Dalston Jazz Bar — Restaurant in London

Summary: ok experiences before but after a altercation with the owner would never return!!! Don't go there.

I have been there a couple of times before this evening and had a pretty decent experience. Generally there's good food and even though I'm not a huge jazz fan I like the atmosphere.

Having said that after my experience this evening I will never again step foot in this place. I have never in my life walked out of somewhere and not paid the bill. And I have never had to threaten to call the police after dining out in a restaurant.

I went there with a friend this evening, we were enjoying a girly night with wine and food and seated on a table next to the bar. We waited sometime for our main meal (they forgot our order) and so I moved one of the bottles of Malibu (one of a number of bottles that are lined up between the bar and the diners) about 3 inches to the right so I could peek through into the kitchen area. I like watching chefs cook so I kept on looking through the gap I created.

After a while the chef, who I didn't realise was the owner, came over and told me to 'never touch the bottles on the bar'. He didn't say this in a friendly way. I was a bit shocked and tried to tell him that I just wanted to see him/his chef cook the meal. Then he pointed to the CCTV screen and told me that I was on camera. It felt that he was accusing me of stealing the Malibu.

As you can imagine I was very very shocked about this. I absolutely agree that I shouldn't have touched the Malibu, however a simple conversation, delivered in the right way from him would have been more than appropriate.

I mentioned to our waitress that I wasn't happy with the way I'd been spoken to and she went to 'get the manager'. He turned out to be the chef who'd told me not to move the Malibu. In a very calm way I said to him that I wasn't happy with the way he spoke to me and I didn't like that he'd mentioned the CCTV as it felt like I was being accused on something.

He said "I'm a lawyer during my day job" and "that's right, I shouldn't touch the Malibu" and "he didn't care about how he said it, he was 'telling' me not to ever touch it". I said it wasn't the message that I was unhappy with it was the way it was delivered - by mentioning the CCTV he made me feel like a criminal.

At this point he flipped out - said he "didn't care what I thought" and stormed out of the restaurant.

I was very shocked, I've never ever been spoken to like that before by anyone in a restaurant. My friend asked for the bill and I went to the toilet. As I was waiting in the queue I noticed that the owner went over to my friend with one of the other chefs and there was a heated exchange beginning. I went back over and asked if everything was ok - at this point the 2nd chef told me "I saw you move the bottle and I saw you screw the top back on". I don't even like Malibu certainly wouldn't drink it with a meal, I haven't drank it since I was 15 and regardless I hadn't even touched the top of it, let alone unscrewed the top!!! I found out later that he'd said to my friend that he'd seen her moving the bottles and unscrewing the lid too (she hadn't even touched the bottle at all!!!). She was really shook up by this.

They told me that they had it recorded on CCTV. I took out my phone and said I was calling the police and together we can sit in the bar and go through the footage!.I was really angry and frustrated by this point, everyone was staring, the restaurant was crowded and people were listening to the altercation.

The owner and the chef soon realised that the conversation wasn't going anywhere and both of them stormed out again. Needless to say that I left without paying after a number of customers said that I shouldn't be spoken to/treated like that. My friend and I were both visible shaking when we left.

I understand that running a bar in this neighbourhood can be tough, but there is no reason to treat customers like dirt.

I never write reviews of restaurants but after this experience felt compelled to. I have never felt...

