
We were seated in one of the low arched areas, so sitting on fluffy cushions on the floor. It’s nice because it’s quite private and relaxed, though after a while it can be a bit uncomfortable so I was shifting position a lot. I think it would also be fun with more people — you could get 6 – 8 there and it would have a cool vibe. Plus there are also more ordinary seating arrangements, at the bar or in armchairs and sofas around the room.
The cocktails themselves were good, if on the pricey side. Actually, it was only the paired ones that were overly pricey, at about £12 each — I appreciate they have the food with them but it’s only a taste. I actually preferred my other cocktail, a Penicillin, with fresh ginger, lemon and rum. Cocktails on this longer menu were from about £6.50-£9, which seems more normal for the price-​conscious cocktail quaffer.
The staff were very friendly and attentive.

We were lucky to get a table on a Saturday night — it’s possibly even smaller than Ladies & Gents just up the road in an public loo (that’s a whole separate review!)
We ended up channelling the Greek/​Roman vibe in the boudoir area (aka a table in a low arched room — we had to sprawl!) The cocktail list is comprehensive, and all the specials are served with food to complement, I don’t mean a meal, just a mouthful of something to complete the flavour experience.
I wasn’t sure about he Duck a l’orange — Duck fat ‘washed’ gin cocktail served with some cherry flavoured cake — when I ordered, but it actually worked really well with the blood orange reduction!
The What’s not to Like? Lived up to its name and came with salted caramel & cherry brownies on the side.
Unsurprisingly I didn’t like the bourbon based That’s a Peach — Almost, (not a bourbon fan) it got better when watered down with the almond milk though.
You could definitely spend hours and lots of cash lying around trying all the classics and the special cocktails in here!
I would recommend for cosy dates, not large groups and definitely book if you have your heart set on going here at the weekend.

This bar was a complete disappointment. The gentleman who greeted us at the door was rude. The place looked cute and the menu sounded great, indeed arrived my cocktail was nice when it eventually, but as it was gone in two sips, it was incredibly overpriced. We ordered another round (beers this time) which never came, so after being in there for over 2 hours and only being served one round, we cancelled the drinks we supposedly had on order and asked for the bill. 15 minutes later it hadn’t come so we got up and headed to the bar to try to pay. We were stopped by the original man from the front door, who seemed most put out that we had moved from our seats without waiting for the bill to arrive sometime in the not so near distant future. He then couldn’t find our waitress (it’s a tiny place, I’ve no idea how you could lose someone in there), didn’t seem to be able to be able to take our payments himself and then made us wait for a further 15 minutes whilst she served what seemed like everyone else in the bar — once she had been found that is. Awful experience.

Good service, great name. Bit tucked away in a basement near Kentish Town station — would never have known it was there were it not for some friends who live nearby. You get a small snack that pairs with your cocktail for £11−12. Drinks took a long time to arrive, but I assume that’s because there were quite a few of us.

This is definitely a place to put on your amazing cocktail bar list! A stone’s throw away from the tube, you walk down into a cozy space that they don’t overfill. We were lucky to be able to occupy the couple of free seats at the bar but there are also little «dens» to sit in the natural arches of this old basement.
The playlist they were playing was awesome, the bartenders were so friendly and engaging, and they are soooo into making fabulous cocktails. The amount of care that goes into every drink is stunning.
The house cocktails come with a «pairing». My spiced rum drink with a million little touches I can’t remember came with orange chocolate and homemade toffee apples (they literally caramelized the sugar in front of me at the bar).
Low key, neighborhoody, a cocktail bar with character but without the scene. A must go if you are in the hood.

don t miss out this very original cocktail bar. You ll feel like entering the apartment of someone. Very friendly staff and amazing cocktails. They have all the classics, but go for their specials; uniques blends that are really worth tasting. It s quite a small location so make sure you come early.

I have a couple of friends living in Kentish Town who happily researched and booked this charming little basement bar which is a must-​visit in the area. Apparently the owners want it to feel like someone’s living room and it definitely has a relaxed and locals-​come-​here vibe, although our seating area was in what was once a VIctorian police cell, which was probably less cosy back in the day.
The interesting concept here is to serve small bites of food tailored to each house cocktail which a beautifully presented and explained, as are the cocktails themselves. We sampled almost all of the house cocktail menu and generally everyone was very impressed. I think several people really liked the park bench, with its strong apple flavour, although I personally found it a bit one-​note. In fact, I wouldn’t say any of the cocktails here got it quite right for my palate, some of the balancing of flavours didn’t quite work for me and none of them particularly blew me away. They were pretty good, but there weren’t any I found incredibly delicious and «incredibly delicious» is really what I am looking for in a cocktail. I had the Get Me a Bourbon, I’m Hungry and Lost in Alaska. The first was a short drink which wasn’t massively memorable, contra my favourite ever bourbon cocktail, the fantastic bourborini once on the specials at Pitt Cue Co. Lost in Alaska I thought was nice although others said they thought it tasted medicinal!
Service was great — helpful, patient and attentive. It’s expensive, especially now I live in Manchester and can get better cocktails at the Fitzgerald for £4 less, but I would still recommend Knowhere Special, especially if you’re nearby having dinner. They have such an inventive and passionate approach, it’s very impressive already and I’m sure will just get better with time.