Oriole is a two-level Covent Garden bar and restaurant pairing globally inspired cocktails and Latin American fusion food with live jazz, blues and world music Tuesday–Saturday.
Description source · Checked 2026-09-20
Plan Your Visit
7-9 Slingsby Pl, London WC2E 9AB, UK
- Style
- Two-level cocktail bar, restaurant and live-music venueChecked 2026-09-20 · Source
- Hours
- Current summer schedule: Bamboo Bar Tuesday–Wednesday 3pm–11pm and Thursday–Saturday noon–midnight; Restaurant Tuesday 7pm–11pm, Wednesday–Thursday 6pm–midnight and Friday–Saturday 6pm–1am. No Sunday or Monday service is listed.Checked 2026-09-20 · Source
- Booking
- Online booking is available through SevenRooms; the restaurant welcomes walk-ins, while booking is recommended for live-music service.Checked 2026-09-20 · Source
- Prices
- The owner-linked September 2026 Bamboo Bar menu lists Basque Martini at £13, Remember the Maine at £13 and Hotel National at £14.Checked 2026-09-27 · Source
- Menu
- The owner site links current Bamboo Bar and downstairs cocktail PDFs, alongside the restaurant food menu.Checked 2026-09-20 · Source
Hours and menus can change. Check the venue’s latest details before visiting.
The score & its evidence
Seven signals. One score.
35.0 / 100
The composite combines the seven weighted signals and the published adjustments. The chart shows each signal before weighting.
Read the full calculation- Guest ratings
- 81.1
- World's 50 Best
- —None found · Checked; no qualifying signal found; contributes zero
- Top 500 Bars
- 67.1
- Spirited Awards
- —None found · Checked; no qualifying signal found; contributes zero
- Regional Recognition
- —None found · Checked; no qualifying signal found; contributes zero
- Serious press
- 20.8
- Social Vibes
- 60.2
Weights: Guest ratings 23% · World's 50 Best 12% · Top 500 Bars 10% · Spirited 12% · Regional Recognition 18% · Press 10% · Social Vibes 15%
Missing evidence, confirmed none and evidence outside a scoring window each contribute zero. We do not redistribute their fixed weight to other signals.
Social Vibes
Score read updated:
Sentiment score
86/ 100
The existing 86/100 remains the proprietary Social Vibes score. This source review clarifies the evidence without recalculating it.
Score context
Nightjar sibling reopened August 2024 at Slingsby Place: Bamboo Bar upstairs, Latin-jazz basement downstairs. Time Out praises spot-on mezcal and citrus drinks and the live room; food can lag. Relocation from Smithfield, not a closure.
Guest sources checked:
This review checks the linked sources. The stored summary and themes remain a historical proprietary interpretation, not a fresh customer survey.
Guest score details
Highlights in the stored read
- live jazz basement
- inventive world-ingredient cocktails
- easy upstairs draft bar
- Covent Garden drop-in
Reservations in the stored read
- food consistency
- tourist-yard setting
- two-room split
Source excerpt
“the drinks – the signature cocktails feature a lot of mezcal, vodka and citrus – were spot-on.”
A critic’s excerpt from Chiara Wilkinson’s mixed review; the same review criticises some food. Whitespace is normalised.
Source: timeout.com (linked below)
This read cites editorial or award context. Those links are distinct from guest accounts; only the reviewed links in Reviews & press count toward Press.
Editorial citations in this read
- timeout.comTime Out review — Chiara Wilkinson · Article dated 3 March 2025; visit date unknown
Chiara Wilkinson reviews the Covent Garden Oriole, distinguishing its upstairs bar and downstairs room. The retained drinks excerpt comes from a mixed review that also criticises the steak and dessert; it does not represent uniformly positive guest opinion.
- thespiritsbusiness.comThe Spirits Business operator interviews — Lauren Bowes · Web publication 17 April 2025; originally December 2024 print
Lauren Bowes interviews Oriole’s operators about the move from Smithfield to Covent Garden, distinguishing the downstairs bar and upstairs Bamboo Bar. The feature first appeared in the December 2024 magazine and was published online on 17 April 2025. Operator statements are not independent guest testimony.
Crowd signal
Google 4.7★ across 1,358 reviews.
View on Google · Checked . Ratings and review counts can change.
Awards
Results from the three global systems scored separately in our formula.
Top 500 Bars
Regional Recognition
Regional and national lists, local awards and bartender peer picks considered for this room's Regional Recognition score. The strongest result from each program and year scores; assessed guides use the latest accepted dated status once.
No recorded regional recognition in the scored window.