We spent a night at social-distanced Jesters, and this is what it’s like now

Cast your mind way, way back to March and you’ll probably remember what a Jesters night out used to be like. The cheesy music and ending up with green tinted clothes from a Juicy Lucy someone just spilt down you – what’s not to miss?

Of all the places I want to be during this pandemic, I’m not sure Jesters is one. But guess what, we went anyway and we’re here to tell you what the Palace Of Dreams is like now that it’s reopened under Covid guidelines.

There’s £5 cocktails AND happy hour

Jesters is known for being cheap so whilst I was in shock that the cocktails were £5 (missing the Monday night deals not going to lie), I was excited that they have now started offering “happy hour” deals.

Between 4pm and 6pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday you can enjoy your favourite Jesters drink for half price. £2.50 Juicy Lucy – I’m here for it!

There’s no classic Jesters tunes

Unfortunately, the music in Jesters doesn’t quite match up to before. There’s no Moana, no Baywatch, it’s frankly quite upsetting. Moreover, if you sit outside (like most of us would prefer), you can’t hear the music they do play at all. Bit of a strange vibe to be sat in Jesters smoking area with no music. 

There’s a brand new hand dryer

One of the common memories of a Jesters night is coming out of the toilet wiping your damp hands on your clothes so you can go get that next drink.

I think I’ve seen the hand dryer work in the girl’s toilet a whole one time. And that time was not now.

There’s a shiny new hand dryer sitting in there but it’s lacking in power so you still get the experience of damping your jeans down on the way out.

There’s loads of soap in the bathroom!

We came prepared with a load of hand sanitiser, but we were pleasantly surprised to see there was a massive container of soap in the toilets.

You can pre-book tables!

You can now book tables in advance before 7pm too – after that you just need to turn up and hope you get in. But then you have to leave by 10pm anyway so might as well drink cocktails for a few hours with guaranteed table!

The bouncers were keeping people to their tables

One new sight is the common appearance of staff wandering round the tables to make sure everyone is keeping to the rule of six, staying seated (no tabletop dancing unfortunately) and wearing a mask when needed.

It’s nice to see everything is being taken seriously despite the lack of soap.

Getting table service-Jesticles feels so odd

Whilst table service has become a legal requirement in all establishments, the table service in Jesters is actually really good. Bar staff are always checking you’re good as they walk past, so you can fit in the maximum Jesticles possible before 10pm. I will point out there is a card minimum of £10 (classic Jesters) so order your drinks together or be prepared beforehand. 

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