Gremio De Brixton
Spanish Tapas, Latino Bands & DJ's
Saint Matthews Church, Effra Rd, SW2 1JF
££
In the cellar of Saint Matthew's Church in Brixton there lies a vaulted cellar bar, serving Spanish tapas and wines. On the weekends this secret Spanish hideout transforms into a full on underground party. Past midnight on Friday and Saturday see the restaurant turn into a dance floor, with resident DJ's and bands entertaining the crowd.
First things first, the venue is definitely original. Who knew you could get boozed up beneath a holy place of worship? And who knew it would feel so good? The interior is large but still remains very intimate. With the low ceilings you'd expect from a cellar, bare brickwork and candlelight, Gremio manages to nail the cool factor, whilst also being romantic enough to take a date you want to impress. It has ample space to dance whilst still providing small booths and tables at the back of the venue for those that want to stay sat down (BOO).
I attempted going to Gremio one Saturday night a few weeks ago, however, it was after a few drinks and I ended up bailing and going to nearby Dogstar because of the massive 'queue' outside. I tried again last Friday, and as it so happens that so called 'queue' is just a smoking area... We turned up at half midnight and didn't have to queue at all, stupid mistake, stupid me (for the record do NOT bail on any night to go to Dogstar, it is both terrible and overpriced).
Drink prices were reasonable for London, I only got the one (single voddy and coke - classy bird), which was £4 - standard. The food is meant to be excellent but I'm not sure how I'd feel eating in a dark labyrinth such as this one. Whats more, it was BLOODY BOILING. Seriously, I felt like I was melting at points. This is fine and somewhat expected from any place you plan on going for a boogie, and whilst I'm sure it is much cooler when it isn't crammed full of dancing bodies, it did still put me off the idea of food a bit.
Whilst the reviews for Gremio online rave about its food, they are not so enthusiastic about the staff. A shocking majority of the reviews on trip advisor and the like speak of a rude and unorganised attitude when trying to book Gremio for large events, such as birthdays, work parties etc... Some people even had issues booking a table for as little as 4, and were met with hostility and bad manners when they were there. I must say that I had no issue with the staff, although aside from the woman at the cloakroom, a barman and the doorman which let me in, all of whom I spoke to for a total of 10 seconds, I didn't really engage with any staff members. The lady at the cloakroom did refuse to take my coat as it was apparently 'full', but she wasn't particularly rude about it, and the other two chaps were polite enough.
Overall, I'd recommend Gremio as a good venue to go and have a boogie if you're around Brixton and want to try somewhere a bit different. It's open until 3am Friday's and Saturday's and plays a mix of music (no cheese). I wouldn't be able to recommend the food as I haven't tried it, but according to the reviews you're probably best going with as little people as possible.
OVERALL RATING: ****
http://gremiodebrixton.com/
