Claustrophobic place with really bad food & the owner who has an over inflated ego. Really awful evening. Would not recommend & a waste of money.

First of all, this place is not a club. We expected it to be more of a jazz lounge type place, but it was an extremely small cafe type place with no room to swing a cat. There were no paintings of Winehouse when we visited on 27/08 - apparently they have all been stolen. Food was okay. Wine was not pleasant, we paid £17.00 for a bottle of wine that clearly cost about £3.00 from France. We expected them to play jazz music throughout the evening (not all live), but it was N-Dubz the whole time we were there. The band arrived and began setting up, they looked like they had just come from a hard days graft on a farm. We left before the band even began because the drinks are too expensive. We went there as fans of Amy Winehouse, it was disappointing to be honest. There was a VIP section down some stairs but we didn't go down there because the waiter said it was for people who spend more than £60 each. We saw Sam Shaker, he was quiet and did not appear to be overly customer orientated. Not what we expected, left feeling deflated and let down. I really find it hard to believe the gleamingly positive reviews here are written by genuine customers. It was not my perception of what a jazz club should represent. It is nothing more than a small cafe with no room to move or dance - how people say they have danced in there is beyond me?? I would have liked to have seen the VIP area as it intrigues me why people would be attracted to return to this place. We made the error of going somewhere based on the fact that famous musicians we liked had been there, admittedly. Overall it was okay, but next time I'm going to try Ronnie Scotts.

The food and drinks are reasonably priced. The service is satisfactory. Staff are polite enough although they could get a bit pushy when it comes to drinks. The food is ok (but the salmon that I had seemed a little bit dry). I do like the ambiance. It's a tiny restaurant with a very small stage and quirky decoration (there are Amy Winehouse's paintings everywhere which could be a bit creepy given the fact that she just passed away). Very good music, even though the musicians took a couple of breaks which lasted for over 30 min and that seemed a bit too long. Overall it was a good night out.

We were very disapointed it was small, dingy the food was such bad quality not fresh at all, staff were not friendly, asked to speak to the manager and she couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge us, the band were disorganized and were late starting, certainly not worth the entrance fee,,, STAY AWAY

Ohhhh I love Jazz After Dark! Its been a institutuion for music lovers around Soho for years. I have been going here for a long time and have seen some really really great live acts. It never fails to have a great atmosphere and the cocktails are to die for. The best thing about it though is that it has go so much character and the staff are great. This is a bar that helped launch the music careers of people like Amy Winehouse and Peter Doherty and countless other talented artists and musicians over the years hence why it has got such a legendary reputation for platforming great live music in Soho. There is even a collection of amazing paintings that the owner paints himself and press clippings of some of the stars that have frequented Jazz After Dark in the past , so your always looking out to see if you will be sitting next to Kevin Spacey, Kate Moss or any other famous fans that frequent Jazz After Dark. One of the press clippings on the wall for a major newspaper is of a story that Pete Doherty once came in and paid £5000 for a picture of Kate Moss painted by the owner that used to hang on the wall! Jazz After Dark gets five stars from me - Food is great and cheap, Cocktails are amazing - But its the music, astmosphere and history of Jazz After Dark that make it so legendary :) .

Went to Jazz after dark last week on Thursday night, we were a group of 10 celebrating a friends birthday, it was an amazing night.
They had 2 bands playing first one was jazz / funk with a great female vocalist she had us all up dancing. After that they had a blues band playing it was a really good funky blues band which was great value for only £5 admission.
We had the Set Menu @ £12.95 for 3 courses great value, the food was really good.
I cannot understand the negative reviews mabye its hard to please some people.
However Jazz after dark is well worth a visit and we are already planning our next night out.

I really dont understand any negative comments here. I have been going to this place for years and really love it .... The owners are amazing people the bands are great and the food and drink are good as well ... I have worked as a reviewer for bars before on a major magazine title and know what Im talking about ... Its a small and cosy place that is just brilliant . Anyone who is a music lover should go there at two or three times and see the showcases that they put on.... A gem of a Soho bar ... Go see it for yourself ;)

Hi! We are from Belgium, so please excuse our English ;) My girlfriend and I went to Jazz After Dark on Fri 21/1/2011, during our city trip in London. We were very disappointed, because we are Jazz lovers, and Jazz After Dark is far far away from the "jazz spirit" that we were searching.- Staff and waiters very rude and unfriendly. They act as if they were in Carnegie Hall.- Prices are too expensive for this poor quality- They promise us a table in front of the stage into the hour, because it was not the crowd. After an hour and half, we could see from the bar where we were sitting that there were at least 5 chairs free. I have asked "why we can't sit there" and the waiter lied to us saying it was full! I ask upset to another server, who "by chance" this time find us a place (of course, just a couple and 5 chairs free in the room, we are lucky that he has found a place for us.)- The guy who paints Amy is very strange and eccentric, not commercial at all- You pay for a concert, and you couldn't hear anything because the cocktail blender/mixer makes more noise than a Boeing 747so, never again. Just a thank you to the big man who has played Saxo (but, I don't know if he is part of the business) , he was very cool. Ty Mister "five Years" full of surprising ;) Vince - Brussels