BEWARE OF THIS RESTAURANT!!!! The service was awful, we spent the first hour repeatedly chasing the waiting staff for service, who provided only bread and constant reassurance that food would be with us very shortly. Eventually one of the kitchen staff came to our table, only to that he had not been told we intended to eat, and very rudely stated that it was our fault for not making sure the waiter had done so. After another half an hour further of waiting and chasing, we finally received food. You do not chose the food here yourself, instead, you have whatever the kitchen is making that day. This in principle is a very interesting concept, if the food the kitchen provides is even edible. When our food came, everything was either cold, tough, bland, or just not palatable. Though one member of our group made attempts to eat his, the rest of us were not happy at all and left our plates almost untouched. When the waitress arrived to check on the table, she asked us if we were going to eat any of it, to which we said no we were not. Without saying another word she picked up our plates and left. Soon after a chef came over, presumably to apologise, but instead put down a plate of dessert. This food again, was almost left entirely untouched as it was hard/ stale. Thoroughly disappointed with our night and over 2 hours since we arrived, we tried in vain to get our waiters attention. Defeated, we got up from our tables and stood by the entrance to arouse a response from our server. Instead, one of the chefs ran over with a card machine. We informed him of the poor food and service that we had received. The sign on the door clearly stated that the food was on a “voluntary contribution” basis. The one member of our group who ate some food said he would pay his share, as was fair, but the rest of us would not. The chef said we had no choice and that we were to ignore the poster and it was in fact a minimum charge of £20 each. When we again refused, the owner was brought over. The owner made no attempts to consider our complaints, instead dismissing anything that was said as either “you’re lying” or “that’s how the food comes”, still demanding we pay. He quickly got very loud and aggressive towards us. One of guys in our group asked if I wanted to wait outside whilst the matter was settled. The owner then without provocation shoved me, a woman half his size, out his way knocking me off my feet and into a nearby coat rack. He then started shouting that he would block off the doors until we pay. After this outburst of violence towards a woman, the owner then went on an incoherent rant about being 'a lawyer for his day job’, that he would ‘take us down’, and that we would ‘regret messing with him’ if we did not cough up the money. Again refusing, now out of principle over his abhorrent behaviour towards us, he called the police. After a short while, and further aggressive ranting by the owner, they arrived. The police were very patient and sympathetic towards our position, to which they said we could go with them to the station to provide statements. It was at this point we were made aware the owner threatened to press charges of theft against us if this occurred. After further consultation with the police, we took their advice that life would be easier if we just paid the money and left. 3 hours after sitting down, after a truly distressing and upsetting ordeal at the past hands of the owner, I had lost any vestiges of an appetite and went home to process what had occurred. Considering our own experience and comparing it to previous reviews, this venue should be avoided for your own safety. The owner behaved despicably towards us, opting for aggression and confrontation over accommodation or apology. This man is not safe to be in such a position...

This restaurant is NOT ALLERGEN FRIENDLY! If you have allergies DO NOT DINE HERE! I wish I could give a higher review, because the employees here are clearly working their butts off to keep service going. I feel that I have to give 1 star for how my husband was treated for having a shellfish allergy.

Because my husband is allergic to shellfish we always exercise caution when going to a restaurant that features seafood. I’ve never had a problem with it in the UK - it seems that all restaurants take allergens very seriously over fear of litigations due to causing someone to have a food reaction. Not this restaurant! It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen, management really needs to look into this to avoid something more serious than 1 star google reviews.

We saw online that many food options were available including a vegetarian menu. I made sure of that before booking our dinner because of my husbands allergy. When we arrived, we were informed that the entire restaurant is subject to a set menu. This is the New Year’s Eve menu. We dined on February 15. So they are still serving their set new years menu. If that gives you any hints of the freshness of the food as well… but that’s another issue.

We were informed of the set menu by being shown a completely dirty little slip of paper which is just comical. We told the waiter, we have a shellfish allergy at this table and we’re not aware of the set menu, is that going to be ok? He assured us it would be ok.

In a few moments we were visited by the kitchen manager who told us, “you probably shouldn’t have come here if you’re afraid of cross contamination. A kitchen is a kitchen.” That is just ridiculous. And it’s very telling of their attitude towards kitchen cleanliness when we later found out that this place has a 1/5 star hygiene rating! The standards are low. Anyway, we told the manager that as long as everything isn’t cooked in the same pan, my husband would be totally fine. So we were good to stay. We probably should have left after being told “you shouldn’t come here” lol.

So then dinner gets going and the waitstaff keeps serving my husband prawns. The waitstaff didn’t listen to us that he has an allergy and was setting prawn dishes in front of him. I’m pretty sure doing that to a guest who has announced an allergy is grounds for some type of litigation in the uk. The uk seems to take this stuff seriously.

The manager comes over to us again and says they’re going to make my husband “something special” and asked me what I wanted “specially made” too. I said I didn’t want to cause any problems and make it difficult, so to just give me the set menu. The manager goes “well you’re already making it difficult so it’s no different (:” extremely condescending.

To make things stranger, they acted like we were getting special treatment, but we never did? We were given the same food as every other table, I just ate all of the shellfish that came out and let my husband eat the fish & chips. It was the same as everyone else yet we had been made to feel like we were causing a huge problem that required special treatment. It was absolutely bizarre.

The oysters were also disgusting. Do not even try with those.

My husband works in food service. We are not some rich, demanding assholes. We just expected to be treated with respect over a medical issue that is not within my husbands control. Their website does not indicate ANY allergen information or advise that there is a set menu which includes shellfish. DO NOT COME HERE if you have allergens as the staff doesn’t...