Having read the previous reviews of this venue I nearly decided not to go to see Ben E King last night. I'm glad I did go though and my wife and I had a fantastic evening. To see Ben E King in such an intimate venue was something special. He may be passed his best but still has a lot of charisma and really got the crowd going. More importantly though I must say I found the other comments about this venue unfounded. We ate in the restaurant upstairs and found it to be very comfortable and clean. The staff were very friendly, the food was good and my beer was nice and cold. Food and drink may be a little expensive but you tend to expect that in music venues, it's how they survive and too many venues are closing due to the extortionate rates they have to pay. Yes there was a man holding paper towel in the toilets but he was pleasant and in no way were you made to feel you have to tip. I would certainly visit this venue again and I'd say to others visit at least once and make your own mind up. I could have missed a great night if I'd read some of the other reviews before I'd bought my tickets.

My latest visit was to see the great Ben E King on 12th April.

Sound quality - good as usual.

Prices - £5.10 for tepid Guinness or cider with a head!
Or you could go for whisky in a chipped glass.

Toilets - dirty, unpleasant and with a now obligatory beggar holding back the paper towel until you tip/pay him.

Venue - Looks like it has been patched up a few too many times. a Mean fiddler indeed Vince.

It appears that the management have changed and have also chosen to turn off the cellar cooling/multicirc early in the week to save costs. The amount of wasted beer really outweighs that and the staff sneakily trying to top up frothy beer from the waste was foul. I haven't seen such amateurish bar management for quite a while.

Basically it's a shabeen that thinks it's a class venue.

Sad.

Paul Graham

Well, well well, what a shocker of a place, went to see Andrew Roachford who was fantastic, unlike the awful venue, food and staff, i have never encountered such rude staff anywhere as i did at the Jazz Cafe, over priced disgusting food, honey glazed parsnips! ha ha limp parsnips in a sea of watery juice, the only thing glazed must have been the chef, as it was possibly the worst food i have ever tried to eat, sent back the cold starter twice, as it was meant to be hot ribs, when i complained about this, i was told, and i quote, unbelievable as this may sound,"its 1 degree outside, the food has a long way to travel from the kitchen to the table " unquote, naturally i was almost lost for words, other than saying, we have had takeaways in a 4 mile trip get to us hotter,that's the calibre of brain matter with the staff, rude waitress, who wouldn't know customer service if it was served to her on a plate, we had a task when paying for what we thought the food was worth, but we did just that, so if you do read this review don't eat there or if you have to just to get yourself a seat for the gig, only pay what you feel its worth, they cant do a thing about it, other than be rude which they had been doing all night anyway! so there you have it, the toilets are a disgrace, never seen anything like it, you would not think we were in 2011, everything so so poor, i did not want to give it any star rating but had to to write this.

Surprised to see so many people complaining about the sound quality at the Jazz Cafe. I've always found the acoustics really good. I saw George Clinton at the Forum in June and the sound was the worst I've ever heard at any gig. Saw him twice this week at the Jazz Cafe and it was brilliant.

Unsurprised by the complaints about the toilets. The men's downstairs toilet doesn't actually have a toilet, just a urinal, so anybody needing number two is a bit stuffed. There might be a toilet in the upstairs men's toilet but the only time I've ever gone up there, I was stopped immediately by a security guard who asked me whether I had an upstairs ticket, then sent me straight back downstairs.

I do think they sell too many tickets on the sold out nights. The club's capacity is probably set at a certain level on the basis of however many people per square metre, but clearly doesn't take into account that the vast majority of those people will all be stood in the standing pit. At this week's second George Clinton gig I elected to stand at the back, thinking it'd be less stressful than trying to stake out a spot at the front. I had no idea the venue would end up literally jam-packed from the stage to the back wall. I ended up getting barged and trodden on all night.

This venue does offer an intimacy that is rare in London. As I mentioned before, the last time I saw George Clinton was in the Forum. The opportunity to see him in a far smaller and more intimate venue was a rare treat. The Jazz Cafe allows you to get up close and personal with your favourite acts.

If they were to spruce up the toilets and sell about 50 less tickets per gig, it'd be perfect.

NB: I write as someone who goes to the Jazz Cafe regularly, but only ever with standing tickets. Can't comment on the dining experience.

I have visited this venue about twice a year for about 12 years and have now come to the realisation that the management must have either apathy or contempt towards the patrons. The loos are vile, on a recent night when Loose Ends were playing the three bars could only take cash and not credit or debit cards, with no warning on the door, plus the sound was dreadful, with the band adding an extra hour to their set by coming on late and because the entire set was just an extended soundcheck. If you were there, you will know what I mean. George Clinton is playing in a few weeks and sadly, I will not be there. I would rather pay more to see my favourite acts at a better venue.

