Café Jazz

The visit was after a 6 Nations Wales v Scotland match, to be honest the front did not stand out, went through the Bar area to the Restaurant. This is a pleasant setting for having some food, but you could also hear the buzz coming from the bar which was in keeping with the day. For a pint and a half of Fosters and two cod, chips, peas, side salad and a wedge of lemon for £23.23 was very good value for City Centre food on a match day. Friendly Staff and quick service.

Café Jazz in Cardiff is a bar/​restaurant attached to the Sandringham Hotel in Cardiff. It is next to the entrance to the hotel and with no big signs above it, just a billboard outside, it isn’t really very noticeable, you have to know what you are looking for.
When you first go in, you meet the dance floor/​stage area and there is a walk way along the side leading to the bar. The dance floor is a fair size and it is also where Jazz bands play if there is a live band or it is a dance floor as the night progresses.
The restaurant is at the back, behind the bar. It is sectioned off and is in a nice area as there is no reason for people to walk through if they are not eating. It is in a really good position because you can see the band while you eat.
The food is very good. It is reasonably priced. You can get a 2 course meal for £11 or 3 courses for £15 and there is a good variety and it is good quality food. The drinks are averagely priced too.
It makes a nice alternative on a night out. Worth a visit.

Now I’m a fan of comedy. However, because I have the absolute poorest sense of humour, take myself far too seriously and would never let myself be put down as part of a weak joke, I am always found right at the back of a comedy gig.
Here, with my pint hiding my face and the comments I whisper at my neighbour inaudible from the stage, I feel at my most comfortable. And it is when I’m at my most comfortable that I feel most inclined to laugh.
Unfortunately, the set-​up of the stage here means that the audience consists of one big front row. Consequently, I was made into an unwilling victim. As the only people under forty in the place, the male friend I was with and I were subject to many lewd comments. This would be fine if the vulgarity disguised a joke but, beyond the layers of pure dirt, I was unable to find a punchline.
My advice to comedians would be to avoid making comments to stuck up brats like me. Us beacons of perfection are too mature to handle valid criticism. It might make us cry.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Make a witty comeback

If you like jazz or any live music check out Café Jazz (Sandringham Hotel) on High Street in Cardiff most nights of the week.
Basically a jazz club has evolved in the bar over the last 10 years or so. Officially it’s a hotel bar but it happily co-​exists with the club.
It’s a hotel bar so it’s well-​stocked and you can order food too.
They have music most nights apart from Monday. They have different themes each night. It’s mainly jazz but with blues, swing, and big band stuff thrown in occasionally.
If I remember correctly it’s free to get in and just have a drink on any of the nights but after about about 8.30pm new arrivals will be charged to come in. It’s not particularly expensive. People who arrive before the charge is introduced are asked if they want to stay for the band. If they do they will be expected to pay but it may be less.
Payment all seemed to be quite fluid last time I was there. The place is filled after about 9pm with a very knowledgeable crowd of afficianados who really appreciate the jazz on offer.

Well, what can I say about Café Jazz? It all depends on which night you go. So I’ll give you a low down night by night in a mo, but in general the bar is not cheap, but fully stocked. The food is reasonably priced, but not great — certainly not a la carte and for all the pomp and circumstance doesn’t seem to understand restaurant ettiquette correctly. They sell wine, and you can take your own if you’re happy to pay corkage.
It is also worth bearing in mind that some of the confused nature of Café Jazz is that it is actually part of the Sandringham Hotel and is the venue for dinners when booked in full board. So, now to the nights I know of:
Monday: Jazz improv. — a bit cliquey if you want to join in but good quality.
Tuesday: Preservation Jazz — a variety of band (often repeated personel in various combinations) playing trad and dixie jazz. Quite nice to hear, but they tend to look a bit miserable and do play quite slowly.
Wednesday: Odd mix of music, and various groups from the sublime to the amateur. Door prices vary accordingly.
Thursday: I never did get the hang of Thursdays.
Friday: Blues. The best night to go. Music starts later, bands tend to be good and good atmosphere and clientele.
Saturday: WARNING! For an alleged Jazz venue you may be as surprised as me to find a cheesy disco, and I mean Phil Kaye wedding cheesy, DJ and all. This cosy Jazz Café moonlights as a den of iniquity on a Saturday night with feisty women, shots a-​go-​go and some of the worst behaviour I’ve ever seen. But then, as the bar is on St Mary’s Street, what else could you do on a Saturday night? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!

