Katzenjammers Bierkeller & Restaurant in Southwark

Natalie is amazing, in all my life I never see a waitress so GOOD and helpful

Went in the early evening (~1800) on a Monday after a long day in Brighton. We had an overly tired baby with us, so I asked if we could do takeaway (the Google reviews page said they do that). After asking, it doesn't seem like they typically do, but they did everything they could to accommodate us, including using some of their good kitchen plasticware for kitchen food storage and a few plastic baskets that they wrapped up with the food. We also had a couple cheese pretzels and some beers while we waited, which were all very good. After we got everything back, our family (me, my wife, and her parents) had a really delicious meal together, and then I walked the dishes back over to the restaurant. I really appreciated them going way above for service, and I'd absolutely go back there again.

Got suggested a beer for my first time, and was served by Natalie who gave us foil to take home leftovers when we ordered too much, definitely got our money's worth and great atmosphere

Ate early before it started to get busy. Mrs. had Schnitzel and I had currywurst. Staples when we are in Germany. Food is definitely on par with what Munich has to offer. If I lived here, it would be a regular. Staff very friendly and helpful (especially when struggling to get mustard out of the bottle 😀 ) If you like German food, beer and ambience this is the place for you.

Awesome place for traditional German beers in London. Love my wheat beer

Such a fun night out. You’re going to drink a lot, eat a lot, and it’s going to be very noisy! No mobile phone reception downstairs either which is actually nice to be disconnected and able to focus on your fourth stein of Paulaner.

Yesterday's team was very friendly and fast. I'll be back soon

Great traditional German fayre, just what we were looking for. Very reasonable price too.

Used to love coming here. A man tried to steal our bag through the gap on the bench chairs but sulked out when we called him out on it. Only one member of staff seemed to be on bar, too young and didn't have enough English to understand why we were complaining. Another member of staff that came on shift apologised but said security hadn't started work yet (Friday at 6pm).

Great german beer and a very reasonably priced menu

Good spot for a pint of Bavarian beer after work

Just spent a wonderful evening here watching England's semi final. Great beer selection and amazing food..service was friendly and the atmosphere great. Will be back.

What a fantastic place and what a fantastic person was Natalie, We visited as a group on a Thursday evening to celebrate our friends Birthday and Natalie went above and beyond to make sure we have a great time. Thank you We will be back for sure, the food and drinks and most importantly the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. And the team, were first class.

I have been going to Katzenjammers for many years because my best friend enjoys the German beer, live music and the fact they show sporting events. However, I think the place is terrible. The food is bad, the alcohol is expensive and the staff do not seem happy to work there. The smell of onions permeates through the place and the toilets are always disgusting. I am now leaving a review because of one final insult -- the bar is fraudulent and overcharges if you start a tab. They'd added drinks to our bill that we didn't order, and when we complained, they refused to refund us. Katzenjammers will rip you off -- do not go there.

very cool band and delish sausages

Celebrated a birthday here and had a ton of fun!! Great food and amazing staff!! Esther was especially lovely, friendly and accommodating! I will definitely be back soon!!

Have had many a great evening in here in the past but seems things have become stretched in operations and sadly been left with the bitter taste being overcharged for drinks from a deposit card and no effort made to resolve the situation appropriately. Be careful of such a mix up especially during busy times with the football on.

The staff unfortunately weren't friendly nor helpful. When ordering an aperol spritz, I was told twice they didn't offer any. However, it is on their menu. The waiter then palmed us off to another waitress who then asked me why I was being so rude. In all fairness, I was annoyed at the previous waiter. However, I would not call myself rude. And was incredible taken aback when the waitress confronted me after I said just one sentence to her (which was the order). I told her, I didn't think I was rude but she then went on to argue with me, how I actually was rude. Bit unnecessary really, when you just want to order drinks - not a nice welcoming at all. Which made us even reconsider to leave... However, food and atmosphere were alright, that's why it's still 3 stars. Maybe the whole team would benefit from customer service training.

This place seems to have gone downhill of late. The food was nothing more than okay - it came out lukewarm, plus, they got our order wrong and all the dishes came at different times. The staff were really quite unfriendly, with several of them appearing really inexperienced as well. The atmosphere wasn’t great, and the decor was positively industrial, with very little in the way of german decoration. I appreciate this may be a conscious choice but it added to the unwelcoming and perfunctory ambience. Lastly, the toilets were really disgusting- unclean and in a state of disrepair. All in all a disappointing visit to somewhere I have been several times over the years.

