Really not my kind of place. Probably OK if you're doing the whole salsa dance thing with dinner, but the bar was full of sleaze-bags and tourists and the music wasn't the best -every song sounded the same. Don't even try and get food there unless you're prepared to stand around the circumfrance of the dance floor/retaurant, in which case you'll have a number of total strangers stealing/asking for chips etc, which I didn't find particularly charming.

I love their mojitos!!! And there is so much choice as well. It is one of the biggest venue in Central London, with really good happy hours deals (half price on all drinks or so, including cooktails). The dance floor is large and they often have brazilian bands playing on live. Really nice atmosphere and much better since the smoking ban.

Went for a girls night out a couple of weeks ago and it was fab! Great music, great vibe, great drinks infact it was brilliant - will definately be back soon..would highly recommend a night out here to anyone who wants to have a good time..

I went to this bar on a whim on a Thursday night after seeking a bar at Covent Garden and learning of a local power failure. My friends and I stumbled across someone handing out flyers and with it a flyer for a free drink. The free drink definitely enticed us and we went only to realize the free drink was horrible. Once we actually bought a drink, though, it was a lot better.

We went mainly for the dancing, it was a very intense atmosphere with a lot of people on a very small dance floor (at least for the amount of people dancing). I honestly didn't mind it with the exception of the few couples that took up far too much space and literally stepped on to me. That could also be contributed to the number of drunken idiots, which I have to admit was a good laugh.

The men to women ratio was definitely to be noted. For my friends and I, it was a bit intimidating seeing as we were females in a predominantly male bar. The age range seemed to be 20's - 40's and it seemed to be a lot of business professional men (based on how many men were in work suits). Other than the few drunken idiots that fall into you, it really wasn't bad for dancing and my friends and I will probably go back and I would suggest it for the dancing more so than for the drinks.

went here in Feb 2008, a Friday night for a friends birthday. The staff on entrance were friendly, and the venue was good. The place was buzzing with people, a friendly crowd. bar staff when i went were friendly.

the live music was really good, after that the music did get a bit funky, wasnt my sort of music, didnt feel the south American vibe, i read about. they could have infused a more vibrate music, the dj sounded he was confused by what he played. overall i had a good time with my friends, i would go back to see if nights are different.

Came to Guanabara for a late drink celebration last saturday and I wanted to say what a fabulous time we had.
The Dj was incredible and made our evening to be the best
Guanabara has a fantastic atmosphere and great waiting staff, but above all awesome music!

I went to Guanabara last night with a group of friends to celebrate my birthday.
After i had read few reviews about the club i decide to give a try.
The Door manager was really helpful and we went upstairs and we had been treat very well. the hostess was the most friendly person i meet and we had a good table.
The club was full of beatiful people and he had a fantastic selection of cocktails following the reccomendation of the "Set Menu". The food came and me and all my guests had the most amazing Brazilian food in London. The qty of food and the tasty was incredible.
The service was extremely great for a busy club, i asked the waitress to speak with the Manager and told him how great was our evening and i believe he is doing a great job.
The live band and the Dj was great too, i never ever saw all club jumping and having a good time.
Thanks Guanabra for the fantastic evening and my birthday celebration was the best i had.
Me and my guests will be back for sure....
Thanks again
jamie

Totally overhyped! Guanabara is a cheap meat market and not the “contemporary and sophisticated venue” it wants to be.

Yes, the live music is good and “should somehow make even the most flat-footed feel like swaying some part of their anatomy”. However, there are multiple issues that turn a night at this venue into a rather mediocre experience: A) The quality of the food is OK only and portions are rather small and pricey. B) The men on the dance floor are overly aggressive and quite cheap in their approach. Yes, we came to “eat, drink and play” – but with some style at least! C) We had issues with security inside the club for no reason (other reviewers have pointed out the same) and management came across as unusually arrogant und unhelpful when we complained. D) The crowd was OK: lots of guys with the ambition to become “limbering Latino lotharios” who desperately needed those strong mojitos.

This club has received a lot of (much needed?) press coverage recently. Yet, if this is tacky place is a “truly Brazilian experience” – then why are so many people in love with Brazilian culture?

I love Guanbara - I've been there a few times, and each time I go it gets better. There's a great mix of people. I took my sister who was visiting London there with a group of girls, and might I add ladies you should do that same. The place is brilliant for a girls' night out on a Saturday because the DJ plays a really good mix of classic pop and the modern stuff, with a live band that follows for a great mix of beats. Plus when you get to the dance floor there is always someone who is willing to whisk you around! The cocktails are great (Ipanema is heaven in a shot glass) and they're what you'd expect to pay in any London nightclub.

My only problem is that there is no guest list, so if you have a party coming along, either order a table and have food or make sure everyone turns up at around 8pm before the queues hit. Plus when everyone's dancing with their cocktails, things get spilt or dropped, so don't expect to walk out with your shoes unspoiled or spotless.

But otherwise it's a great night out!!

I went to Guanabara on Saturday and it was FABULOUS! Originally I planned to eat here but I wanted a cozy table for 2 and they only had tables for 8 to sit with other people, so we came here at 6.30-7.30 and it happened to be happy hour! The best Mojitos I have ever had, even better than the ones had in Cuba! I had a few passion fruit mojitos (with fresh fruit in...mmmmm) Then we went off and had dinner elsewhere and went to a few bars and ended up back here at 11 - had to queue for a while but was worth it, wished I had of just eaten here in the end and stayed for the whole evening - it really was that good, a brilliant atmosphere, really friendly and helpful staff, will be coming back here very soon.

