Dover Street Restaurant & Jazz Bar

Good music; awful awful restaurant.

Went there with girlfriend for Valentive's dinner.

- Seated us right beside the waiter's kiosk; they kept bumping into me

- Waited 45 mins for a drink (despite being right under noses of staff).

- Waited another 30 mins for Foie Gras starter which was none too good.

- Beef main course eventually came and was very bland.

- Desert was still frozen in the middle - silly of me to expect fresh food.

- Decent wine list.

Then the bill came £125 - and included 12.5% service charge (which I'm told the staff get none of) - I had to 'negotiate' with the manager not to pay it.

Conclusion - come for a drink and enjoy your dancing amidst 26-year old decor.
Comment on this reader review

Ben
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 15, 2008

I can't really write a review, since they wouldn't let me and my wife in. The part of their website that says "no jeans or trainers" is hidden in the "contact" section, which is no use at all really. What a bunch of stuck-up prudes - it really spoilt our evening.
Comment on this reader review

Bill S Preston Esq
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, February 07, 2008

I went to Dover street with a friend and a had fabulous night.! The food was great, staff attentive and entetainment very enjoyable. I'll be back to celebrate my birthday there...Highly recomended!
Comment on this reader review

J from Surrey
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, January 13, 2008

I was invited here to a Christmas evening out by a wine importer I do business with. Initially I hesitated as getting home in the early hours would not be that easy. In the end I agreed to go along. I checked their website and saw that there was a no jeans dress code – a pity as I had recently picked up an expensive jacket and designer jeans in Germany.

Come the day we arrived, were cordially greeted and lead down the stairs to our table. The table was really cramped with no elbow room and quite close to the adjoining one. First negative. When we came to order (from the limited selection Christmas menu) I was somewhat taken aback when we were told we had to order the dessert course at the same time. I much prefer to choose at the time, or even opt out, depending how full I feel by then. Second negative. Anyway the food came and went. Although attractively presented the portions were quite small, not particularly warm and rather bland in taste. If I had known I would have gone for the Christmas pudding as I still felt somewhat hungry at the end of the meal. Despite being a Christmas meal there were no mince pies or mints with the coffee. A double negative for the food.

As the evening wore on it became a club and got more and more crowded to the level of being unacceptable. The background noise together with the music made conversation impossible. It was a struggle to get through the masses to visit the toilets and my way back to the table was blocked by a bouncer who asked where I was going! There seemed to be three or four bouncers managing the increasingly drunken crowd – hardly what I expected.

In addition to being a restaurant it is also a jazz bar. As I am writing a restaurant review I will not say much more than this aspect was pretty average. The band did a couple of numbers well but were otherwise quite forgettable. I have heard far better. I cannot see myself going there again!
Comment on this reader review

Davy
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Friday, January 04, 2008

Cannot beleive the rudeness of the arrogant doorstaff, followed by the frosty receptionist. Drinks, no beer avaialable of any sort !! so that's why a spirit is £5.50, you get through it quicker. Only saving grace was the excellent band shame they are there though. As you can make out we will not be going back.
Comment on this reader review

George
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Monday, December 24, 2007

lovely lovely lovely place...love it! absolutely come back here
Comment on this reader review

ula
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, October 08, 2007

A night out in London with freinds, turned into a fab night out, went to this restaurant with some friends who had been before and some who hadn`t. the food was delicious, found most of the staff helpful, the jazz band a little annoying at times as waitress couldn`t here our order, but later the soul funk band just made the night for us! Ate, drank and got very merry, fantastic! just a shame we had to leave early to get our last train home.
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, October 08, 2007

well what can i say... a fantastic place!

i booked to go here for my boyfriends birthday (aug 2007) but wasnt too sure what to expect. after reading the reviews the terrible reviews i wasnt too sure what to do. we arrived at 8pm on the saturday night and were greeted by the friendly staff. we were seated and had a wonderful meal. the staff organised, at very short notice a birthday cake and rushed around looking for candles. we moved from our table at 10pm onto the dance floor where an 8 piece soul and funk band began playing right through til 3 am. the atmosphere was fantastic. we found the staff helpful and friendly. the ages really range in this place from 21-55. we had such a great evening and have actually booked to go back. dont exprect nothing too formal. a very relaxed atmoshere with good food and great music. loved it!! highly reccomend it.
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, September 03, 2007

I absolutely agree about the rudeness of the staff, the expensive drinks and the incredibly slow service. Do they have to go and squeeze the cranberries themselves from scratch?

They also don't serve any beers in any shape or form!

However, the music (particularly on Mondays) is brilliant.
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, August 22, 2007

We ate here recently for a freinds birthday and overall I think you'd best avoid it. There are a plethora of staff who stand around doing very little and fail to even answer the simplest enquiries correctly. We enquired about when the jazz music would begin and were told around 10.30pm! Hardly worthwhile coming to a jazz place when the music isn't on til that late! In the event the live music began around 7pm much to our surprise. The food was ok and thats all I can say. My Gravlax was tasty but its hardly difficult to get that right. The markup on drinks was shameful and the staff were downright rude at times. We were a little early and were ushered towards the bar but on taking a premature step towards our prebooked table found ourselves snapped at by a chain smoking waiter who said quite clearly "You're not supposed to be here yet!" The decor was shabby too, think cheap end of the wedding reception league. The chairs looked like a job lot from a seaside guesthouse! In conclusion hardly of Mayfair standards, go somewhere else, maybe the Wolseley.
Comment on this reader review

basemess - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Sunday, July 15, 2007