Krakatoa in Aberdeen City

Lively bar, wide choice of drinks, reasonably priced. Generous discount for students.

Dive bar with great live acts. Love this place!

Great venue to go see local bands

Great place to go for a night out. Amazing karaoke nights and live bands. Huge range of drinks including the freshly made cocktails.

Vibrant venue with great music....loved it !

Awesome gig venue with a nice selection of good beers and whiskies.

Lovely atmosphere, cheap drinks.

An amazing dive bar. Enjoyed a pint on an early Saturday afternoon, sun was out, door open, very welcome. Felt like a New York dive bar. Loved it.

If live rock music is 100% your thing, then this is the place for you. Just be sure to check the Facebook page for updates on what they have planned on that current night. It's mostly occupied by students and rarely people who are older. It's currently a card-only payment bar. As for the staff, I'm on the fence about this one. You may get a very laid back, casual bar staff member serving you, or a very obnoxious one. I say this because I was once screamed at for not giving a tip to one particular staff member. She was unpleasantly aggressive and rude, just downright unprofessional.

Great atmosphere, we saw the end of year college performances, they were great and the crowd were very supportive. Staff were friendly and supportive of the bands too. All in all a great evening.

awesome pub, awesome staff, great atmosphere, the live music is always sick in there too. love the decor too, and the cocktails are so good. great selection of drinks too

Invited by a musician friend playing that evening. Haven’t been to a music bar for a very long time (ok I’m old). Expected the worst. Experienced the best. It’s a small venue with a friendly vibe and a variety of interesting events coming up. See pics. We’ll be back.

Absolutely unbelievable wee place. We played a gig. Service and atmosphere were top notch, all the staff were absolutely legendary. Drinks were immaculate and NOT EVEN THAT EXPENSIVE! Sound tech / Stage Manager was super attentive. Just one of the best places of all time tbh.

Will serve females until they are drunk beyond control, breaching their duty of care. Do not drink here, server probably on the list for epsiten island

A true pillar of the community - Krakatoa is the place to go if you want great music, low lighting, and the best assortment of drinks across Aberdeen. Fun cocktail list, live music, amazing alt atmosphere and real dive ambience. A real gem that I've never found the likes of anywhere else. A lot of community events get organised here too.

Did not have food, great selection of drinks, servers were helpful and friendly.

Cool bar with great range of drinks ... but no stout? I take that back. We were there on a charity party night, Saturday 29th October 2022. They had a guest stout. Moose Moose I think it was called. Brilliant night, great selection of drinks and ace cocktails. Bands were great, clientele very welcoming and great DJ too. Faultless.

Krakatoa doesn't seem to want your custom, don't bother to update their Facebook page when the venue is supposedly full (Electric Eel Shock, but I could see in the venue that it wasn't full). It's a shame when you're trying to support the local music scene that their staff are rude and liars. I won't bother visiting here again.

Good venue for bands, nice place

Went for new year's and ended up having more fun in there than most bars in Aberdeen. Good variety of music and love using the jukebox.

Great decor / massive and original cocktails

Always friendly, always interesting. Colourful “dive bar” full of character with a very good selection of drinks on tap, potent cocktails and a curious selection of niche spirits. I’ve seen quite few excellent bands here, not many small venues like this left, definitely worth supporting.

Night out whilst in Aberdeen for the week - live act = Wish You Were Floyd. Great night out, good beer, eclectic crowd

I will absolutely be back, it's such a fun place and has an amazing vibe 😁

The worst place to go in Aberdeen. You will get kicked out for being 'normal' with no explanation. The last place to go in Aberdeen under any circumstances

5 stars if you want to be 18 again. Good selection of beer and cocktails.

Rude barmaid. Asked for classic margarita. She dead pan refused, repeating we're a tiki bar about 3 times. I know that. I also know you have ingredients for classic margarita. Despite their polinesian Margarita has almond liquor in it, which I dislike.. I couldn't be bothered to argue, ordered polinesian Margarita and drank it without enjoyment.

Bar staff and bouncers have terrible attitude, ruins the atmosphere, also treat artists terribly

Really horrible abusive custumers who the bar staff allow to bully less regularly/younger custumers and vape/smoke at the bar despite regulations against it. Extremely dirty and very poor service. It was 9pm on a Monday night no one else was ordering drinks and it took bar staff 15+ minutes to make 2 very basic cocktails. If you're not just ordering a shot or a soft drink except a long wait. Generally very poor atmosphere if you're not a 30+ year old man with piercings, one tattoo and a neck beard. Side note asking for donations as a business who makes profit... strange...