Café Jazz is a tiny little red building sat on St. Mary’s Street next door to the Sandringham Café and, as the name suggests, it stands alone as the only place to consistently catch a bit of live jazz in the entire city.
The bar is well stocked with a variety of alcohols with a full set of liquors and wines and, as if to dispel any claims of pretentiousness, quite a large array of beers and ciders as well. The food is great here; nothing too reaching, just good, tasty food at reasonable prices. Lunch in here is particularly great as the atmosphere makes for a pleasant eating experience and very often they have a lunchtime jazz band playing a light set to enjoy whilst eating.
And really, the music is the main thing in this place. With a variety of performances throughout the week from a slew of different acts, there’s always something interesting going on. On top of this, there is a DJ set that comes on during the weekend nights playing some fantastic soul and blues tracks to move your feet to.

I have a soft spot for this café. It is, admittedly, not the most luxuriously decorated of places in Cardiff centre, but it’s quite a fun and comfortable little dive. There’s usually something a bit different going on here, and you can find live music and other performances on many night of the week.
They have a full bar (and are in fact more of a bar that a café — deceptive naming, I know!), and do serve food. The food isn’t really the best, considering there are so many fantastic food places nearby, but the atmosphere can more than make up for this on a good night.
The staff here are very friendly and there can, on popular nights, be a great air of community spirit in the air. I once applied for a job here, and although I didn’t get it, they sent me a very nice letter to say so, rather than just sucking my CV down into a pit of oblivion. Polite and different.

Café Jazz is unique bar-​restaurant which offers something that few other Cardiff bars offer: jazz gigs in a fairly unpretentious setting, plus good food and decent wine.
You could easily walk past without spotting this place, but look out for the Sandringham Hotel and it’s just next to it, with a red sign.
The evening gigs include a weekly jam session, and regular jazz gigs organised by the Cardiff Jazz Society and the Preservation Jazz Society. The line up is pretty varied, from ragtime bands and blues bands to acoustic trios and Latin jazz — featuring some incredibly talented musicians — and not all of them ‘old blokes’ as one reviewer says (I’ve seen plenty of groups including people in their 20s upwards, so it’s a real mix). There’s even a small dance floor where some people get up to shake their booty during some of the livelier gigs.
Beyond the bar and slightly separated from it is the small restaurant area where you can still hear the band without it being as loud — so you can still enjoy a bit of conversation over supper. The food is very reasonable, too — both in quality and price, and when I last had ate there they had traditional bread pudding with ice cream on their dessert menu!

I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot of shenanigans here by the reads of it. I’ve only ever been once for some tea/​coffee and really liked the chilled out vibe I got from the place.
I feel I really need to get back here now for an evening of drinking, little talking and mucho bum shaking…

I love love LOVE café jazz. There’s something about eating reasonably priced food and good wine and listening to old blokes jamming in the corner that’s just so unpretentious and enjoyable. I like café jazz because of the routine. I have pasta with salmon and broccoli and a glass of white wine and feel like I’m in a place which is truly mine.
I went for the comedy club recently which was mostly local amateur comics saying ‘eff this eff that’ really loudly whilst I tried to eat. Horrible affair, so now I just stick to the jazz. Good old fashioned jazz played by good old fashioned blokes.