A shadow of what this place used to be. All the food comes fresh out of the deep freezer, the schnitzel in particular couldn't be a blander piece of rogue meat. Staff were so desperate to leave before closing time that they (accidentally?) locked us in the building and walked out.

All I can say is don’t waste your time or money going here unless you want an altercation with the “manager”! The place overall is ok, but the little man who apparently manages this venue needs a lesson in customer service. Aggressive, condescending and rude is putting it lightly. Whoever the owners are need to review this guy as the venue will end up having big problems. From start to finish he and some (not all) of his door staff were looking to create a problem! Horrible and won’t be back.

I don't understand the bad reviews at all! It's not quiet but not nearly as bad as some other London bars and restaurants. Food is really really good and an absolute bargain in London for portion size and tastiness. Service is good, hardly had at queue for a drink (my bf had to wait for one person ahead, I was served straight away). Food came out in a reasonable time. I don't even drink beer but the wine was lovely. Bf doesn't normally drink beer but he does when he's here! Absolutely would come back again, it's really nice.

I went to visit the restaurant with friends yesterday evening to eat and drink as you advertised yourself as a Traditional Bavarian restaurant. We sincerely noticed our food was not fresh, Specially mine. The manager said : " it was cooked 2 days ago". This is her own words. I am truly disappointed and frustrated how this can happened in Central London in 2024. This action can cause food poison and other illnesses. Absolutely careless and outrageous. We paid the bill , to be honest I don't know why... We will never go back . Shame on you to call yourself authentic/ traditional Bavarian restaurant. I would suggest to take this down and just be an average pub at London Bridge.

A good, underground beer hall that often seems less busy than the pubs in Borough Market, just round the corner. Lots of beer - almost all of it lager - and a very 'beer hall' sort of menu with chips, sausages and lots more. A good spot for a pint and a bite; I think I'm becoming a regular here!

Service was okay. My starter of 2 giant ravioli was great. My beer was excellent and the fries were top quality. Sadly however the schnitzel was too thickly cut and it didn't seem great quality meat in the first place.

Had an excellent lunchtime visit to Katzenjammers today with my group of 20 Year 9-10 pupils, all of whom are learning German at school. It was a fantastic introduction to authentic German cuisine in a lovely atmosphere reminiscent of a real German Bierkeller. The food was copious and very good quality and, unlike many other German-themed restaurants, authentic! The service was excellent, all staff were super friendly, and the food arrived promptly. The food was also extremely good value for money. I would thoroughly recommend this restaurant to other people looking to bring large groups of visitors for an authentic German meal. I will definitely be back. Thank you so much.

Wasn't overly impressed with the offering. Lacked atmosphere and substance. The band came on with no announcement (brass band) played various pop numbers, left and then music played over speakers. After a while band came on again and this repeated itself several times. No effort to engage the audience, poor costume and staging (a black sheet and some cheap fairy lights you might buy at B and M. Underwhelming.

Best place, best beer and food. EXCELLENT service provided by the lovely team, especially Nataliie.

Excellent German beer and food friendly helpful staff let us try several different beers before we ordered

Came here at 6:30 pm Friday night looking for classic German food and good pub vibes. First thoughts were that this felt like walking into underground bunker rather than a lively German tavern. There were 4 young staff members at the the bar, but none came up to us to explain how to order or whether to order at the bar. Service was unfriendly but food, beer and prices were excellent. Paprikawurst and bratwurst were my favorite. Pretzels were also pretty great. Would like to come back on a busier night or a night with better vibes.

Delicious food, especially the small sausage platter, with the sauerkraut. Very friendly service. We enjoyed the quiet afternoon atmosphere, before the evening rush, and after the crowds of Borough Market.

Tasty food and good beer including steins.

