Blu Jaz Cafe

As the missus' new office is just around the corner we repaired here for a small bite after work the other night. The place was quite busy, but we got a table outside and as the night was fairly balmy, that was fine.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a pint of Heineken was a mere S$11, normally fleeced for the same amount for a 330ml bottle in the majority of places here, so I had a second while the going was good.

Having not read the earlier review, I did opt for the mushroom soup, and while not fantastic, it was OK and a good dose of pepper did indeed help. Mrs R went for fish and chips and it was fine. I had the Creole Chicken, described as spicy but only if one was an infant. It was quite tasty nonetheless and the sauted mixed veggies that came with it were fine, nicely cooked so still a bit crunchy.

The service was absolutely on the ball, our order was taken and the dishes and drinks arrived with alacrity, as did the bill when requested, so either we were lucky or the staff have improved their collective act. We will doubtless be back and will monitor the service aspect.

Overall, it's a good version of "pub grub", reasonably tasty, reasonably priced. I cannot comment on the Blues or the Jazz as we cunningly timed our exit to before it started.

Always love this place. There's just something about it that make you feel at home no matter where you decide to sit. It was his first time and was wondering how he would take it. Apparently quite well. So let's go straight to the food review...

We had fried tofu, mushroom soup, fried burrito (I think that's what it's called) and salmon fillet.

Fried tofu: Not bad but not great either. Lots of lettuce and Thai sauce was just the right amount.

Mushroom soup: Please don't bother. I thought soup reheated out of Campbell's can was bad, this one was even worse...watered down. No amount of salt or pepper could save this bugger.

Fried burrito: Nice and worth a try but the fried skin's a bit too much for me.

Salmon fillet: This one saved the day. Salmon cooked just nice. Accompanied vegs are steamed to perfection. One of my fav from their menu.

I'm still open to try other things in their menu. Just for the atmosphere and company I'll make return trips for sure.

Didn't have a good impression of this place at 1st as the 1st time i visited, their service was horrendous.. Their staff took ages to let us know whether there was a table for us.. And when the waitress came back to us she actually attended to people behind us 1st! And simply told us to find our own table at the 3rd floor.. The boyfriend and us left in a huff..

Last week i went there again for a meal with colleagues.. I didn choose the place obviously.. I had Marinara which was not too bad and ice lemon tea.. Several of my colleagues had the Rib eye.. According to them, the steak was al-right only.. They had asked for medium rare but it came well done.. The service that day was SLIGHTLY better than my 1st experience.. but was slow too..

Service was terrible, food was alright only.. what can make me come back for more? beats me..

i'm not too sure what to say about this place - i only went once, and i had high expectations, everyone seems to be raving about blujaz - the food, the live music, the bellydancing, etc. and i must say that i was thoroughly disappointed. the food was ok, nothing spectacular really, i had the infamous dory fish fillet, and i cant say it was better then a dory fish fillet you can get anywhere else, it was just ok, i cant say much about the quality of drinks as i had a corona, and they are the same everywhere, as did the friend i was with. but what really got to me was the service - it took them a good 20 minutes to even take our order, another 45 for our food to get there and when we asked for the bill we got a blank stare- you would think we were asking for a bear to stand up and sing us a song, not to pay.

moreover, i'm not really sure why its called blujaz, i heard neither blues nor jazz the whole night, it was more r&b downstairs, then someone mentioned they had techno and house music upstairs and i saw a little poster for a bellydance act they have there, so i guess maybe they are a bit confused as to what their concept is????

not a fan of this place at all, there are much nicer cafes/restaurants around, that serve significantly better food at better prices, with better service, i live just 10 minutes away and i hang out in the area all the time, this is definitely NOT the place to go when in kampong glam.

I have been to the place twice.
I really recommend this place if you like a good place to relax.

The must try food will be their Dory Fish. Its fantastic.
The must try drink will be Mango Lassi. It is made up a mix of yogurt and mango.

You will love their ambiance there. Do look out for their cool lighting ^^.

If you are there for the band, it will be better for you to seat outside instead of inside since the stereos are indoors.

I hate their services (Note the 5/10 ratings). They lost my bookings on my second trip there. One of the waiter even forget my request for ice water.