I dont normally leave reviews but seeing my Dad get so upset prompted me to leave some feedback just so others can be aware. We opted to dine in the balcony area so we had seats and could view the stage. Two of our party couldn't attend so we asked whether we could swap their mains for another dish (given it was paid for already) and we were told no, - as they dont do refunds, - we explained we were not asking for a refund just wanted what we had paid for, eventually after much discussion, we got a couple of side orders - but it was extremely stressful! The staff are so very rude, our bill was calcuated incorrectly and I asked three times before it was changed (overcharging by £20). I overheard the person in front of me also had problems with their bill -so my advice is to check your bill! The toilets leave a lot to be desired as well! Overall the music was great, but shame about the staff's attitude, being overcharged and the venue. We wont be going back.

I disagree with the previous reviewer. I found the acoustics in The Jazz Cafe were excellent. During the recent Terry Reid gig I could quite clearly hear every piece of cutlery smashing into the basin as the retard bitch masquerading as a waitress washed them throughout Terry's performance.
It was well worth the price of the tickets, the revolting meal, the hotel room and the flights to and from the other end of the country to hear her enjoying her work.
Music Venue? Give it a wide wide berth. Its a dump staffed by idiots.

The Jazz Cafe has been a shambles for many years! It is disliked by serious music lovers and journalists alike. The staff and management are quite possibly the rudest human beings in London, the sound quality is abysmal and the actual venue are an insult to patrons who pay money to walk through the doors. The location and venue size has been its saving grace. Fortunately many established musicians now play elsewhere as they have also grown tired of staff outdated attitude and venue poor sound quality. As the song says… “A Change is gonna come”… Many music lovers and journalists have been praying for change at this venue for many years. They splashed some fresh paint on the walls a few years ago, but the venue really needs to be completely gutted (including the management)!

Attempted to see Tony Joe White there last week, paid £53 for tickets.
Shocking, shocking venue, vile beer, dear drinks, pushed and shoved all night, lousy acoustics and had to stand in a stairwell to get any kind if glimpse of the artist. Never again. If the management gave a xxxx they'd hang their collective heads in shame rather than count the money for far too many tickets sold. Aviod..

'Jazz Cafe camden'. Well.1 - This is not a Jazz Club2 - This is not a cafe3 - Ok, it is located in Camden.1 out of 3, though!

Went there twice in the last 2 weeks to experience a club night and a concert night. The 80's night is worth checking out for the atmosphere and choice of music although the DJ on had a strange way of mixing tracks...
The concert was fabulous for the music, amazing performance! Although I must say, a little longer would have been better (only 1 hour).
Prices for drinks are affordable and service at the bar is great.
The main aspect that really stands out as negative is the poor state of the setting in general including the toilets.
I just wonder how come a venue with so many sold out nights with quite a high pricing policy cannot afford to just change locks on doors.
I obviously come for the quality of music and atmosphere, but still, just to respect the audience a little more.

I paid 60£ for a concert with Ginger Baker and special guests. I got 50 minutes of music and one special guest.

We saw the bands set list and it matched the numbers played, so The Jazz Café must have known that this was a minor gig, and still they demand 60£ entrance.

Jazz Café could ...have arranged additional music or lowered the price. The band didn't even give the audience a chance for an encore as they left stage without a: Thank you and goodnight.

This experince borders a scam, and I can't recommend this place to anybody!

Unfortunately I have to give the place one star, can't proceed with this review any other way, but actually I would give it none! - SAVE YOUR MONEY DON'T GO TO THE SHOW!!

Went there for dinner and concert on a Saturday and were very disappointed. Definitely cannot recommend for dinner.

The food is horrible and overprices. Starters were very small, completely tasteless and all came with the same bleak salad.

Main courses were not much better, the fish was overcooked and came with a plate full of celeriac and the pork was lots of grease and only a little meat.

We were completely disappointed. Music was alright, although finished very early after just 1 hour playing.

If you pay only 10 pounds entry, it's probably worth going for the music, but avoid the dinner at all costs, it's probably one of the worst restaurants I've been in London !

I heard so much good about this jazz cafe,that decided to check it out...but for me it was nothing great at all...

..firstly we paid 25 pound for entry so we were expecting very good concert..

i can tell u sometimes i hear much better concerts in the streets...it was written that concert starts at 7 pm.

ok i understand to wait hour or two if its cosy and nice..but there were just cold dark place..food was terible..

so we were waiting 3 hours...and after all the music was nothing special at all...the money I spent i could have very nice evening somewhere else..

i was expecting much more from this"one of the most popular Jazz bar in London"...

i toOK my girlfriend to the jazz cafe to see amadou and mariam.

we booked a table and the service was great, really friendly waitress. the food was delicious and the music superb.

definitely a great date venue, the only problem being the toilets. they were generally ok, with good lighting and soft loo roll, but the condom machine only took £1 coins and I much prefer my condom machines to take 5p coins as I like to use up my spare change.