The manager (short latin man in a suit) threatened to assault me and my friend because we asked for a refund when he accidentally paid for someone else’s drink when the card machine was mistakenly offered to him by staff. We were genuinely polite through our request. The manager bulldozed his way through his own staff who were telling him there was no reason to be so aggressive. First he claimed he wasn’t the manager, then later said he was the manager and he tried to get us to come back the next day for a refund. He refused to give us his name so we knew who we could even speak to the next day. When we insisted that we were asked to pay for someone else’s drinks, he asked his security to escort us out after telling us he could “slap us in the face”. We left straight away with no objections, not wanting any issues with door staff who were doing their job. When we were outside he came out, started laughing and making rude comments at us. We refused to engage, and he then placed his hands on my chest to try and push me around the pavement. I was not blocking his entrance in any way, nor did the door staff have any issues with us. We were just waiting for the rest of our friends to come out so we can leave the area. I ended up pushing him back away to get him out of my personal space before eventually withdrawing to call police. At this point the manager went downstairs. Police attended and this is being investigated. We had no other complaints about the venue itself, but even the door staff profusely apologised and claimed that this manager does this semi-regularly. We were truly baffled at the lack of professionalism by this manager. I speculate that he might have been on drugs. I hope the owner of the venue takes the time to speak to all members of staff who were working behind the bar at approximately 21:00 to get an understanding of what kind of manager is representing his venue, and to understand that none of the above is an exaggeration. Should the venue owner care to reach out, we have some mobile phone footage to show.

I was there on Sunday and the service and food were perfect

We made a reservation to celebrate my daughter birthday, they were AMAZING, very helpful with the cake and the birthday song!!! The food was delicious, and there was a vegetarian option also, so it was just perfect. The atmosphere couldn't be better, the band was stunning they were so kind, they even sang happy birthday and my daughter was so happy.The staff are lovely they came time to time to our table to check is everything is okay, specially Esther :)) I highly recommend this place🥳

I went out for drinks with my friends here and loved the atmosphere! The band was amazing, and Esther and Maria were absolutely sweethearts. Will definitely be coming back here!

Staff weren't rude... Just not friendly or welcoming and definitely no smiles - certainly don't know what was going on with them tonight. I hope they're OK. The food was average to say the least. A schnitzel that needed full force to cut through, it was thick and over seasoned. Will say that the portions are generous but there's no love in that there food; it was fodder. The drinks went down well. Shame but we won't be returning.

The food here was absolutely inedible.

I remember this place being better the last time I was there

Unbelievably slow service at the bar. I was probably unlucky, but I can only speak of my own experience here. Very miserable staff.

Completely rough drunk loud people. Fighting and full of god knows what. This is nothing like a German beer Keller! Avoid at all costs.

Great drinks and amazing staff. Actual taste of food is good but it tastes like it was cooked and flown in from Germany - didn’t taste fresh.

Over zealous security staff which I have reported to the authorities and will be taking further action. Avoid this venue which hires thugs as security.

If you like German beer this is the place. I like Kristal Weizen and it's one of the very few places in the UK I've found it. Food is also very good with large portions. Similar to real German schnitzel but not exactly the same. Probably like having fish and chips while abroad. Overall it's one of my favourite pubs in London.

The stein glass holding two pints is a novelty. My Schnitzel was okay but it won't be winning any awards. The fries underneath could have been looked for longer. Service was a little grumpy. And there was no mayonnaise!!!!

Has a great night in the downstairs beer hall. The beers great as you can't go wrong with paulaner and the sausage selection was good too . The only bad points were the band didn't play for long enough . Every time they got the crowd going they seemed to take a break and the hall could do with some decoration to make it feel more authentic . It's a big room but it's just painted white and doesn't feel very German.

Good beer, good atmosphere, friendly staff

So German beer was all good, German food was all good but we each ordered 1L of beer for one person so 3L plus a Mochito, a small fries and a sausage platter for 10 pounds and got 4 sausages each 7cm in size plus some sauerkraut and beetroot I wouldn't eat here. So everything is really expensive here but that shocked me. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take a photo

Absolutely shocking service I didn’t receive my first order and then on enquiring at the point of service if I could change my order I was told no so I ordered again and then had to chase the order. Do not visit this restaurant it is the wurst!

One of the worst restaurant experiences we've ever had in London - bad music. tough microwaved pretzel covered in rubbery cheese. One of us got something different than we ordered. Soggy red cabbage and the kraut had zero flavour. The French fries were inedible, obviously frozen and of the cheapest quality. To top all of this off - we were the ONLY people in the restaurant and it took 45 minutes for our family of 3 to get our food. We regret ever going to this place, feels like we threw good money in the bin.

