Dalston Jazz - London

I had been worried by some of the reviews but my son had been before and knew how good the Dalston Jazz Bar is. The place is unique. If you want a quiet, intimate dinner, with starched linen tablecloths, a varied menu, extensive wine list, immaculate waiters pouring your wine etc DON'T GO. And if you do, don't write a bad review. It is on the shabby side of shabby chic and the music is loud but the seafood is fantastic and plentiful, the band is excellent and yes, it is a small space but there is outside seating. The wine is fine and very reasonably priced. The price for the food is left to the diners as it should include gratuities for the band and staff. Of course there is a minimum amount which given the quality and quantity of food is very reasonable. We absolutely loved the place and look forward to going back. Thank you Dalston Jazz Bar for a fantactic night.

The place is very run down, the table cloths are creased, the glasses on the table are different sizes and smell bad, you order a bottle of merlot for £25 and pay for the bottle and they come to the table with a house bottle of red and tell you that's all they have...the wine is very cheap tasting..you've paid £25 for this..the food was not bad tbh..you pay £15 for a platter which serves 2 people and then anything you pay on top is called a donation so we paid £15 extra as that's fair enough but we did get totaly ripped off with the wine..the guys playing the jazz music were pretty good TBF..the ladies toilet does not have a lock so best to take a friend with you to watch the door..overall we had a good time but that's mainly because I was with friends and we laughed about it! Life's too short to get stressed lmao..would I go again?? Not on your nelly..I forgot the menu online is not the same as in the restaurant..they don't offer shark, guinea fowl, crocodile etc...it's all a lie...on the plus side I do like the fact you can watch the owner cooking...if you decide to visit after reading this review that's your choice..bon appetite..my friend has just told me that it was £15 per person not per platter...tbh in that case I wouldn't have paid much donation...it's £15 per person which is two people sharing a platter...turns out we didn't give a donation lol...tbh they didn't deserve it so no need to feel guilty haha ..lied about wine and menu ..so who cares..plus it's a dive.

I would recommend that everyone eat at Dalston Jazz bar for the simple reason that every terrible restaurant you visit throughout the rest of your life will seem better by comparison. We walked in and were confronted with a decor that was presumably aiming for shabby chic but had instead landed squarely on skanky tetanus. We took a table at the back after being told that the one free at the front was reserved. Fair enough. We then splashed out the eminently reasonable price of £32 for 2 pints, a single vodka and (flat) coke and a cosmopolitan so sweet I can only assume they got the cranberry juice mixed up with the Vimto. For some reason all drinks had to be paid for immediately rather than being added to your bill presumably because so many people walk out. Words cannot describe the quality of our waiter at least not words I can write here. When he eventually took our food order he explained that it was a 'pay what you want ' restaurant, before immediately contradicting himself by informing us that each dish held a minimum 'donation ' of £15. What about the foccaccia? I dared to ask. £15 I was informed. Deciding to forgo the world 's most expensive bread we went for the prawns. They had the taste and texture of rubber covered in warm sweet chilli sauce. The chef had taken the unusual step of placing these on top of the crispy salad leaves, making them somewhat less crispy. The accompanying dish of a 'fishcake ' was, in reality, a pile of overcooked mash stuffed with the sweepings of the kitchen, some of which were presumably piscine in nature. The night culminated when the waiter, despite our protests, insisted we move to the long table he had originally said was reserved. Apparently the people who had booked it had cancelled, but our table was reserved (something he hadn 't previously mentioned). We arrived at the already packed long table to find there were only 2 seats for the 4 of us. No problem for our suddenly industrious waiter, who made everyone else shove along until we were so packed that the meaning of an 'intimate dinner ' threatened to take on a whole new meaning.

This is one of the best and most unique places I have visited in London. If you enjoy trying new things, then this is the place for you. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it is truly amazing! The food and music here are top-notch.

We popped in here on the off chance last night. As soon as we'd ordered our beers the DJ who is also the chef cut the music, picked up the microphone and began to aggressively publicly insult a woman that had danced a bit too close to his equipment. From what we saw, it seemed a gross over reaction on his part but regardless of her behaviour it was a particularly unpleasant offensive that left our £7 beers tasting sour. As for the music? More school disco than Jazz.