Jam In a Jar

Good simple breakfast food served in huge portions. That’s what you will find at jam in a jar during the day.
The restaurant/​lounge has a cool vibe with exposed drainpipes and smooth jazz playing in the background. At night they apparently introduce live musicians.
There seem to be a lot of regulars that come here.

Oh dear. Things did not go well on Saturday morning at Jam in a Jar. It’s quite hard to know how to rate them for it! Maybe after I tell the story, it will become clear.
So, Jam in a Jar is sort of a café-​bar hybrid. We came during the day, so no live music or anything, but they have a small breakfast menu and a few tables. It’s a very chill, hipster-​looking place. They do fill up, and we had to cram into quite a small table (four of us) because the staff had allowed one man dining alone to sit at a 4-​top. I think they should be a little more careful about that. Eventually, we managed to move and get more elbow room. We ordered some coffee/​tea and then settled in to wait for our lunches. We waited a very long time. I enjoyed my pot of peppermint tea, finished the whole thing, and we started realizing that other people who came in after us had been served first. At least 30 minutes had passed since we’d ordered. Around this time, the lights in the kitchen went out. A server came round and said that they’d had a power outage, and we’d have to wait even longer for our food. We were starving, and complained a bit — they quite kindly brought us out two muffins and two brownies! Too much really, but I must admit — they were delicious. We shared the muffins and nibbled the brownies while we waited. It was at least an hour, if not more, before our breakfasts arrived. We were also given more complimentary drinks during our long wait — another coffee, a juice, etc. In the end, the sweets were free (as they were offered to us to tide us over) and so were the second round of coffees.
The breakfasts themselves were quite good — my scrambled eggs were soft and placed on yummy grainy toast. Since I don’t like mushrooms, they gave me an extra piece of halloumi instead which is an upgrade if I ever saw one! Sauteed spinach, juicy grilled tomatoes, tasty new potatoes and beans. It was actually a great vegetarian breakfast, and I think it was only £6 or £7. Great price for London. As we finished eating, one of the cooks came by and apologized, saying that before the power had gone out, he’d just realized that our ticket had fallen onto the floor, so we’d been forgotten first and then the electricity issue happened on top of that. I know that the power outage can’t be helped (or can it — overloaded circuits maybe? It’s not like the power went out in the whole neighborhood), but we were really unhappy with the long wait. An hour is pretty unacceptable all round to wait after you order! The sweets were nice, but we really could’ve done better with just the muffins for us to share, and then our breakfast should probably have been comped. An hour’s wait, to be forgotten then inconvenienced by the power… it was pretty bad.
We really enjoyed our meals in the end, but our friends were embarrassed and apologetic and I’m not sure we could justify returning again! I appreciate how they tried to rectify the situation, which has certainly salvaged them from a worse review. Sounds like they have some problems with consistency here, so don’t go if you’re starving, and if they are having an «on» day you are in for a treat! But I don’t think we’ll be giving it another go — couldn’t handle another starving hour waiting for brunch! Maybe 3 stars is too generous, but the food was good and they were kind to us and gave us lots of free things…2 stars seems too mean? They would’ve had 4 for the food and atmosphere, down to 2 with the waiting issue, and back up to 3 because of their apologies and comps.

We’ve just moved to Haringay and were very pleased to find this place. I love Turkish food, just not EVERY day so I’m glad JIAJ offers something a bit different to the usual Green Lanes eateries. We had chicken fajitas and chorizo croquettes. They were tasty but I’d probably be more likely to come here just to drink and listen to music. There is a really friendly atmosphere in JIAJ and the live jazz band we saw on Easter Sunday were great and attracted a big crowd who all sat about on the floor in a pleasingly ramshackle way. More of this sort of thing please Haringay!

Is Haringey the new Shoreditch or Dalston?
This great coffeeshop/​bar/​eatery on the upper part of Haringey Green Lanes is definitely a bit out of place amongst all the Turkish places, but along with Blend (another hip and trendy addition to the neighbourhood), they seem to be the coining what is generally referred to as an up-​and-​coming neighbourhood.
My friend took me here for a drink on a rainy Sunday afternoon; we had just had brunch at Rakkas — a great Turkish place nearby. This friend of mine is really spot on when it comes to finding out about hidden spots like this one… and here’s how he does it; he follows the artists crowd. Being a music lover, he is constantly on the lookout for new talent and «Jam in a Jar» is a place where such talents get sponsored, featured & highlighted.
Point in fact, when we were there we got to briefly chat with the owner and he mentioned that that very same night thy would have a jazz/​soul performer starring.
I am really glad that a bar like this has opened on Haringey Green Lanes.