Most London sports bars are built around screens. Strongroom was built around a recording studio, and the difference shows in everything from the crowd to the playlist between matches.
The bar sits in the cobbled courtyard of Strongroom Studios at 120-124 Curtain Road, the Shoreditch recording complex that has hosted sessions for major British acts since 1984. The bar itself is independently owned and has served the studio's engineers, musicians, and the wider neighborhood for decades, and the courtyard now ranks as Shoreditch's biggest beer garden, a claim the bar makes and DesignMyNight repeats without argument.
That courtyard is the reason this is one of London's best places to watch a major tournament. Big fixtures go up on screens both inside and out, the garden is heated and partly covered, and several hundred people can follow a match with a pint without the crush of a Soho pub. Time Out's London bar guide highlights the space as a year-round fixture of the Curtain Road strip.
Inside, the room reads more studio common-room than sports venue: mismatched furniture, music memorabilia, and a long bar pouring a rotating craft list alongside standard lagers. CAMRA lists the bar in its London guide for the beer range. Pints run £6 to £7.50, cocktails around £11, and the kitchen serves burgers, wings, and brunch plates from £10 to £16. Quiz nights, DJ sets, and live sessions fill the calendar between fixtures.
What to order: a pint from the rotating craft taps during a match, the smash burger from the kitchen, and an espresso martini if you stay past full time. On weekend brunch shifts the bar runs bottomless options that pair conveniently with early kickoffs.
Who is it for? Shoreditch locals who want a Premier League afternoon without a chain pub, music industry people clocking off from the studios, and groups who need a big outdoor table. It anchors the East End entries on our London sports bars guide and earns the number 3 spot on our global best sports bars ranking on atmosphere alone.
Best time to go: Saturday 3pm kickoffs in the garden between May and September, or any England tournament match if you book a table well ahead. Friday nights run latest, with the bar open to 2am. For the rest of the neighborhood's options, our London bar guide covers Shoreditch corner by corner.