I’ve been here for both coffee (I say coffee… I don’t drink coffee — my boyfriend had coffee… I’ve said coffee a lot of times…) and for a drink in the evening — in both respects it was brilliant.
During the day there is a real sense of joyous laziness which is so lovely. You really feel like you can sit back and relax.
In the evenings, it is great fun if you’re with a group of people. I wouldn’t recommend it to go to for a date, though, because it can get so loud in there that you can’t hear each other talk. It’s the kind of place you go to talk a little and drink a lot more. So many people start busting some moves, it’s wonderful — but they’ve got to that stage of drunk where they have to do something… and if you can’t hear each other talk, why not dance?!

Café Jazz is a restuarant/​bar situated next to and part of the Sandringham Hotel on St. Mary’s Street in Cardiff. It is relatively unknown to most people as it isn’t very easy to see. It doesn’t have big flashy signs like most places, just a modest board outside.
If you do manage to find this place you will be impresssed, it is lovely. As you enter, you come across a dance floor with a small stage. Sometimes there is a DJ but mostly you will find a Jazz band playing in that area. The bands that play are fantastic and it makes such a good alternative to most of the entertainment in Cardiff.
After the stage area you have the bar. Most people can be found hanging around the bar area watching the band. It is a very laid back atmosphere with a range of people, young and old. Staff are friendly, as are most people who go there. It is not at all pretentious like some places.
Behind the bar area, slightly cordened off, you have a small restuarant. It is great because you can still hear the band and see it in some cases without it being so loud that you can’t have a conversation over dinner.
The food is great. The menu is fairly small but it changes regularly and everything is of a very high quality. You can also chose from a set 2 or 3 course menu for a very goos price.
I highly recommend Café Jazz as an alternative night out.

Café Jazz in Cardiff is a bar/​restaurant attached to the Sandringham Hotel in Cardiff. It is next to the enterance to the hotel and with no big signs above it, just a billboard outside, it isn’t really very noticeable, you have to know what you are looking for.
When you first go in, you meet the dance floor/​stage area and there is a walk way along the side leading to the bar. The dance floor is a fair size and it is also where Jazz bands play if there is a live band or it is a dance floor as the night progresses.
The restaurant is at the back, behind the bar. It is sectioned off and is in a nice area as there is no reason for people to walk through if they are not eating. It is in a really good position because you can see the band while you eat.
The food is very good. It is reasonably priced. You can get a 2 course meal for £11 or 3 courses for £15 and there is a good variety and it is good quality food. The drinks are averagely priced too.
It makes a nice alternative on a night out. Worth a visit.

Unlike another reviewer I thought the general public joining in night was really impressive. Perhaps depends on who is there on the night but i would definitely recommend it. The atmosphere is great and the drinks were alright in price. The house band were damned fabulous.
Food was generic and nice but a little overpriced.
Go for the music not the food and you’ll have an amazing night.

Very impressed with the lunch that we had at Café Jazz. Nice fresh tortilla wraps with steak /​chicken. Also had really nice salad and potato wedges. Took about 20 minutes to arrive which could be a problem if on a short lunch break. Took a toddler with us and they were very accomodating.

This tiny Jazz Bar has seen a lot of local talent pass through it’s doors recently. But as with any genre of music Jazz is very broad so be careful to pick what night to go as the bar put on everything from atonal jazz through to dixie.
The bar is slightly over priced but if you’re listening to some great jazz, who cares!

Unfortunately I came on the wrong night to café jazz, Tuesday nights weren’t the best for first impressions, on this night and this night only (thank god) you could bring your own instrument and join in with the small band that were playing, well the people that joined in made me cringe at the thought of jazz music for weeks after this experience, It was a painful hour watching there attempts to woo the small crowd that were struggling to stay in there seats. So after getting home and checking up café jazz over the internet I found that Mondays and Wednesdays were the best nights to hit up this swanky café, so my plan is to return and regain my love for jazz music!