Big Chill House, in King’s Cross, is (for us) the final of the three trendy Big Chill bars. We liked the funky decor and laid back charm of both the original Big Chill Bar in Brick Lane (which got 2.5 BBS Ticks) and the Bristol Big Chill (2 BBS Ticks), so we thought it only made sense to complete the set and add Big Chill House to the Blue Badge Style Ratings.
As with its namesakes in east London and Bristol, the Big Chill House is very much a 30s and under kind of a place, with a lively atmosphere and bold decoration. The BCH building was once a grand Victorian pub and the large windows and elegance of the building blend with modern touches to good effect. The food and drinks are good but well priced rather than spectacularly well made. This is more somewhere to come for the atmosphere and, as expected with all Big Chill venues, the music which is as diverse as the Big Chill festival itself.
The other Big Chill venues have had minor problems with accessibility; here the issues are a little more glaring. For one thing, the terrace area, which is said to be one of the main selling points, is upstairs and not wheelchair accessible. There are also other less than fully accessible areas, which would have provided a little bit more of cosy and private environment, were they made accessible. The entrance isn’t too awful but with one fairly robust step to get up it’s far from perfect. They do have an adapted toilet for less able customers on the ground floor, which is something – as long as it’s not being used for storage (which it sometimes is!).
The Big Chill House clearly isn’t particularly convenient for less physically able visitors. It certainly isn’t as accessible as the other Big Chill venues, but some people may benefit from knowing there’s a disabled toilet and only one step into the very buzzy and open spaced downstairs bar.
Having weighed up the pros and the cons of the Big Chill House we decide we can only give them a provisional 1 BBS Tick. It is cool but it’s accessibility is limited at best. Oh well, at least we’ve covered the full house of the Big Chill venues.