Food is pretty poor, german-esque but not proper German. Beers selection great. Ordered Kassler and out comes a plate of British gammon. Fairly similar but it is not Kassler. No doubt proper Kassler is far more expensive, and the average Harry will not know the difference, but Heinz will. Potato salad was made with floury potatoes and not waxy ones. Really unpleasant to eat a dry flury potato salad. Edit: Haha, just noticed another German commenting on the potato salad... I did see a photo of proper Kassler from a few months ago, not sure why gammon is being used now...

I’ve been in here a few times. The beer selection is reasonably good and I like the food menu choices. It’s a relaxed vibe. However, very unsure why they couldn’t oblige with serving my mother a half pint shandy when they will happily serve half pint beers and pints of shandy. Seems obstructive without good reason. The staff did seem generally disinterested beyond this too.

Visited with a large group, all had a good time

Great spot, especially on a hot day! Service isn't bad, but it's not particularly friendly or personal. Good fun nights and good beer and food.

Be aware of thefts at Katzenjammers!! I visited last Saturday and one of the doormen stole my wallet out of my jacket. I also had to pay £20 to retrieve my jacket as they kept it behind after closing. I have tried to contact a manager about this but have been ignored. Avoid!!!

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. At the end of the night one member of our party realised he was missing his jacket. We couldn’t find it once everyone had left the premises and staff/security were extremely unhelpful. They wouldn’t help us look for it, were telling us to leave and generally making rude comments such as “how about you learn to keep your belongings on your next time” and “he didn’t even come in wearing it” (like they’d even know that?) Turns out the staff did in fact have this jacket behind the bar, we asked multiple times and they only admitted it when we had to buy a round of drinks for them. So, if you want your stuff back you have to pay off the staff. We finally got the jacket back but once we got kicked out we realised the wallet was missing from the pocket. Luckily we managed to cancel all the cards but someone was attempting to use them later in the night. Just an awful experience that ruined a really fun venue. I would also like to add that although my party were drunk, I was sober and it was generally all outrageous. AVOID

Been there before not bad. Now try an ring awful 11 times no answer.

Great place to have some beers with friends.

Good atmosphere. Poor service. Ordered twice with young lady and got a huff, I was only ordering a beer not a lung.

A nice place. I want to say a special praise to Natalie the Brazilian lady. She really looked after our group and helped a lot. Really nice person and soo helpful.

We went on a Friday evening, and managed to catch the tail end of the Christmas parties and the lull before the lads groups came out. We had jaeger schnitzel and roast pork, both were good for the price. I preferred the pork as the schnitzel was slightly overcooked. Service was reasonable for a busy day. Big queue, but it moved quickly as groups went to the bar. The food was relatively slow to come out (we separately ordered a pretzel, which was also slow to arrive). I take this as a sign of it being freshly prepared, so a very good thing. I felt the food fairly good, for German food. Beer was good too, a standard offering (Paulaner).

Used to visit a lot. Went there today and the service was shocking. Half through the bar staff taking/getting my order she went off to put candles on the tables. Absolute joke. Then another staff member came over and finished the order. They also got the order wrong with the food. Please sort your staff out.

Good atmosphere but they messed up our table reservation

I had high hopes for this place but my god. What a disappointment. Walked into what I would only describe as an abattoir. The smell was almost overpowering. Staff looked bored and fed up. Which was a surprise seeing as they had only just opened. Then when we went to get our food we were told to wait an hour. For a sausage!!!!! “You should have pre booked” pre booked what? They only had sausages😂😂 Then came the small angry manager. Nn he must have had a day of being bullied by his partner and felt the need to take it out on others. There was nothing on the website that says you have to pre book food. Poor atmosphere. Poor smell. Poor staff attitude. Poor little angry manger.

