Our Top 5 London Recommendations This Week
With the enjoyably boisterous call of the sun at last drowning out the siren song of the sofa, there are a lot of good reasons to get out of the house this week. And there are five great ones.
They include ➊ a ridiculously decadent pop up; ➋ a sleek hideaway cocktail bar (with 50% off, for you); ➌ quite possibly the world’s best drive-in cinema; ➍ a festival specifically designed to bring you joyous suffering (including some genuinely painful karaoke); and ➎ some interactive BBQ tasting menus by the river…
➊ Bubbledogs | Hot dogs & champagne in 45 Park Lane
Hot dogs & champagne. That was the simple, brilliant, and boujie idea behind Bubbledogs. But that bubble was sadly burst by the pandemic, an injustice that the restaurant gods are now looking to briefly remedy with a pop up in the summer terrace at 45 Park Lane. You’ll get lobster hot dogs, A5 Wagyu hot dogs, and even chocolate & cinnamon brioche hot dogs, all washed down with some decadent bubbly…
Details: 10th May – 29th September 2024 | 45 Park Lane, W1K 1PN
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➋ Nipperkin | A sleek hideaway cocktail bar (with 50% off, for you)
NIJŪ already feels like a hidden gem, so having a covert little cocktail bar tucked underneath it somehow feels doubly intoxicating. And Nipperkin is a place that you’ll definitely want to seek out.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure yet, the restaurant above it, NIJŪ, is a Japanese grill & sushi bar from Michelin Starred, third generation sushi master chef Endo Kazutoshi. And for those who would like to have the pleasure, it’s currently on an exclusive Nudge Member soft launch with 50% off the food bill right through until the end of May.
And they’re gilding this already extremely well gilded lily by offering Nudge Members (+3) 50% off drinks from their new FuturePast menu from 6pm-10pm from now right through until 30th June. That’s right – four chapters of cocktails – all half price, for two months.
Address: Downstairs at 20 Berkeley St, W1J 8EE
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➌ Embassy Gardens Drive In Cinema | Vintage cars, classic films
This week, Battersea’s Embassy Gardens are not only hosting a drive-in cinema (a rare occasion in itself), but they’re also providing an impressive line-up of vintage hot rods for you to sit in. We’re talking glossy ’50s motors and open-top ’20s race-cars; stylish E-type Jags from the ’60s; vintage Jeeps; ’80s Porsche convertibles; the lot. And you can lean back in them and watch the Lion King, Star Wars: A New Hope. From Russia With Love, and more…
Details: 11th May | The Embassy Gardens Drive-In Cinema, 3 Viaduct Gardens, London SW11 7AY | £8.83 (picnic), £140 (car hire)
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➍ Hot Sauce Society | The real fire festival
Holding a festival dedicated purely to hot sauce takes a lot of bottle. But such is the thirst and devotion of Londoners to hot sauce that the Hot Sauce Society is bringing back their annual heat-loaded hoopla to Peckham’s Copeland Park this week. You’ll find 40+ traders, street food, a spicy limbo, and a uniquely painful take on karaoke…
Details: 11th May, 11am-7pm | Unit 8, Copeland Park Estate, 133 Copeland Rd, London SE15 3SN | £2
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➎ The BBQ Club | Interactive multi-course menus by the river
Jimmy Garcia, prince of pop ups, tycoon of temporary restaurants, baron of BBQs has returned. His BBQ Club tends to sell out every year, and because he’s not a total idiot, he’s brought it back. He’s settled into to his tried & tested spot on the Southbank, where the Thames-side venue is split into two distinct areas: a sit down restaurant overlooking the river (with an interactive BBQ build into every table), and a street food space downstairs…
Details: 3rd May – 20th September | Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
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Thirsty for more? Here are the best things going on in London this month…