Overall i say this place will do better if they improve their service. :\

Went to this cafe on tuesday on a recommendation by a friend. The food is generally quite value for money and my friend loved their dory fish. The lasagna was a bit blend but the calamari was nice with a springy texture.

Service wise the staff was a little slow in taking our order and did so only when they realized they needed the menus for another table of customers. They were however quick to refill our water, getting the bill and were very polite.

My friend told me there was a live band from 9pm onward but I din stick around as we hopped to another place for dessert. There is no credit card discount for this place but if I remember correctly we were not charged for GST.

Carpark may be found along Arab Street which is 2 lanes behind the cafe and is free parking from 5pm onwards. I would recommend you make a reservation as the place was almost filled at the time I arrived. (~7.15pm)

Went there just last night with a bunch of friends.

We went there for dinner and drinks.
I was quite pleased with the food.
They took pride in food presentation and they tasted great too :)
Had Dory Fillet and i'll give it a 8.5/10

Ambience is not too bad too.
Alfresco is definitely the way to go there.
But it was a little humid last night, so would be much better to visit the place later into the night or on a cool evening.

And of cos it's definitely value for money.
Dory Fillet costs only $8.90 and Fish & Chips - $7.90.
My bunch of eight friends ordered 2 x Dory and 6 x Fish & Chips.
The prices of drinks there were pretty decent too.
Beer costs $6 - 12 depending on the type of beer.
Other random non-alcoholic drinks are definitely one of the cheapest compared to other cafes. Canned drinks costs $2.
My recommendation for non-alcoholic is Mango Lassi which costs $5, it's a mix of Mango + Yogurt. Quite yummy :)

Service is what i have to complain about.

I don't know if it's a norm there but i reckon most of the servers there aren't locals. They had trouble understanding what we were saying and it's quite irritating having to repeat for seemingly simple orders.

And when we settled our bill and was waiting for our change, we waited 20 minutes for it. This is despite the fact that i waited 5 minutes each time before reminding three different servers that we were still waiting for our change. There aren't a lot of tables around and waiting for 20 minutes for a change is definitely no no.

It is a cafe that serves good food, they play jazz and blues (but only on Fri and Sat), and the service it the best I've had in a long time, even at some of the top restaurants. Great "old Singapore" ambience not found at Clarke Quay and other more hip joints, and won't break your bank too. Been there twice in a week.

Reservation: Yes, they do reserve and in a very friendly way too. Since it does get crowded on Fri and Sat, suggest you reserve a table. When we went a Saturday ago, we had to sit on high stools at a very awkward angle to the stage and it was not a good position to sit for long.

Food / Beverage: I'll start with the drinks. $20 gets you a jug of beer at all hours. Beer could be colder, but they;'ll give you ice to chilll your beer if you want to. Other drinks were reasonably priced....... and the serve iced water (for free) if you order food. Food: Ordered the nachos and dip last Sat, they were awful, stale and not crunchy. The dip was OK. This time around tonight, we ordered the main courses and most were good. The calamari rings were well prepared and tasty, the fried rice and seafood noodles were good, the marinara spaghetti was tasty, a bit spicy but the chicken wings were not good. Most main courses were priced $6 to $10 per dish. No cover charge.

Ambience: Not the best of decor but the surrounding area at Bali Lane is so unique. The back lane is filled with diners and has loads of fans cooling the area. It is wonderful to sit in the open area and keep cool at night in Singapore. The path in front of the cafe has seats that are fanned by tornado fans that draw in the cool sea air (the marina is close by). The crowd, the bicycles, passing by, strange people peeping in to check out the action, jazz playing in the background, suits walking around - all contribute to the ambience. Did not see any bugs or rats running around as this is a fairly old area of Singapore.

Value: Great for dinner and drinks, all reasonably priced.

Service: This is where they excel. Mainly Burmese waiters and waitresses - "I 'm from Yangoon" speaking with a slur to the end of the sentece, headed by a white shirted beautiful lady, hair tied up in a long ponytail, always on the move, they help you anytime. Want an extra chair - they'll get it for you, need a bar stool, they borrow it from their friendly neighbouring restaurant, clear dishes - in a jiffy, no evil eye if you do not order drinks a second round. 8 persons ordering a slice of cheesecake and one serving of brownie, please bring 8 forks to share - yes sir, with no stunned look and upward extension of the eyebrow. Most friendly service staff around, even when compared to the better restaurant. Great stuff, hard to find in commercial Singapore.

