If you're in Shoreditch and feel like getting away from the hyperactivity of most of the bars and crowds in the area (especially on a Friday night), this is a fantastic option. The owners are adept at creating an intimate and personal space (they also own the more swanky basement bar, Friendly Society, in Soho).
The Commercial's interior is cosy but far from claustrophobic, quirky and comfortable, having been lovingly decked out with retro and hand-painted furniture. The choice of music is always startlingly suitable for a quiet drink (last time I was there they were playing the theme from Taxi Driver) and the bar staff are unusually friendly.
Oh, and historically it's associated with the Elephant Man, who is said to have lived in the caverns beneath.
142-144 Commercial Street, Shoreditch
Nearest tubes: Liverpool Street, Shoreditch, Whitechapel
Since May 2006, the Commercial Tavern has opened a couple of rooms and a small bar on the 1st floor up from the original ground-level bar. The new space is light and airy with new themes in eclectic decor popping up, including a stunning chandelier and sash windows that open on to a gorgeous old cityscape. The Commercial Tavern is a great place to meet friends, and even to just bump into old aquaintances from the past, as it is in a great location, the bar staff are cool (yet friendly) and the music blends in with the neo-franco kitsch interior. It is a must for summer too, being a large corner building, so with plenty of seating outside! The only draw back may be a (more than) regular with a blond receding hairline and strange shrivilled tan, who believes he is 'a character', when in other terms/outside his comfort zone/ walking down the street etc., he is a an embarrassment. There are however many great funny and nice drunk people there too, go along! The food is terrible and staff don't give a hoot when you even dare to complain. Do not waste your money here. Miserable staff that follow managerial orders blindly (keeping the doors propped open even when it's blowing a gale into the already chilly pub). Definitely a case of style over substance, with a wilfully quirky selection of music playing (progressively louder as the evening wore on) just adding to the general pretentiousness of this place. Went to the Water Poet straight after and found it to be a welcome relief with friendly and charming bar staff. Another example, at The Commercial Tavern, of why I think customer service in London is generally the pits. I won't be going back.
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