Pennethorne's Bar At Somerset House, Drawing Room photo #2
Pennethorne's Bar At Somerset House, Drawing Room photo #3

Pennethorne's Bar At Somerset House, Drawing Room

Location pin

New Wing, Somerset House, London, WC2R 1LA - 

  • Users

    Up to
    45 standing

  • Table with chairs

    Offers
    catering

In the New Wing of Somerset House, you will find Pennethorne’s Bar. Inspired by the New Wing’s 19th Century designer, Sir James Pennethorne and his travels around Europe, the venue have combined décor and recipe ideas from his travels to France and Italy to modern Britain. The venue is available for hire for breakfast meetings, lunches through to evening for private dinners or cocktails and sharing platters Monday to Saturday.

Think chic birthday party, trendy work board meeting or simply a night out with friends, the Drawing Room at Pennethorne’s Cafe Bar is sure to become a London favourite and charming hidden gem. An all-day-dining destination, the 120 cover Pennethorne’s Bar is the place to hang out, relax, unwind and enjoy delicious, simple and quality food and drinks in one of London’s most iconic settings.

Capacity & layout

Standing

Standing

up to 45

Theatre

Theatre

up to 30

Boardroom

Boardroom

up to 22

Amenities

Disabled access

Disabled access

Air conditioning

Air conditioning

Natural light

Natural light

Tea

Tea

Audio & visual

Other

Minimum spend £250.00 per hour based on food & beverage up to 5pm and £350.00 per hour thereafter. Bespoke packages available on request.

Space rules

Cancellation policy

100% refundable 1 day before the event

Location

Reviews

  • Andre Lucas Ribeiro

    December 2023

    Beautiful historical building to visit during the day. In the summer and during other seasons, they offer recurrent concerts in the inner patio. The acoustics is surprisingly good. There are several drinking and eating options. The shows are on time and end early, making it easy to work the following day.

  • Harry K

    February 2024

    A cultural center. A hub for arts. Superb Architecture. Amazing open square. Polite, knowledge staff. A must visit for all people. Easy access from Temple underground stop.

  • Olivia Helene

    February 2024

    Went to the Cute Exhibition and Hello Kitty ARTBOX Cafe pop up. The cafe is extremely busy currently, with waits up to two hours. I went on 12 Feb, Monday, (which it’s usually closed on but it was open on this Monday), and the wait was about only an hour long which I was happy about, since they said it could be up to two hours. The prices of the snacks in the cafe is of course overpriced but this is London and a Hello Kitty pop up, of course it’s going to be. About £7 for a slice of cake. The cafe is more about its cute aesthetic and for the experience of it all, me and my friend went dressed as My Melody and Kuromi, and we had a lot of people ask for photos! The cute exhibition itself was fun, and really entertaining. I am usually a bit bored by museums and exhibitions but I was very interested in this one. It was cute and lived up to its name. It’s quite a short exhibition, and I was particularly a bit disappointed by the gift shop because I always like to get a magnet or pin as a souvenir, but I couldn’t find any souvenirs. (Luckily got a pin from the Hello Kitty cafe though.) They also didn’t list a price on most of their products. I really appreciated the fact that you could buy job seeker tickets to the exhibition for about £5 less than a normal ticket. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Somerset House is a bit of a maze though!

  • P P

    February 2024

    Went to the CUTE exhibition and it was interesting but definitely do not go if you are only interested in Hello Kitty as that is a very small portion of the exhibition. Even with taking our time around the exhibition is was quite short for something you could spend up to £20 for … Shop at the end was dull with nothing of actual value. However, the Artbox Cafe was great! Very cute and tasty BUT it is not worth the long wait so try to visit when the crowds are low (weekday).

  • Christine L

    February 2024

    Took my sister here for the cute exhibition. She really enjoyed it! Hello kitty pop up cafe probably not worth it.. super long wait. But it's more for the novelty! Go early in the morning if you are keen for it.