The Blues Kitchen

This was the first place I visited when I arrived to London and we were starving. So we naturally gravitated to an American bbq place since that is what we eat back home.

We ordered the double smashed cheeseburger and the smoked bbq ribs which had Asian inspired seasoning on it. My cheeseburger was just ok. Although it had its own special sauce, it still tasted bland. Same for the ribs. It's definitely not true American BBQ.

In terms of the place and service, 10/10. I loved the decor which displayed various jazz, blues and funk artists throughout time. The staff was really friendly and sparked up conversation when they realized we were visiting. We were there for lunch so I can't speak to the live music at night.

Overall, I can see this as a go to place to hang out with friends and for the live music but I wouldn't rush to come here for food.

The vibe and ambiance was great.

The staff was warm and inviting and made us feel welcomed.

The food was delicious and well worth the visit. We will definitely be returning. Great to find some solid options while perusing London.

Don't miss out on this gem.

I ordered the brisket dip sandwich and it was wonderful. I've never had the dip they served (in the US), and I was a bit skeptical, but it was delicious. Usually these come with an au jus, but I'm going to see if I can find what they use and try it here.
I going the service their really really good! It really felt like they cared I was there and were happy to be there as well. The staff seemed to all get along, joking with each other.
The food was great, the service was great, the atmosphere was great.
I look forward to trying something different if/when I get back over there.

I still need to try Blues' gumbo but an Orleans-themed brunch will have to do for now ;)

I so enjoyed coming here and it definitely made me miss home a bit. The flavours and decor are New Orleans/ Cajun / Jazz themed, with cocktails and music to match. Several evenings a week have live jazz and blues bands playing and there always seems to be something fun going on at Blue's. Check their website for what's on on any particular day and book a table ahead of time in case it's a busy night.

We came for a boozy brunch on a Saturday and it was lovely. Not too loud and there were bottomless deals on prosecco, mimosas, and bloody Mary's. We ordered the honey butter cornbread to start (YUM). Order several if you have a large table. For mains, we selected the Szechuan wings, creole crab benedict, spicy chicken sandwich, and buttermilk ranch salad. The crab benedict was very yummy but you might need an additional side with it to be full. We loved the wings as well, and the ranch dressing was bomb Cocktails were fab as well (highly recommend getting one of the creative ones from the menu).

Highly recommend Blue's for a brunch with friends, dinner and drinks night, and maybe even with family during the day!

Yum yum yum

I went on a Monday and got the ribs special you get two pork ribs and one and beef rib for 10 pounds

The beef rib was huge that alone will fill the average person all the meat was tender and fell right off the bone it could have been a little bit more hot temperature wise but other than that it was your perfect BBQ

Sort of ironic being an American and coming to London to have some overpriced BBQ.

The ambience is dark and a bit loud for conversation, but feels appropriate to be chowing down on some meat. I didn't realize it was an 18+ only place until my friend got carded at the door. Make a reservation because my party of 3 arrived at 8pm on a Thursday and were quoted an hour wait--luckily a party cancelled as we were deciding whether to wait and were seated within 15 minutes.

Servers are young, flirty, and fun but definitely on the slow side. I'm pretty sure getting our dessert took longer than our main meal! I split the two meats with burnt ends and beef brisket and a side of sweet potato fries with a friend. When the food came out, our server must have seen our faces because the brisket was very fatty, and so he offered without prompting to bring another piece. He took the plate back to the kitchen and stacked another piece on top, so we effectively got three meats for the price of two. The burnt ends were nice but the brisket wasn't anything special. Overall, I thought the meat lacked flavor and required copious amounts of extra bbq sauce (which was admittedly yummy) and hot sauce. The regular fries were done mediocrely in an American shoestring style, and our sweet potato fries, while no extra charge, were overcooked and cold.

For dessert, we tried the dark chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. The flavor was rich but unfortunately the texture was too grainy for me.

Two friends and I stopped in here for a drink and dinner while visiting Camden on a Tuesday evening. We were told we would have to wait to see if a table opened after 8pm (if reservations didn't show) so we sat in the bar area and had a drink. Finally at about 8:45 a table opened and we moved over to eat. We ordered an appetizer and our main courses right away. Our waiter didn't want to take our appetizer order that quickly and the guys at the table next to us actually had to tell him to take it!
Our spinach dip appetizer was runny and underwhelming, but it came quickly.

We ordered our food and waited for about an hour... nothing. Finally our waiter comes over and says "there's been a problem with your order, would you mind telling me what you had again?"... when pressed he said "we will give you a discount"

Anyway, our food finally came. 1 burger order was wrong - the order of sweet potato fries were dry and overcooked and the watermelon salad (another order) was bitter and gross. Bruised avocado grilled and gross and soft watermelon with whole quarters of tomatoes.
Sent it back and couldn't eat it and I am NOT picky.

We requested the manager who basically said she'd give the waiter a good slap... Our waiter sent someone else to our table to take our payment at the end of the night. Couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Came across The Blues Kitchen while we were in Camden Town UK for 6 days. It was right around the corner so it made it convenient to just week there! Music and employees were great! Kyle was the manager and was so kind, even made sure his employees knew that we'd be back. We felt so welcome!

Big comfy restaurant that serves brunch late into the day. And there were power outlets at the table. How could I not love that?

I wasn't feeling like pancakes, so I ended up ordering a chicken club sandwich with onion rings. And a beer. At 1:30 in the afternoon. Who's the alcoholic now? There's a full bar and for a bit, I watched the bartender plucking mint for mojito's. I was tempted, but with a busy day ahead, it wasn't going to be strong drink.

It did take a bit to catch the waitress's eye to place my order and the onion rings seemed like they just went into the fryer after coming out of a mass-produced freezer bag and the whole thing was served on a massive cutting board. Odd. But it was quick and it was an excellent chicken breast club sandwich. And the beer was cold.

In my book, that makes it A-OK.

*BAR SERVICE ONLY REVIEW*

I was pretty impressed with the selection and variety on offer - particularly with the beers, even though I ended up just going with my old fave, Camden Pale Ale. We'd made a booking but didn't realise it was for the bar area only, which means we couldn't choose from the restaurant menu and instead had to pick from a MUCH shorter bar food menu.

Quite annoying, as none of us had eaten beforehand as we all wanted to eat there, and the restaurant menu looked very appealing. However, the quesadillas I ordered were absolutely delicious and a HUGE portion, which went a little way to redeeming the choice of not being able to order from the full menu.

When the music started up, the venue came alive with energy - dancing, cheering and big smiles filled the space like a perfect Friday evening, with a fantastic oldschool rock'n'roll vibe. Particularly when the band decided to jump on our table for some of their performance! The crowd seemed very friendly and staff were chatty and knowlegable about their products. They even gave our group two complimentary bottles of prosecco when they found out it was an engagement celebration!