Excellent atmosphere, excellent drinks, good student discount, potentially my favourite place in Aberdeen, although I am afraid my hand has been forced to leave a 3 star as they claim they "Do not care about a persons attire" and yet they wouldn't allow my mate in wearing shorts.

Can't see the beer taps when there's a band on. Card only and you get watched to see if you give a tip!

We were there to see The Devout on 16th September, place, atmosphere, music, staff and drinks were superb.

this place claims to be a workers' cooperative but despite this they have some ridiculously shady hiring practices. They regularly fire staff (without the required vote) for speaking up about sexual assault and most bar staff are essentially complicit in such things that happen in the venue They also seem very content to book bands with frontmen who are known sexual assaulters... The service is terrible, and, while I'm sure the staff may try their best, management clearly care only for stuffing as many students in there and milking them for their money, rather than a good time or safe atmosphere if you go here you are certain to spend 2x what you would in any ordinary bar, whilst also supporting people who simply lie about any standard they claim to have (check their website by the way, they don't care about you as a customer in the slightest)

Awesome place with friendly service, an awesome cocktail menu and great bands. The place looks amazing and its the cleanest Rock/Metal venue I've ever been to.

Decent music, and a good selection of drinks.

Great bands nice place expensive drinks plus 4 pounds to get in .

Friendly staff, awesome music, good drinks. Loved the aesthetics.

Cracking bar. Decent beer, friendly staff, great jukebox. What else do you need?

Great old school bar with live music, way too overcrowded at times and sadly no other means of payment than card is accepted.

Definitely an awesome bar, friendly staff and and selection and atmosphere

Always good music. Very friendly place.

Krakatoa is one of the few bars in central Aberdeen with an unique identity. The staff are welcoming and helpful the patrons are hairy and unkempt.

Great venue. Friendliest bar in Aberdden.

Appears to be honest and true local pub. May not suit all, but I like their old type of honesty.

We had much fun there. It's a metal pub with karaoke

Unique in character bar located in the city centre just across the main harbor. For all the pop punk and rock lovers!

Häftig liten bar med jättetrevlig personal och massor med roliga drinkar på menyn! Vi kommer tillbaka!

It's been a.minute.since I have been but bars are like girlfriends once they start appropriating certain things and begin dropping their R's and change their name are they really the same.?

A must visit cocktail bar and music venue. Ordered a cocktail which came with an edible butternut squash fish! Great music and very friendly staff!

Atmospheric pub, good music, great sound system. I recommend the cocktails. Service okay.

Loved this bar. Amazing selection of drinks, great music, nice as a little music venue, lovely welcoming staff. We played board games in the afternoon, danced and chatted and drank here until kick out at 3am!

Nice dark metal bar with cracking music I hadn't heard in ages

Friend of mine brought me and another here on Friday. Didn't end up trying a tiki cocktail as I wasn't quite in the right state to drink something that potent but did have a cider (rhubarb and custard flavour cider? New to me 🤣🤣) Live music was loud enough to dislodge, if temporarily, a headache I'd had all day. Atmosphere in general... well, let me just say I've never been anywhere quite like it. Whenever I'm next back in the Granite City, I'll definitely make a point of coming back ❤️

Tiki cocktails, live music what's not to like

Good venue for live music in Aberdeen. Cocktails served here

Great live music. Great cider. Nicest people. Genuine creative collaboration. Humanity at its best. They even got rid of the drunks smoothly

Best night in a long time. The live music was bang on!

Superb venue. Utterly massive selection of rums, cider and beers and various other intoxicating liquids from around the world. All served in a tiki setting with cocktails and live bands a plenty. Definitely worth a visit and probably your new local. :-)

I’m really disappointed in Krakatoa, when I usually go there it’s a very chilled and music oriented bar. The problem is the door staff, in particular Mel. I understand door staff need to use their best judgement but to turn away regulars is an utter failing. Maybe they just don’t value our custom. Don’t feel like coming back tbh.

Good fun night, decent bands on and pretty decent drinks.

It was wonderful until the bar staff /bar staff girlfriend (?) intervened and asked me to leave for taking a photo! Photos of the bar! Makes you wonder what kind of illegal activity is going on in there??? I would look again at the pictures but I was forced to delete them with the threat of violence so I can't. Pity.