I went in katzenjammers today with my brother. I read it, is a good bavarian pub in london... Well, the beer is good but part of that....It was my first and the last time in this place for sure. Very rude staff and they also liers never seen something like this in my life. I found a string In my food, and I report it to one of the staff member ( there was no one on charge ) and she report it to another staff member, who said to me, I been here many times and I always complained about the food. I was shocked , it was my first time here to eat. I told her this is not true but she was keep telling me the same thing, so they didn't take responsibilitie about it in the end. Shame, avoid this place. Next time if someone have a piece of glass in his food they will responding on the same way maybe......🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

Quiet disappointed tbh.. booked this place in advance as there was no other available tables. When we arrived we were told downstairs isn't open due to the place being understaffed and were given another person's reservation table, which means they never got a table. Downstairs eventually opened up but theres no clear front of house staff to guide. The waitress were rude probably cause they were overworked and some were just plain rude. There was no menu of the food and we had to get up for each order incl. Drinks. If a place charges 60 pounds for reservation fee, non refundable I expect as least a decent customer service and table reserved for us. The place was definitely overbooked as a few people were waiting around although reservation and had the same complaints and worst of all as a german myself the food was terrible. German food is simple but there are ways to cook it and the dishes I had were nothing like I had in Germany. Wouldn't recommend going, bad service and overrated for the price you pay.

What an absolute joke this place is. We were Pre-booked for 11 people and paid £110 for a booking for 7pm. We arrived, and every single member of staff looked miserable, except for 1 girl behind the bar. We then went to get food from the serving area, to be rudely told by the manager that if we hadn't prebooked the food, we needed to go away and come back at 8pm. I explained that we had a booking 7pm and paid over £100 in advance. I've checked the terms and conditions, and I can't see anywhere saying you have to pre book food. The manager, Mahmood, then flew off the handle and said, "If that's what you want, I'll give your money back." When I then said fine, he said we all had to leave and called 4 bouncers on us, who, by the way, were actually really nice. You could see how embarrassed they were having to work for this guy and kept apologising to us, but as he was the manager, they had to do what he said. Apparently, Mahmood said one of our party was being intimidating, as he stroked his beard as he spoke to him! Ludicrous! As we were leaving, Mahmood told some of my party not to leave a review or he will sue us. Your manager clearly needs some customer service training, along with the majority of your staff. Steer clear!

Als deutsche Touristen in London waren wir nach 4 Tagen sehr freut, ein deutsches Restaurant,bayerischer Art, mit deutschen Speisen und vor allem deutschem, schmackhaften Bier zu finden. Eine tolle Idee mitten in London, wo der Biergeschmack sehr gewöhnungsbedürftig ist. Sehr erfreut waren wir auch darüber, dass die Speisen zu Preisen angeboten wurden, wie wir sie auch aus Deutschland gewohnt sind. Das ist in London ansonsten bei weitem nicht der Fall. Speisen und Getränke sind hier sehr teuer. Nicht so im Katzenjammers. Und wir waren sehr erfreut, dass auf die Rechnung keine Servicegebühr aufgeschlagen wurde, wie wir es ansonsten in London überall erlebt haben. Da haben wir gerne Trinkgeld gegeben.

Fun German beer hall near London Bridge. Good selection of German beers and food (schnitzel, currywurst etc).

Amazing service , great atmosphere, great beer. Natalie was an amazing host.

Beer and food are good. The place really livens up after 9pm. Watch out for the steep stairs at the entrance.

Meest sfeerloze plek in heel Londen. Onaardig en ongeïnteresseerd personeel. Staan met de rug naar je toe, negeren je, zitten alleen maar op hun telefoon en sloom werk. Meest ranzige eten wat ik ooit heb gehad. Smaakloze boel met kaas? En rauw ui. Als je er wat van zegt krijg je een grote mond terug. Sauzen die op tafel staan zou ik ook niet vertrouwen. Doe jezelf een lol en sla dit over.

Popped in for few German beers always a favourite flavour....as close to a German beer hall as you can get, the place was heaving with lots of very young people too but didn't feel out of place as a senior member lol

Great beer Great beers and Great beers!!! Had amazing night out with few friends. Can watch sports here. Food was good - probably best if your like sausages!

Poor service, except for a young waiter who at least took note of us existing (unlike his colleague) and really cared about cleanliness of the counter. We arrived, found a table and seated ourselves. Waited for sometime and finally asked the waiter if we should wait for a menu. We were told orders are taken at the bar, but it took a while until we were given a menu. We ordered and got our drinks. After about 20 minutes asked the waiter who was on his way to the kitchen what was happening with our order. We had just ordered sausages. The food finally arrived. The plates had clearly been sitting waiting in the kitchen for sometime. The food was slightly warm and taste far from impressive. Certainly very overpriced for the mediocre food and service.

