15th May 2007
Cute but nothing special
I've been here twice so far; once to meet up with some people I had gone traveling with, and the second time was this past week-end as a friend of mine from Canada was djing there.
Ruby Lounge is part of the Ruby family of lounges scattered across the city; I've been to Ruby Lo (a sister bar in the West End) before and quite liked it, so I was interested to see what it would be like when I went.
For once I really don't have much to say about a place I've visited; it struck me as a boring, standard, London watering hole... dark wood, a few cozy benches, and of the course the centrepiece of the venue being the bar, but there wasn't really much to Ruby that drew me in.
It's unfortunate because the location is great, being a 5 minute walk away from King's Cross, and the space itself is a nice size which generally tends to generate a vibe or some warmth to the bar, but it didn't seem to be happening here.
On Friday and Saturday nights they generally bring in a DJ to liven up the place and give it a bit of week-end "glamour," if you will, but there seem to be too many places in London that try for the exact same thing and end up coming across as a nondescript bar with boring music and a terrible soundsystem to boot.
Drinks are standard London prices and the bartenders can be pretty rude; while I do have sympathy for the pint pullers who deal with drunkards all night long, there's no reason to be rude to someone who understands your pain and approaches you with a smile on their face!
http://www.ruby.uk.com/ is their website if you're interested in taking a look - but if you decide to go to any of their bars, try Ruby Lo for after-work drinks one day. It's pretty cute and sometimes they have hot female DJs which is always a bonus!