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As part of the legendary 333 Club, Mother is something of a Shoreditch institution. Tthough its sleazy, late-night allure has had the edge taken off it with the increasing proliferation of post-pub watering holes, it remains open long after other bars have shut up shop. Via an unmarked door at street level, you climb a shabby staircase and enter the first of two boxy rooms, decorated with red and gold wallpaper, a black padded bar - on which is set a small dressed mannequin - squashy black vinyl seats, gilt-framed mirrors and a chequer-board floor. Adjacent to the lounge area is the dance room, where well-oiled revellers let loose to the DJ's choices beneath a glitter ball or stand back to check out the live bands - a fairly recent re-introduction to this venue. Beers are your basic draught (Red Stripe, Guinness) and bottled choices and the cocktail neon sign seems a hangover from the past, rather than a current advertisement, but then, no one visits Mother for posh drinks. Late and lairy is what it does best.
Follow Mother Bar to receive updates on new events happening here.
What is 'following'?Transport Old Street tube/rail or Shoreditch High Street rail
020 7739 5949
Open 8pm-2am Mon; 8pm-3am Tue-Thur; 10pm-3am Fri-Sun
Admission free-£5.
Credit cards MC, V
This place was awful, the bar staff and security were obviously racist the way they almost refused to serve us until serving everybody else even though they got to the bar after us, it was really awkward and upsetting, at least the barmaid with the blunt cruella de ville haircut and tshirt "paid to be here" could at least try to pretend she didn't mind being there, and she shortchanged us, best avoided really, there were also loads of drunks and one splashing people with water/drinks but the security did nothing
Mother/333 is the epitome of everything that is horrible about the experience of a night out in Shoreditch. A total dump, serving unimaginative drinks, poured by off duty hair dressers and art students wishing
to immerse themselves in the "culture". Shoreditch is and will always be a total dive and this seems to be the epicentre - drawing in every fashion victim in London with their tight jeans tucked into their boots and odd jacks over the cardigan/t-short combo. Notwithstanding Mother/333 being full of thieving paupers (at least 4 people in my group had items stolen there 2 weekends ago), the club has made me promise myself that I will never go out in Shoreditch again.
I had the displeasure of attempting to enter the club, on an indie and dub night, where the bouncers were turning men away without women by their side. As discriminatory as this is (imagine them turning women away for the reverse reasoning), I pointed out that, as a gay man with my boyfriend, I may not be bringing some women along so why could I not enter. The reply was as bigoted as it was blunt, with the bouncer resorting to namecalling towards my boyfriend and friends. I shall happily complain to both management and media about such crass treatment and discrimination in a usually tolerant area of London in the 21st century, and would discourage anyone who cares about equality from visiting.
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