The Jam Tree

I wouldn’t go to this restaurant unless there is a decent discount involved. I mean, the food is alright, drinks are the same old beer wine and basic cocktails, the service is ok, décor/​vibe is ok. Our experience didn’t make us feel any better than eating at home — obviously we didn’t have to do the dishes and this is always a plus!

Having had a positive experience at the King’s Road branch, I was expecting similarly good things in Clapham Old Town.
Good things happened!
We each enjoyed our mains — duck, burger and Malaysian curry respectively. South African Chenin Blanc went down well too.
Sticky toffee pudding was juicy and nutty, though could have done with more sauce (always the way with STP).
Service was just the right balance of attentive and leaving us to our own devices. Now I’m excited to come back and try their famous Sunday roasts.

Went here for a boozy brunch a few weeks back– was a great deal and a good way to celebrate– plenty of prosecco, although we did have to ask a few times for more– the only negative thing is like a lot of other places they add on the tip and make you pay it rather then letting you decide what it’s worth, we were happy to tip but when we were 25p short (accidentally) we were approached to pay it which was a bit ridiculous as it should be a choice how much you decide to tip. Other than this the whole experience as great.

My family and I went to The Jam Tree for an unplanned birthday lunch. The décor is nice, it’s a cross between brasserie and gastro pub. the initial service was a bit slow, however this was rectified by an apology and fast turnaround of receiving our food.
The food is amazing and I highly recommend their sticky battered squid, which I automatically realised and confirmed was their signature dish.

On arrival I found this place interesting and already appeared to be better than the previous restaurant in this space. Unfortunately our experience was not off to a great start. We ordered what I believe to be simple and your classic drinks — a Manhattan and a dirty vodka Martini up with olives. The drinks that arrived: a glass of bourbon and a gin martini with a lemon twist. In fairness the menu states that martinis are served with an olive or twist. Clearly I thought it was my choice as a customer and not the bartender. I was told they were out of olives and as for the gin instead of vodka I just left it as is. I drank my gin martini anyway as the Christmas season was upon us why not ingest what taste like licking a Christmas tree anyway. lol The Manhattan was made correctly on the second attempt and our bumpy start was over.
Our starter was nice, Sweetcorn & Chilli Fritters along with breads and olive oil. The mains arrived in a fair amount of time as the restaurant became quite busy and loud but not with people… music. Clearly Jam is for we like to JAM our music whilst you eat. Not a fan. Music while dining is nice and preferred however if I wanted to eat in a dance bar, oh wait I would not and neither does anyone else. Simple advice use the back bar space to jam and leave the other area for dining.
Behold in the midst of dinner the table next to us ordered a Martini and it had olives… OLIVES that they were out of which led me to inquire. The server said they went and got some after my drink was made. She asked if I’d like to order another one. Now here is a situation that from my restaurant days would go like this: offer the customer the drink they wanted complimentary as a ‘we’re sorry for the recognizable bumpy start’ and presto you have a really happy client. Alas this opportunity was missed and I declined the server’s offer. We rarely order dessert but had some time before the movie was to start. The cheese board was really nice and generously served so the finish of the eve was nice albeit cheesy. :)
We left Jam Tree with mixed feelings on ever returning. I would say it was a so-​so experience and not one this American Southerner in London needs to repeat y’all.

Went for drinks. Service was fine. Didn’t eat. Nice mojiti topped with champaign — £11. Didn’t go into the outdoor area but it looked good.

Awful!
Really bad waiters … Really bad food… What more is there to say? It took almost an hour for our cold thrown together food to arrive and then the order was messed up. Manager on site was rude and unhelpful. I really wouldn’t recommend it…

Great vibe and cool cocktail names like the wu jam clan, jam mojito, pearl jam, and the wham bam thank you jam

Four stars only for the fact it’s a littttle pricy for food that’s the same quality elsewhere. However that said, brilliant food and cocktails and the only place you can get a decent pint of Heineken!!!

whats not to like about this place!
Good selection of beer, good food and a nice beer garden. The staff are helpful and very friendly.
Great during the day and good fun in the evenings! All round, a great place to go.

Bland and overpriced.
Despite its swanky interior the food is some of the worst I’ve had in my 5 years living in London.
The spring rolls are horrid and soulless, the steak is fatty and pathetic in size. As for the curry — absolutely no flavour what so ever. The service was good but that, and the décor is the only redeeming feature about this place.
I’d strongly recommend not eating here until they sort out the menu.

I went here for lunch recently on a Sunday afternoon. The staff were very welcoming and as we had booked and got us to our table pretty quickly.
The service however from this point onwards was pretty poor, we waited around 40 minutes before our starters arrived. They did apologise, it seems that all the bookings walked in within a 20 minute period and the kitchen was hugely over run. However, this was not an issue for us as the table were enjoying the cocktails!
The food was delicious, this made up for the poor service. I will definitely be visiting the Jam Tree again. Cool place, with nice food and great drinks. If the service was better this visit, it would have been ⁵⁄₅.

A group of us decided to try here for New Years Eve (on the premise that if we went somewhere we’d never been, we couldn’t be disappointed, or the experience taint our favourtie haunts).
I was impressed with: the space, the cocktails (jam mojito?! yes please!) which are clever, strong and tasty, the garden (although obviously not on a freezing December night, but it looked impressive), the bar staff (friendly though completely swamped), the music in the main room.
Things I was less impressed with: some of the clientele who were braying and rude, to the point where I was physically pushed away from the bar — though to be fair someone did apologise and roll their eyes, so perhaps their mate was having a bad day.
I’ve heard the food is grand and based on this night out, I’d go back to try it — it’s a slick operation.

I’ve since been back to The Jam Tree twice since writing this review and I’ve increased the star rating. They serve the best roast dinners AND bloody marys in the whole of Clapham. They’ve beaten The Bobbin which was my previous favourite haunt for Sunday roasts. They serve massive portions, lots of trimmings, lots of meat, and the gravy is delicious, prerequisite for a Sunday roast. Will be going again soon I have no doubt.

For our anniversary dinner, we decided to put the diets aside and get into some corn dogs! The restaurant is nice and airy and boasts an enormous bar and plenty of room for folks. Instead of having a main, which were pretty pricey, we decided on a bunch of starters as we were so excited to see North American cuisine we had never seen before in London. The corndogs were amazing. The batter just right and deep fried crunchy goodness through and through. After the corndogs it went down hill. The buffalo wings must have been soaking in vinegar for some time as that is all we could taste. The tang was almost uncomfortable. We know wings and I would not recommend them from here. The sliders boasted a «lobster roll» and that was a let down as well as it was some bits of lobster on a little roll but it was no lobster roll like one would think of from New England. The poutine was a big let down as well if you have ever had that in Canada. Chunky chips with cubes of cheese un-​melted and gravy at the bottom of the bowl.
The wine list was varied and offered some nice selections that were very affordable. Our malbec was incredible for £22!
The staff are fine and seem happy so no complaints there.
If you go… have the corn dogs!