Rotary Bar & Diner

An alright spot. This seems like a hipster stronghold, FYI.
The sticky wings were OK; pretty sticky though, so watch out.
Interesting range of booze on offer.
Funky retro c. 1960s décor.
Somewhat expensive for the type of food.
Maybe worth a visit but this isn’t a destination in and of itself.

One. Of. The. Best. Burgers. In. London.
Love Rotary so much and am so devastated this amazing place has already disappeared. The mixture of flavours in the burgers, the crispy crunch of the fries and those pint size cocktails, wow! I say this should definitely become a permanent pop up, not enough people have got to experience it yet!

A solid 3.5 stars in my book. Worth trying but nothing special.
Atmosphere:
Diner ish. It was reasonably crowded on a Friday night and had quite a nice chilled out vibe. My only complaint being that around 2130ish they turned up the music such that you had to really raise your voice to be heard. Given that everyone was just chilling/​eating/​talking etc… I’m fairly confident in asserting that the vast majority of people there did not appreciate the increase.
Food:
I had the roller disco burger which had pineapple bacon jam, cheese, and some other sauce. The burger was on the smaller side for £12 and distinctly overcooked for medium-​rare. It was reasonably enjoyable though and I particularly liked the pineapple bacon jam.
Special mention for the dripping chips because these really shine!
Others:
Quite a good drink selection. We had an Argentinian wine I particularly enjoyed.
Service here is also incredibly slow and is the main reason I’m leaning towards 3 stars. They have more than enough staff but they’re all just so spaced out and almost actively avoid looking at you. They even took 10 minutes just to bring us menus. Pretty ridiculous.

What a perfectly splendid, smokey meal!
And by «smokey» I mean in only the finest BBQ-​style way — not cigarettes, of course.
My pal and I popped ’round here for lunch after reading all the rave reviews… and right they were. It was pleasantly buzzing, but plenty of room, though started to really fill up around 1pm.
My Pulled Pork BBQ sandwich with slaw and chips was fantastic. Very messy, as it should be. Though I had order envy — really should’ve gotten the crispy chicken sandwich. Yum. I had one bite and knew I’d made a slight error, but my lunch was still quite good. They aren’t cheap: 12 quid, but you’ll be full for well over 10 hours, my guess.
We ordered some beans and the slaw as a side as well… worth it.
Service was spot on.
This is a pop-​up (cool) with a limited run (not cool! stay!) — in this location til December 24^th. So don’t delay, the BBQ is not here to stay. Make your way and you’ll be OK. Ok? Yay!
Sorry, a bit punchy — should go get me a chicken sandwich.

Take a step back. No, not physical, but through time, to the era when disco was king, bell bottoms hung from your waist and everything was groooovy.
That’s what it feels like to come into Rotary Bar & Diner. Like stepping into the 70s.
Now, let me be clear, this is not the cool 70s of Studio 54 and disco balls and your hand with two fingers out strectehd mvoing from your waist across your chest and into the air like a young John Travolta. No, this is the 70s of your parent’s den. Fading wallpaper with nature scenes. Bright orange counters. Funky art deco lighting. It’s like it was pulled from someone’s home and into this London pop-​up.
I loved it.
But of course the Rotary Bar isn’t really about the decorations. It’s about the food. And the food shines. We asked what was good and the waiter pointed to the sandwiches (he then also went on to say everything else was good, but trust the gut of the man who knows what he’s talking about.)
I tried the fried chicken roll with all the veggie toppings and it was amazing. Hot, crispy, filled with veggies and sauces in between a plump roll. It was messy as all get out but every bite was finger smacking delicious. The person I was with tried the pulled pork and it was tasty as well (at least the one bite I had.)
We also got the slaw and the BBQ Pork Beans. The slaw was basically just cabbage but did go very well with the pork beans, which were truly amazing (pulled pork with beans and tons of sauce.) Oh yes.
Everything’s a little expensive, especially for lunch (any of the above sandwiches are £12) but so good. Take a step back in time and enjoy this spot while you can, it closes in December.
ps. There is apparently a secret bar downstairs for members of their club but they will sometimes let you in if you ask nicely. Give it a go!