Have noticed this place everytime i drive pass Ophir Road. until one day, last nite that was, wanted to try out this chill out place after catching Transformer at Suntec. Transformer is a movie that if you are my age, you would prob have grown up watching them on tv or playing Optimus Prime or Megatron. The action sequence is pretty good and the babes in the movie is well, babes!

Sorry for digressing into the movie though. Now to Blu Jazz. if u are driving, u gotta drive along Beach rd and left left to turn into those many lanes which lead u to the arabic settlement. parking could be a bit of problem here if u are late. i was a lucky boy. went there at 10 and there was 1 vacant lot along the road, juz waiting for my car. Could my car be a Transformer??

once at Blu Jazz, you could see many expatriates hanging around having drinks and stuff. since this is a jazz place, expect to see an older crowd instead. not for catching SYTs. they have a pretty standard menu serving western starters, mains and desserts. also there are zhi char food such as hor fun and stuff. What did i have? ordered a bottle of wine and a plate of mozzarella cheese stix. the cheese sticks are good and are served with salsa sauce. the wine? its so-so, not bad. becos they dun have an extensive wine list but you shld take note that a bottle of wine cost only $38. thats cheap. my overall bill is only $44.

you shld come here if u like jazz. the liveband plays some serious jazz and a lady with a sultry voice jazzes it up. however, you can only experience the liveband on the ground level. the 2nd floor is divided into 2 sections. 1 is a air-conditioned bar, which they host a grp for custume party. the other is an open shelter corner which can prob only seat 20 ppl or so. Shishas can be ordered from one of those arab/persian restaurants and will be brought to you. Juz remember to sit at those smoking areas.

Apparently there is no promotional discounts for UOB cardmembers. I asked the waitress specifically "UOB cards any discount". She juz said no flatly.

Thks to jillian who also reviewed and recommended this place. cheers.

I came to know Blue Jazz when a fren brought us there after a swim near Little India few years ago. Then we realised that they have just started another branch at bali lane few months later. Since then, I have been going to Blue Jazz once in a while to chill out with friends. Previously, they have great burgers in their menu, however, there seems to be no burgers...sigh!...anyways...other than burgers, there is a wide choice of food from western to japanese such as fish & chips, dory fish, teriyaki fish etc...and they also served Oriental & local food such as sweet & sour fish with rice. The food is nice and yummy too! Including a fine cup of green apple smoothie, which is great. Their finger foods comes with a great variety too!

But what is most interesting is not the food, but actually the ambience and surroundings of the place. It's a five foot storey building, previously the cafe only occupies the first floor, but later on, the owner bought over the second floor as well. The cafe is well furnished with comfortable sofa chairs, interesting fur like decorations, small nice coffee tables, books & magazines shelves etc. Whatever kind of furnitures u prefer! I simply love the interesting decoration of the big hand, the beautiful lamps hanging over the wall, and the ocassional drawings and markings made on the tables by customers. Either you can choose to chill out at the outdoor corner near the "water fountain" with wooden tables and chairs or the indoor cafe style on the first floor, you can also chill out at the cosy outdoor corner at the 2nd floor (which can be bit hot) or the indoor bar like lighting at the 2nd floor with lots of cosy big sofas for small little gatherings...are great for everyone! The music that played in the cafe are mainly jazz of course since it's called blue jazz or ocassionally you will spot nice alternative music too.

Most of my friends enjoy eating there since the food is reasonable, and they love chilling out there. Listening to music, chatting with stuff, doing stuff on their laptops, drinking over coffee and tea etc.

The lady owner, Aileen is also great to chat with, she normally let the customer chill out late around midnight! Normally fridays and saturdays are packed, so it's advisable to go bit early around 6.30 or 7 pm. Or u can reserve a table first before you go. There is also live band playing music and singers singing on a stage at the first floor cafe.

It's great place with everything in one. So remember, the next time you come over to blue jazz, do leave a mark on the table ya!