Karaoke Bars in London: 88 events this week (18 Aug to 21 Aug)

Karaoke in London splits into two camps: private booth places where you rent a room with mates and nobody outside hears your Whitney Houston attempt, and bar-room karaoke where you grab a mic in front of strangers and that's half the fun. Both scenes are strong here, and picking between them mostly comes down to whether you want an audience or not.

Soho and Chinatown are the spiritual home of the booth format, K-pop and J-pop influenced places with private rooms, drinks menus and song libraries running into the tens of thousands. Shoreditch and Dalston lean more toward the open-mic bar style, pub back rooms and dedicated karaoke bars where the crowd is part of the show. Camden and Clapham have their own long-running nights too, often built around a regular host who knows the room.

Booths are usually booked by the hour and priced per room rather than per person, so they work well for groups and birthdays where you want privacy and control over the playlist. Open-mic nights are typically free to watch and free to sing, run on a sign-up list, and reward turning up early if you want a slot before the queue gets long.

Weeknights tend to be the emptier, more forgiving crowd if you're new to it. Weekends get rowdier and the booths book out fast, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, so if you've got a group and a date in mind it's worth sorting a booking well ahead rather than turning up and hoping.