Months after it opened, I finally managed to check out Rotary Bar & Diner. This quirky place is located right next to the Silicon Roundabout in East London very close to Old Street tube station. When I first came in, I thought it looks a bit like a rundown American diner. It does not look shiny and new, but it looks nice and welcoming.
I was there to try the burger, so my main was set. To start off my dinner, I asked for Amalaya Torrontes/​Riesling, a white wine that sounded promising. For someone who likes a decent Riesling, this wine is definitely a must try, it was crispy and very fresh, just a great wine.
So, a few minutes later, the burger arrived. As at many other places these days, the burger comes medium rare if you do not specify how you want it done. This could be too rare for some, but I liked it. The burger comes with delicious fries that do not look special are actually really tasty.
Something that should all burger places do by default, but not many do, is providing a wet tissue to clean your hands after fighting with your food. Rotary Bar & Diner does that, which is great.
A little detail you will not find at too many other places is perhaps the condiments that are provided on the tables. The Chipotle Ketchup from local producer Dalston Chillies (
) is an excellent supplement that goes well with the fries. The sauce is hot, but still not too hot for taste buds.
To round off my dinner, I ordered the Strawberry & Buttermilk Sundae and was not disappointed. This dessert is a great and refreshing option with some crumble on top and loads of strawberries; just what I like.
I really enjoyed my stay at Rotary Bar & Diner a lot. It is a nice place with very friendly service and gorgeous staff. Besides the food and the service, the soundtrack is also really good. It might be most appreciated by 25 – 35 year olds, but as I fall into that group, I was pretty happy with the music selection. After around 19:00, I think, the music got louder and the light was dimmed down a bit, so the place changes its atmosphere a little bit if you stay longer — or arrive later.
In summary, Rotary Bar & Diner is a place you should not miss if you like a decent burger, a good Riesling, strawberries or all three. And you should be fast, because as far as I know, it will only be open until about the end of 2013…

Dined here with the insatiable Linzi M — and as she said, the whole place does feel a bit like a 70’s era living room.
On my second visit, I had the steak — was alright, but nothing mind-​blowing. On my previous visit I had the burger — much better. Juicy as heck and served beautifully rare. Top it off with a PINT-​sized cocktail and friendly staff, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Eating at the Rotary Bar and Diner is a bit like eating in a live action version of ‘That 70s Show’. In fact, it’s exactly like that. The whole place is done up like the kitchen and living room of your grandparents’ house, retro-​chic. I like it but it feels a bit like a canteen at times with school room plastic seats. I’m not loving the décor but the staff were super welcoming and friendly.
Their smoker is finally up and running, so they had barbecue chicken, pulled pork and ribs on offer with cornbread. But I only had eyes for the Fried Chicken Roll and damn was it good… Pretty freaking perfect actually. Saucy and spicy, with incredible tender chicken inside. Despite how messy it was, the bun held together all the way to the end. What a champion. My only complaint was that maybe it was a touch too oily, but that could be because I am meant to be on a no-​saturated fat diet and this was a big slip.
The downfall of the meal were the chips, I think they were meant to be dripping chips, but they were just fries. Very mediocre.
They also serve cocktails by the pint, for a tenner you can get a stein of cocktail. Wowza!

My visit to Rotary Bar & Diner was a complete accident, my wife actually went to Yum & Bun which is next door and whilst my wife was ordering I went through a side door that lead to the Rotary Bar & Diner, I see a few people by the bar eating their Yum Bun and thought nothing of it, I see a bar and thought I’d order myself a drink whilst I wait for my Yum Bun. I looked at the drinks menu and at the top of the menu in big bold lettering was the name ‘Rotary Bar & Diner’, I was like WTF? I’ve heard of this place, so I ordered a beer and sat down, now the selection of beer isn’t that good, but the quality of beer is, had a couple of craft beers from Brewdog and Black Isle Organic, Scotland’s best! It seemed to be a cocktail bar more than anything, the cocktails looked good.
So the wife turned up with the ‘Yum Bun’ and we quickly demolished as it was a bit strange to be eating it in someone else’s establishment and whilst we did we took a peek at their menu.
The menu look good, good old fashioned American diner food, burger’s, hot dog’s, chicken wings, I just had to order something. Looking around, I thought to myself, well the hell do I order, there was a counter at the front of the diner, so I asked the man there «where do I order» he said «there are waiter’s around who can take your order, but I don’t mind taking your order» confusing yes! But the man who I assumed was front of house took our order, very helpful indeed. So the wife and I ordered wings, one sticky, one hot and I have to say the wings were some of the best I have ever tasted, good crisp, nice and tender with both sauces being good, they even had Holy Fuck hot sauce from the Ribman as a condiment, bonus!
I’d defiantly come back here for a full blown meal, although a little confusing at first, I think that was down to just opening and the Yum Bun side door is confusing, but I like the style and décor, proper old diner feel, and apparently there is a downstairs cocktail bar for members? which looked very interesting, a lot of people seemed to be heading in that direction, so can’t be bad.
So this review has the potential to hit four stars, just need to sample more food and service ;)
Go check it out

The food was okay but about half the menu wasn’t available (including the draft beers). I also thought that the service was a little disorganized — we could never get a hold of our waiter, our orders were wrong and the food came a little cold