Doo-Bop Jazz Bar attempts to do it all. It is a piano bar, brasserie, basement eatery-bar, performance space and coffee shop, all rolled into one.

But the problem with venues trying to be all things to everyone is they usually become nothing to anybody. Sadly that was my experience.

At the piano bar for dinner, the fitout resembles the aftermath of a drunken online shopping spree. There are plastic bar stools, French cafe-style wicker chairs, red leather banquettes plus others in soft blue fabric; while 1950s poster art adorns the walls. Everything glows in a blue light reminiscent of Fortitude Valley public toilets, making the whole look confused.

There are multiple menus at the venue and the piano bar serves European-inspired fare such as leek and stilton tart, pork belly, and confit duck.

Bafflingly, our amateur waitress puts through our order for our entrees and mains to arrive at once, forcing staff into a game of Tetris trying to arrange four dishes and a side onto a table barely bigger than a school desk. She then pours a ham hock broth straight over the skin of our snapper main, rendering the once crisp flesh a soggy fish drape. Still, this dish is the highlight of the meal after a spiced barbecued quail is overcooked to the point of being inedible, while the tomato in the Caprese salad is straight-out-the-fridge cold. A beef carpaccio is pleasant enough.

The restaurant manager can be commended for stepping in and moving us to a larger table and even taking a couple of dishes off the bill. But the staff simply needs better training and a dose of common sense.

With quality musical acts and a 3am close, Doo-Bop is a place you want to succeed. But it’s got a long way to go to hit all the right notes.