Dover Street Restaurant & Bar

French Restaurant in Mayfair
Dover Street Restaurant & Bar image
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3 / 10 from 4 reviews
Address
8-10 Dover Street
Mayfair
London
W1S 4LD
Map
Telephone
020 7629 9813
Cuisine
French
Region
Mayfair
Nearest Station
Green Park
0.09 miles
Opening Summary
Monday to Thursday - 6.00 pm-3am
Fridays and Saturdays - 7.00 pm-3am
Restaurant Facilities

Children Welcome

Credit Cards Accepted

Music Played

Live Music Played

Booking Advisable

Set in the heart of London’s fashionable Mayfair, The Dover Street Restaurant & Bar offers a combination of fine French/European cuisine and nightly live music ranging from Jazz & Blues to Latin & Soul with dancing to a resident DJ until 3.00 am. With a unique atmosphere that is equally suited for both individual diners and larger groups.

Dover Street Restaurant & Bar Picture Gallery

Dover Street Restaurant & Bar Picture
Band
Band
Dover Street Restaurant & Bar Picture
Dover Street Restaurant & Bar Picture
Dover Street Restaurant & Bar Picture

All In London Review

Good food, nice wine and great music into the early hours...

This used to be an all time favourite – even though I wasn’t particularly a jazz fan. I guess this means that if you are a serious jazz fan you will go elsewhere. But where else can you eat a good meal, enjoy nice wine with an almost invisible staff (unless you want them), listen to or dance around to a live band, share a joke with the security staff and then dance away until the early hours to a DJ on a packed dance floor where people enjoy themselves rather than pose and take occasional breaks at the busy bar?

I say it used to be a favourite because having had a hen party for nine there (when I was amused to see Halle Berry asked to be moved to another table with her then jazz musician boyfriend – even though we weren’t making a noise!), a celebratory “launch the new web site” party for a client and our web design agency with around 16 of us, numerous girls nights out with between three and eight as well as a few dinners for two (both mixed and girls only) – all of which went exceedingly well - I then ventured out and did a New Year’s Eve there for three couples which was nearly a disaster (they had packed in too many tables and there was insufficient waiting and kitchen staff which meant we still hadn’t had dessert at midnight) so it lost some brownie points. Plus a few of the regular bands disappeared off the bookings list and there was a creeping latino influence for a while.

Anyway. You really need to book if you want a table as it gets very busy. But there is always an interesting mix of people, although perhaps biased to the slightly older and wealthier end. Not exactly cutting edge – but that’s not what you come here for.

The food is ok, perhaps a little expensive for what it is. But then again, the music is free and it is open until very late. They also do party menus for £30 or £38 a head. The A La Carte is simple – starters include gravadlax (£7.50 and very good), chicken liver pate (£8.50) and toasted goats cheese (£6.95). Mains follow suit – for example – salmon (£15.95), chicken breast (£16.50) and spinach and ricotta tortellini (£13.95). There is a formidable wine list – organised by country and region – and you can get away with around £20 although you are more likely to spend £35 on a bottle.

Reviewed by KimT
Published on Jul 25, 2008


Best For

The best hotspots for jazz and dining picture

The best hotspots for jazz and dining

Don your spats and chase your steak down with a Jack Daniels as you listen to some great jazz.

This Mayfair venue is ideal for late night jazz and dancing, as it’s open till 3am every night of the week. The food is a little on the pricey side however (mains cost around £20) and it’s a firm favourite for corporate nights out.

User Reviews

Mia_G

Feb 19, 2012

We went to Dover Street Bar (8-10 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LQ) on Friday 17 Feb 2012. Our plan was some drinks and live music. According to their leaflets the entrance was free before 10pm. Well, it turned out it wasn’t. The bouncer insisted that the bar does not open until 10.15 (yeah, right) and that’s when they start charging for entry (so called ‘music cover’). A VERY RUDE bouncer would not let us in before 10pm because we were not call girls. Our dresses must have given us away. However, we shouldn’t have, but we still came back to the bar after 10.15pm, paid our entry and the same bouncer just kept harassing us at the reception area for no reason, we weren’t even talking to him. The same at the end of the night – we were leaving, collecting our coats and he was still harassing and even threatening us! He refused to give me his name and then he even covered up his number. The reception girls wouldn’t give me his name and quite frankly it appeared to me that he bullies them as well! A very disgusting individual. And we were not drunk or fighting or being noisy, we are just three rather modest ladies.
As for the night, the band was supposed to play songs from 60’ to 90’, but you could hardly hear any familiar tunes. It wasn’t much different to what the DJ played after the band left and he had no clue whatsoever about what to play for the present clientele.
The bar’s policy states ‘no trainers’, but I still spotted a guy in trainers, probably the bouncer’s friend, how else would he have missed it.
LondonBlonde

Aug 19, 2011

I used to go once in a while for the last 15 years to Dover St Bar as I live locally, purely for it's live music. I am a quiet person, not a drinker and very polite. I am mentioning this because I do not understand why the Night Manager (probably Albanian/Kosovo origin) chose to listen, as he was not able to communicate according to our standards in a coherent manner, to this short African security guy (with even poorer command of English) who said to me: 'you are now allowed to enter'. Was he expecting me to give him a tip besides the entrance fee??????? The Management without checking the situation, despite my very long e-mail, chose to agree with them. Is this because I am a woman? How many professional, well dressed men do you see being stopped at the entrance by they guys described above?

Yes, the place is a bid seedy inside, the staff is rude, the music sometimes simply rubbish but as I kept myself to myself at all times I did not mind putting up with it once in a while. Not anymore!!!! Avoid this place. Poor Management employing people who, since they are not educated here they do not have the capacity to learn our ways and chose to bully us instead.
Spik

Jun 17, 2011

Do not go here. I have been here twice, twelve years apart, and both times I have left so angry with the door staff that I've vowed never to go back again. I hope that in twelve more years I remember that and stay away. Rude, unreasonable, and aggressive. Genuinely felt threatened by them. Avoid.
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