Good service, friendly staff, good jukebox & very reasonable prices. 10/10

Great wee music venue, very friendly staff

Good barstaff good knowledge of drinks

Pros: great live music, decent drinks. Cons: DJ killed the vibe after the band finished with a bizarre and eclectic selection of music, often overlooked by the barstaff which slows service substantially for some.

Tons of cocktails! Amazing vibe! Karaoke is so much fun, especially with Johnny on mic!

We went in for a pint or two, enjoying the energy and the vibe. It's more Heavy Metal it seems, but I could be wrong and one should rather check out their website for upcoming artists. I liked it there. The more darker side of the spectrum kind of crowd, and young too. But I still felt comfortable and had a good time. We where out on a pub crawl, looking for live music, and we got some there and moved on to the next. Give it a go....

great stuff but wife left me hence 4/5

Last night was so enjoyable time.

Always welcomed. Friendly bar with live music 😁🎤🎸🥁

Favourite place, love the staff and the drinks

Rock n Roll dive bar..😎🤘🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃👍☠ live music and crazy drinks selection. Have fun

I was visiting a friend in Aberdeen from the US for a month, and I came here a number of times during my visit. Great atmosphere, music, and drinks aside - they've also created a super safe and welcoming atmosphere where all the hijinks are welcome but being creepy is absolutely not tolerated. One guy who was being a basic pest (not at all a dramatic incident) to me was immediately shut down with humor and grace by the bartender and other patrons. Well done to Krakatoa for their great crowd + staff - and hat's off for creating a fun space where people can both get very drunk and still feel very safe!

Not one I visit very often. Saying that it's always very welcoming. Busiest at a weekend. Good selection of drink and the food is very good.

Very friendly and the beers are pretty cheap. Nice atmosphere. I enjoyed it.

Great bar for live music 5*****

Great mixed beer range from around the world with something for everyone and a music choice that can only be described as the same.

A happy place with fun crowds, kind staff, and great live rock.

A memorial gig for my late youngest brother.. Fantastic night. Well done all concerned👌👌👌👌👌💜💜💜💜💜💜

Nice to get a selection of rums for a change!

Amazing atmosphere and unbelievable selection of drinks. Some very strong ones!

Great selection of beers on tap. Staff are good and are very helpful. This bar is a card only bar.

Worst experience ever!!! Drinks: 25min queue, Double gin with a lemonade and Ice in 5p plastic cup, seriously! Sound: Does anybody doing sound check before the gig, I thought my brain going to explode from treble!

Nice original bar, large choice of drinks, atmosphere was loud even with no live band at the time, minimal staff Saturday evening a little slow serve, looked like a great variety of cocktail,

Fab venue in the heart of Aberdeen, went to see Esperanza Ska band who were outstanding. Ticket prices were very good as were the staff,A very well stocked bar and a great choice of cocktails if that is your thing.Thank you for the heads up Krakatoa.✋️high five.see you again soon.

Had a fantastic night out, funk connection was playing. Only downside was waiting 30mins for a cocktail, which was actually delicious when I got it

What a place, amazing atmosphere, great choice of Tiki style cocktails and we got a bonus on our night out 3 great bands playing, which was free entry before 8pm. Enjoyed it very much

An open and free night with great bar staff. Felt comfortable 🙂

That weird bar where all the singalongs from your mums younger years meets the metal songs.

Great drink selection, friendly staff, great jukebox and the live music put on is almost always great.

Fantastic friendly, welcoming staff and a great atmosphere - anyone will feel at home here, and a incomparable selection of draught beers and ciders. Didn't want to leave, and will be back any time we're in Aberdeen!

To nie jest zwykły bar. To miejsce z duszą. Kiedy wjedziesz do środka przeniesiesz się w czasie na rajską wyspę. Duży wybór piw i różnych wysokoprocentowych alkoholi. Najlepsze drinki w mieście w bardzo niskich cenach. Polecam „zombie pirate”. Do tego muzyka na żywo i kawałek podłogi gdzie możesz poleciec w pogo po drinkach. Polecam to miejsce każdemu. Nie ma drugiego takiego w Aberdeen.

Great place. Very eclectic with loads to look st and really good music

Excellent atmospheric live music venue.

Entertaining and different. Really enjoyed.

Nice Barkeeper, fair prices and chill atmosphere

Fantastic atmosphere, great beers, a worker cooperative - everything is great!

Crackin' pub, tasty cocktails, guid atmosphere, friendly bar staff, awesome music and loadsa guid craic. Loved it!

Loud and busy, but that's not a bad thing. Good live music, good selection of drinks, friendly staff and a welcoming environment.

Wacky place but the ale is very good