Enjoyed a fabulous night here last Friday. Service was excellent, the vibe was good and the music was outstanding. This is a legendary venue in a chaotic part of town.

Great music, but food poor and over priced. Went for a friends birthday and management refused to allow us to cut/eat his cake (unless we paid £6 a slice), never had that before in london. Would only go for the music.....

Thanx!! Had a FAB first (and long-overdue) night at The Jazz Cafe. Sly and Robbie & Co and the sound system as well as a friendly, chilled ambience means I'll be back....and def not to check out the toilet facilities!

We got tired of waiting to be served and went to the famous loos. Yes they do have a quality all of their own and the seats are a good tight fit. The paper's nice and rolls off easily and the flush is definitely as good as the Toronto Jazz cafe. We found it an enjoyable and rewarding day out and I will take my new girlfriend to look at the Jazz Cafe loos. That should impress her.

On a positive note, the music at the Jazz Cafe was fantastic, however my overall experience certainly was not. Firstly, I bought a 15 pound ticket online just to find out that the door tickets were only 10 pounds.



Secondly, there were only two incredibly slow, unmotivated bar tenders serving the entire venue, so after 25 minutes of waiting for a drink I gave up, as did many other disgruntled show goers! Such a disappointement for a potentially great night out at the Jazz Cafe!

As most people regard the Jazz Cafe toilets as a visit in themselves, me and my wife had a look at our respective loos. Good facilities and reasonably clean, but we wouldn't want to eat our dinners off the floor. Perhaps the taps could have been more visitor friendly too. The flush was as good as Ronnie Scotts but not as good as Kaseys Jazz bar.



The Jazz Cafe gets a good score though.

Well, I went to the Jazz Cafe toilets and me and my buddy both examined them to see the standard that they were. The paper was quite good, strong and thick and pretty absorbent. The seats were strongly fixed to the lavatory bowls and there was good flow of water into the cistern.



All in all, a good result and we were delighted to find there was live music at the Jazz Cafe as well.

Jazz Cafe is good. I have been three times but it lacks human comforts. There are dark grainy areas that seem okay, but when you see the toilets which are grim, you wonder what is happening elsewhere in the place. Jazz Cafe sort out your toilets, it is 2007 not 0007!

What is the obsession with the Jazz Cafe toilets? I, like others before me, arrived with intrepidation expecting to have to cross my legs all night and they aren't that bad! However, the venue is great! Despite arriving early the atmosphere soon hotted up.


The DJ played some great music both before and after the gig and Ron Ayers was brilliant. The bars are really efficient and not that expensive and everyone was very friendly and keen to have a great time. Ignore all the toilet comments and give Jazz Cafe a go!

Having read some of the reviews of the Jazz Cafe, I was really nervous about booking tickets for my boyfriend's Christmas present. Luckily I was pleasantly surprised! Even though the act we booked to see was cancelled the live band we saw were fantastic and the place had a wonderful vibe.


As for the toilets, I went in expecting a rotting hole having read some of the reviews but there was nothing wrong with them. OK, so they're not to the standard of the Ritz by any means, but I didn't leave feeling like I'd caught anything! If you want a fun night with fantastic music, you really should go to the Jazz Cafe.

Jazz Cafe is class but why would someone go there to just to check on the toilets? Just stay home instead. Why bother?!

We went to the Jazz Cafe, had a good look at the toilets and agree that they were not as nice as they should be, but we have seen worse. The soap needed to be replenished. The seats were quite warm and comfortable and the paper was sufficient. But I would like to see the hand dryers at the Jazz Cafe more efficient.

The toilets at the Jazz Cafe were very poor and the water on the floor was flooding them. The paper in the toilets was not nice and the colour of the toilets is not nice either. The people using the toilets were very unhelpful and I was scared to use them. The music at the Jazz Cafe was good though.

My boyfriend took me to the Jazz Cafe on the 12th September for my birthday as a surprise. Lemar was there and it was fantastic - such an intimate gig. I had such a fantastic evening, and we are looking at going back to the Jazz Cafe for New Years eve hopefully!

Went to the Jazz Cafe last night to see Candy Staton. Having read the latest reviews of the venue I was expecting a very poor, low class venue, but this was most definately not the case. The door staff were friendly and efficient. Ok so the food at Jazz Cafe was a little on the cold side and was probably a bit overpriced, but this is London, so paying £18 for a steak while you watch an amazing gig is not that big a deal.
Candy was fantastic. The club is small, but this is definately a positive. You are so much closer to the artists and the sound system. The crowd were a mix of all kinds of people and the vibe was incredible.

