Doña — Restaurant in London

Great venue, disappointing management. I have been involved supporting bands and artists playing for the past couple years. I always enjoyed the atmosphere and friendly bar staff as I did today at my friend’s cabaret; she booked the place as part of her thesis project. From the start I witnessed a blonde manager not being on board with the way the show was being presented, even though all of the customers (including myself) were enjoying the performance in silence I witnessed her talking over the person on stage. I didn’t think much of it at the time until the show ended I refilled the glass of the drink I had bought with a digestive enzyme I need (due to a health condition). Before I could get to my drink the manager said “you can’t bring your own drink because we’re trying to make money here” I tried explaining that I had just payed for a drink but needed to have my own before ordering food from them (as I usually do). The manager was using a passive aggressive tone and being extremely rude. I calmly let her know I didn’t appreciate her attitude and she replied “I don’t appreciate yours so maybe you should leave” Before I could even explain the situation she cut me off by insisting she’ll poor my drink back in the can I brought it in. I insisted I would finish it and leave the venue, she didn’t allow this, so I had to leave as she seemed very stressed and I didn’t want the situation to keep escalating. I won’t be booking any future artists or attending to any events but I pray for this lady and her staff because the rudeness and stress from today could’ve been...

We booked Bar Doña for our Stoke Newington Wedding afterparty, and it was the best decision we ever made. And honestly, from the moment we booked it, it started to steer the aesthetic for the whole wedding! We'd had a lot of fun down there in the past, and trusted that they knew how to throw a party... but boy did they. I had high hopes and they fully went above and beyond. It was so joyful and fun.

Special thank you to Baba who was so incredibly communicative, thoughtful and fun to coordinate planning with. She kept touching base as we approached the date, which made everything super easy to plan and smooth running - and she also hooked us up with great contacts: Thrift Tacos when we had caterers pull out a few weeks before, and an amazing DJ Dr Telefunk when I changed my mind on wanting one... a sound engineer when we wanted a band... it was all effortless and hands down the easiest part of the day to organise.

On the night Chey looked after everyone so well, there was never a wait for the bar despite the fact we had 70 guests descend at once, and the Security guard was extremely lovely and took care of a couple of wedding guests who'd had their fill of tequila... All in all just so warm, welcoming, and we can't wait to go back and relive the memories. And I can't wait until the next milestone birthday when I can have another party in the pink...

I’ve been here a few times and I have mixed feelings. The drinks are delicious and Smokey which is wonderful served in cute little glasses. The venue itself is beautiful, low roofs making it have great sound and decorated beautifully with velvet seating. They do open mic jazz nights which I would recommend.

However the staff always seem to be grumpy. Once late at night I tried to order a marg and she said no only beer. But I didn’t know why? Like was it me or they ran out or they were closing. I was just very confused. Then they served my friends and I a drink at the end of the night and 30 seconds later turned off the music and turned on the lights. I thought that was an irresponsible move on them. I politely let them know and they did apologize. However straight after we saw the staff pointing us out to the security as if we were going to be an issue to leave. We happily took our beers and got up as soon as the lights came on. I just thought the whole night they were looking for a fight that I wasn’t willing to give them. My friend said same sort of thing happened...