Good place with a great atmosphere. Nice range of German beers, a bit pricey but to be expected in London. 👍

Was recommended by a colleague so planned our visit as we walked back from the Tower of London to Westminster. We arrived mid afternoon so it was actually quite quiet. This suited me but I could imagine it would be very lively in an evening. Had a late lunch and a few drinks and would definitely visit again when in London.

Nice place. But how come a German place does NOT HAVE MUSTARD?? That is basic. Cmon guys… Good beer and food ok (as good as German food can be, specially without mustard). Editing: I went back and they had mustard on my second visit.

Friendly staff, nice beer and nice wurst

Uriger Bierkeller in London. Hier bekommt man auch riesige Schnitzel. London Bridge und Borough Market um die Ecke.

Lovely beer hall, with a wide selection of draught taps. Great places for drinks with friends or after work meet ups. The food is well priced and has a hearty portion size, and the stein happy hour is great. Also very clean and the staff are knowledgeable about suggestions and bookings

The service was OK but it was very loud in the underground basement. The food is really plain and the sides sour. I ordered two types of sausage but they both tasted the same. The chips were dry and salty and there was no additional condiments except the ketchup and mustard sauce to add to supplement the meal. The portion size of the schnitzel was really good but again it was very plain. The sausages were small in comparison and slot about the and price. The beer was a redeemable feature of the meal and worth trying again in Germany.

Lovely beer but awful service. Food was overpriced and very poorly executed. Would not return.

Lovely food, great beer and friendly service! One of my favourite German style bar/restaurants!

Awful imitation of German food - dry and tasteless. However the experience of German beer in a Stein is good. The space is depressing - yes they are working with an underground cellar but some tasteful lighting and decoration would be an easy uplift.

Super Biersorten, gutes Essen und sehr nettes Personal!

I woke up in a dream today, the most authentic anyone will ever experience. Just like before, I can't believe this place evens exists in this time. I've not been to a Linkin Park bar in a while but this one surpasses them all. In your memory, you will find me. You'll probably see me there again, one step closer to the edge. Chester lives here in spirit.

My go to German beer and meat restaurant in London. A bit of a hidden gem, considering the location and quality. No need to book in advance.

Best Linkin Park themed bar in London. RIP Chester we will never forget you.

Angela is the only competent member of staff here. Everything else is chaos. Thank you Angela!

Absolutely shocking. Typical London lure you In, charge you a fortune, laugh at you on the way out in every other language than English. Other than that Angela was delightful.

Basic but tasty food. Good choice of beers. Live music great

Good name, bad service, bad quality food. We came into a nearly empty, soulless guestroom. The waitress was filling salt shakers and talking to a friend for nearly 15 minutes before taking our drinks order. Then we ordered Schnitzel and sausage platter as a main. The Schnitzel was never freshly pan fried, lukewarm and has never been pounded, so it was very hard to cut. The sausage platter... some sausages seemed fresh pan fried but lukewarm, other sausages were really dried out and hard. A sign that they were kept warm for a long time and not made fresh. Service without any charisma and partwise unfriendly. We will not come back!

I was going to write a funny message about sausages but those jokes are the wurst.

It has really gone down hill. It used to be a really fun place and now it’s a really aggressive place. The bouncers are very aggressive, semi racist and sexist. It’s a shame to see one of the best bars in London fall so low.

A good venue in the centre of London with a nice selection of German beers all available in steins and great food. The place is only let down by the disinterested, borderline rude serving staff. If you can deal with the poor service it's well worth the trip for the beer alone.

Very good vibes here & the brewed beer was amazing.

Just the best vibe!!! Walking around London bridge with a group of lads, looking for somewhere to go, one of them suggested here. We arrived and were allowed in no problem. The bar service was quick even though it was very busy. There is a large selection of beer, and even a whiskey it two. However, the highlight was the brass band downstairs. It really was so much fun!

Place sets itself up as a big drinking fun night out and then security stops people singing loudly, standing up, exiting fire doors when the fire alarm is going off! Can’t live up to the Munich bars its trying to copy. Shame because some basic common sense bouncing would be all thats needed. Their call.

Amazing I’ve been going, to this pub for around 9 years and I always had the best time.