Ok the toilets are a bit of a trek and not that inviting, but how much time do you really want to spend in them anyway!
I would certainly visit the club again. Hopefully in Feb to see de la soul.

Dont believe what these other people have said, sounds to me like they're a buch of miserable g*ts!!!

The toilets at the Jazz Cafe were totally prehistoric with water on the floor, outside the main building, with no hand drier. I didn't know whether to hold my trousers off the floor or try and squat without touching the seat.



My food was luke warm and I had to pay a £4.00 service charge when I had already paid for the meal, and the entry fee. The sound guy needs shooting. It was my second time at the Jazz Cafe and you can only hear the instruments not the vocals.



The main act was not on for very long and I didn't pay £29.50 for that. It was double the price of last show and half the duration! The tickets promoted a show that was on until 11pm, I was at home in bed at that time watching TV!!

The landlord of the Jazz Cafe should invest so as not to shame the name of "Jazz". When I went to the gents, I thought I was in a punk rock club, it was so garbage. Then there's the fact that everything is over priced. It should have been called : "Punk Cafe".

I say "NO", you can spend £40 for a performance and be treated like that in an East London pub. I don't care about the programme, I'm not reviewing the artists but the place. Jazz Cafe is just marketing. Lots of ads, that's all, the customer service is bad as well. At least, you should hire hooter girls or hire very very friendly people to make us accept the price of your drinks.

Only been to Jazz Cafe once but really enjoyed what I saw! Combined bar and concert vibe, not at all pretentious as I thought it would be. Laid back and fun. The only thing that let the Jazz Cafe down were the toilets...a nasty affair indeed!

I've got to say I love the Jazz Cafe. I've been in the business for about 10 years (restaurants, bars and clubs) and have high standards on food, staff and atmosphere. I spent last Saturday at the Jazz Cafe for dinner, drinks and dancing, and I had a great time.

Ok, the toilets are appalling and the place is busy, but with the line up they offer of cracking musicians, what do you expect?

On Saturday it took a while for our main meal to arrive, but the staff were attentive and apologetic (which is all I ask for) and when the food arrived, it was divine. A nice choice on wine which was not overpriced (I can't speak for the other drinks) and good service at the bar. We danced for the remainder of the evening and found the band and the people great. I'm a huge fan. Overall Jazz Cafe is a comfortable club where you can let your hair down.

I went to Jazz Cafe last weekend full of anticipation and excitement but I was totally disappointed. The toilets are the worst I've ever had the misfortune to use, I felt really sorry for the ladies.

Drinks/ food were over-priced. Poor service. Cold staff. Poorly visible fire exits and queues right down the stairs all night.

All in all a very unpleasant evening was had at Jazz Cafe and I think you can guess I won't be recommending this over-hyped dive.

I have been to many jazz cafes. Some of the best are in Belgium. This Jazz Cafe is the worst. It's a very unwelcoming place. Spend your money on a club that cares about their customers, not at the Jazz Cafe.

Do not go to the Jazz Cafe. Overpriced drinks and food, rude restaurant staff and the worst, most filthy and disgusting toilets I've seen anywhere.

We arrived at the Jazz Cafe at 7.30pm and all the toilets were full to the brim. Stay away!

Overall I think the Jazz Cafe has it sorted. An amazing billing of varied and funky artists, really nice bar staff and a slinky venue.

Only three things serve to potentially ruin a good night out at Jazz Cafe - the cost of booze, the toilets (but holding your nose and squinting your eyes helps enormously), and the entrance to the dancefloor. A tip for any first timers to the Jazz Cafe - don't stand in this area as you will be bashed about by every person wanting to go to the bar, the toilet, the cloakroom, outside etc. After 20 minutes of getting stomped and spilled on, we gave up and watched from the other (quieter) bar area.

If you head straight for the front of the dancefloor you might be lucky and be out of the way. Worth a trip to the Jazz Cafe just for the artists, just don't take a big bag or wear nice shoes.

Jazz Cafe is a good place because of the great artists it attracts. The vibe is chilled and the crowd is funky and relaxed.

However, what sickens me about the Jazz Cafe are their toilets. They are so dirty you feel like taking a shower and washing your clothes! Jazz Cafe need to spend some money sorting this out and then I would give it eight out of ten, at the moment it can only get five out of ten!

The plus side of Jazz Cafe is that it attracts some big names.

However, the venue itself is a disappointment. It gets very overcrowded, the drinks are overpriced and the toilets are what I can only describe as a mouldy cave!

The night we went to Jazz Cafe it also seemed to be filled with people who were completely disinterested in the music and preferred the sound of their own screeching to the performers.