Gunabara is a great place if you love all things Brazilian - music, food, football and people. Latin music on Sundays and samba on Fridays and Saturdays.


I go to samba classes on Mondays - they are free, fun and a great way to start the week, which is much better than going and exercising in the gym! And Gunabara is a great place to meet Brazilian people ...

I really really enjoyed my night at Guanabara and the mix of DJ and live music. The atmosphere was great. The cocktails were mmm. Security was tight and friendly.

The only problem I saw with Guanabara was with the location. There was not enough parking it gets full really quickly. It also has an eating area though so you could go there straight from work and spend the whole night there.

People were friendly and willing to teach you to dance. The toilet attendants were friendly, smiled and took their time to talk. The place does get very hot but has cool down sections. Well recommended.

The live band at Guanabara was decent, but once they finished, it all went to pot. The DJ was terrible and couldn't beat match to save his life. I'm not complaining about the type of music but my god he was the worst DJ I've heard in my life.



Also I found the staff rude and snobbish like many others did. A combination of these factors made me leave after about 1 hour. On my way out I asked for a refund, pointing out that the DJ was crap and I was told by the lovely lady on the door that my opinion was crap and that I wasn't getting a refund. I asked to speak to the Guanabara manager but was denied.

Came to Guanabara for a birthday celebration last weekend and I wanted to say what a fabulous time we had. Guanabara has a fantastic atmosphere and great waiting staff, but above all awesome music!

I have been to Guanabara on quite a few occasions as my work colleagues keep going there hoping it will change. We are hoping that a decent latin feel club opens up soon and until then we seem to be stuck with this one.

Ok, the bar staff are really snobby - not sure if they think they are better people as they are usually Brazilian. One of the girls in our party was spoken to really rudely and sexually suggestively which caused her to go home early. I can live with that stuff though as pretence is ignored by me as having been made fun of myself for being overweight by one of the Guanabara doormen, which hurted.

I think you should only go here if you want to look down on people and are happy having it done to you yourself. The same sort of place but much better (we've just found) is Bar Salsa. Drinks way better too (and cheaper - not that I'm tight!)

Went to Cafe Guanabara for my 20th birthday and it was great. However, when we got there, we had to queue up for about half hour, but it was worth the wait. We got in and the place was jammed.


It was such a great crowd with no sleezy men and everyone just enjoying the music. The bar staff at Cafe Guanabara are equally as friendly.

I expected a pretentious expensive night when I walked into Guanabara but I left thinking I was very wrong. Between 5pm and 7pm was happy hour, with some of the nicest Mojitos served by the friendliest staff I’ve experienced in London. Although after 7pm the drinks were quite pricey, the music and atmosphere more than made up for it. I didn’t have a clue what the band were singing about but it didn’t make a blind bit of difference.



The atmosphere was amazing, with no attitude or stupid posing, everyone seemed to be there to have an amazing time and shake their ass thoroughly like I did! Overall I would definitely recommend Guanabara for a cool chilled place to dance the night away.

I went to Guanabara last night after much consideration. What is the problem with the staff in there? From the hostess through to the barmen (including the girls at cloakroom) they were so rude and snobbish, somehow they think they are gods! What about the decoration? I have never ever seen such an impersonal Brazilian venue as Guanabara. If it wasn't for the band, which was absolutely brilliant, I would never go back there again.

I went to Guanabara last year and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread...

However, I went back to Guanabara a year later, and what a lot of crap. We got there at 8pm and didnt get in until 9.30pm! And the door staff were morons, and it now costs £8, and the music was very average.

Guanabara had it, it lost it.

I have to disagree with the last review on Guanabara, but I am sorry you didn't have a good night. I was there on Saturday and after seven years in London was refreshed to find such a cracking place!

Guanabara had great DJs, an energetic funky live band and a friendly atmosphere. My only moan would be that it took ages to get served a drink, but then where doesn't on a Saturday night?

If you are reading about Guanabara with a view to booking a party do yourself a favour and click off now! Why we ever booked this awful venue is a total mystery.

We left Guanabara after two dreadful hours and went to our local bar - which had better atmosphere, was more cheerful and gave us better service!

Guanabara is the most awful place I have ever been to so far and almost completely ruined my party. I had a joint birthday party with two other friends where we had 50 plus guests.

Both my friends and I reserved a table each well in advance and only found out on the night that they had messed up the booking and we ended up having no table at all. There were no apologies and they seemed to blame us for the problem. I wonder how easy for the customer to make a mistake, in this case, 3 of us at the same time?

Guanabara almost completely ruined my night but luckily we managed to get 1 table at Funky Buhdda where the staff were very helpful and nice, preventing the night turning into a disaster.

Having spoken to other people about this, it turns out that the same thing has happened to them. What a disgrace!

Guanabara is excellent! Finally, a bar that portrays the Brazilian atmosphere in a way English people can also appreciate, with nice food, drinks and music!

I do recommend Guanabara if you're up for a nice party! It's important to check the entertainment on the night as the door price can change.

I went to Guanabara last weekend and I didn´t like it. Food was cold, service bad and music not good at all.

Has anyone ever played Indiana Jones desktop adventures? I swear that the little healing plant was called Guanabara...maybe I'm imagining it?

What I'm not imagining though is how amazing the music and atmosphere was in Guanabara. If you like Brazilian style samba-funk then Guanabara is the place to be!

If it wasn't for the fact that people have to queue until 9pm so that they have to pay the door fee, Guanabara would be a nice place...

Forget your Bacardi Breezer – Guanabara is the Latin spirit served up straight. A beautiful Brazilian place, Guanabara will see you leaving with rhythm in your soul. Totally rockin’.