Your March Agenda | The Best Of London, March 2025
March! Spring!
The very words sound like mildly optimistic directions, as if the universe itself is encouraging us to leap enthusiastically into a season of renewal. Which would be inspiring, if we weren’t mentally still in mid-January, wondering how we all got here so fast. So, kind of a dick move from the universe. But hey ho, to soften the blow, there is a LOT of great stuff going on this month…
You’ve got everything from parties with cocktails, oysters, and a live brass band parade; to a supperclub where food is served by actual models strutting down a catwalk between tables; a chance to throw shapes on quite literally the coolest dance-floor in the city; a pop up where you can have a full-on rainbow fight (right before a full-on Indian dinner); a raucous knees-up with live music, singalongs, and bottomless Guinness; the world’s first festival of movie & game soundtracks; and an all-day disco catered by a frankly unbelievably good lineup of chefs…
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POP UP EVENTS
Mardi Gras at Oriole | Cocktails, oysters, and a live brass band parade
Oriole plans to celebrate Mardi Gras this weekend in raucous style by holding an outdoor micro-festival, complete with a live 6-piece brass band who’ll conduct a traditional New Orleans-style parade. Punchy move? Yes. Great move? Also yes. And aside from the aforementioned lively sonic assault, we can also expect New Orleans style cocktails, food, and piano music inside the bar itself. You know, just in case.
Details: 1st March, 3-6pm | Oriole, Slingsby Place, WC2E 9AB
Ice Discos at Ally Pally | Coolest dance-floor in town
You go to just one ice disco and you’ll be hooked for life – it’s a slippery slope. And now’s your chance to discover the old fashioned way if your body is capable of doing the splits, because Alexandra Palace’s glorious get-downs are back. Highlights include Club de Fromage DJs spinning ’80s classics, ’90s nostalgia, and current bangers.
Details: 1st & 15th March | Alexandra Palace Ice Rink, N22 7AY | £15
Winter Sculpture Park | Free art on a former golf course
So, every year Gallery No.32 creates a Winter Sculpture Park, which the public are free to wander around. This year, in a very avant garde move, they’ve elected to open it on the exact day it stops being winter. Very artistic interpretation of a calendar. In either case, they’ll be filling a former golf course with cool sculptures by genuinely great artists including Elliot Macdonald, Maja Novak, Leah Hickey, and Sophie Fishel.
Details: 1st March – 26th April 2025 (weekends only) | Former Thamesmead Golf Course, SE28 8QS | Free
An Evening of Unnecessary Detail | Festival of the Spoken Nerd
“An Evening of Unnecessary Detail is, in short, an event where 80% of the words in the title start with a vowel. Of the 16 unique letters in the title, 31.25% of them are used more than once. If you are enjoying this level of detail, it’s likely that you will enjoy the show.” That’s pretty much the idea, but if you feel yet more detail is in fact necessary, then here you go: it’s all part of the Festival Of The Spoken Nerd, in which self-proclaimed boffins Matt Parker, Steve Mould and Helen Arney will all take to the stage to host a stellar lineup of fellow detail fanatics, ready to regale you with an absolute onslaught of knowledge.
Details: 2nd March | The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle St, W1S 4BS | £5-£20
Intro to Tarot Reading | All hands on decks
The Last Tuesday Society invites you to embark on a tarot journey with Melissa Mercury. This beginner-friendly workshop covers the history of tarot, meanings of the Major Arcana, guided meditation, and hands-on practice with three-card spreads. And, presumably, the sudden urge to buy a velvet cloak. Tickets include a glass of Devil’s Botany Chocolate Absinthe Liqueur and admission to the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities. Bring a notebook, pen, and a tarot deck…
Details: 2nd March | The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, E8 4RP | £30
Pancake Day | Get stacked
Pancake Day is rapidly crêping up on us. But there’s no need to flip out. Because we’ve put together a stack of the best places to get the fluffy, flat, favourites in the city…
Details: 4th March | Everywhere
Art After Dark | Surreal public art in the West End
EDITORIAL USE ONLY
Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian unveils ‘Piccadilly Un:Plugged’ in London’s West End, as part of Art of London’s Art After Dark public art and culture programme. Picture date: Thursday March 6, 2025. PA Photo. Art After Dark is part of Art of London’s commitment to showcasing art in every form, delivered by Heart of London Business Alliance in collaboration with Westminster City Council and will be on display until Saturday. Photo credit should read: Doug Peters/PA Media Assignments
In one of those great, selfie-baiting masterstrokes, Art of London has commissioned some huge public artworks to fill the West End. Expect asteroid-sized moon rocks in Piccadilly Circus, towering inflatable sculptures inspired by Schrödinger’s cat paradox, and space-themed ceramic artworks at the Cabinet of Curiosities in St James’s Market Pavilion. There’ll be gallery Lates, telescoped dotted around, and apparently they’ve even arranged for a partial solar eclipse later in the month, too.
Details: 6th – 8th March 2025 | Various locations across London’s West End
The Other Art Fair | For people who like their artists alive
The Other Art Fair is triumphantly returning to the Truman Brewery this month to fill it with something far more intoxicating than mere alcohol: art. Cutting edge, affordable art from over 150 game changing artists, many of whom are there in person. Expect immersive installation, DJs, and a fully stocked bar. So there will be alcohol too.
Details: 6th – 9th March | Old Truman Brewery, 85 Brick Lane, E1 6QR | £16.50+
House Of Holi | Have a rainbow fight
Get ready to paint the town red. And yellow. And blue. And orange. And pink. And green.Because Cinnamon Kitchen are setting up an all-white party pod to help celebrate India’s festival of colours, Holi. It’s basically a huge, all-white play pod in the middle of Devonshire Square, meaning it’s completely weather-proofed too. Just remember to wear clothes you don’t mind being Jackson Pollocked, because you’ll be given a virtually limitless supply of paint-powder for a 30-min rainbow fight.
Details: 6th – 16th March 2025 | Cinnamon Kitchen, 9 Devonshire Square, EC2M 4YL | £15+
WOW at 15 | Celebrating 15 years of Women of the World
On 8 March 2025, the Royal Albert Hall will host “WOW at 15,” a special event marking the 15th anniversary of the Women of the World (WOW) Festival. The evening features a conversation between WOW Founder Jude Kelly and renowned activist Angela Davis, alongside performances and talks by guests including Annie Lennox, Sandi Toksvig, Anoushka Shankar, Errollyn Wallen, Liz Carr, and Jordan Stephens. The event will also premiere a new choral piece by Errollyn Wallen, performed by a 150-strong choir.
Details: 8th March | Royal Albert Hall, SW7 2AP | £20–£90
The Affordable Art Fair | Get great art without going Baroque
Love great art but got no Monet? Well, then get thee down to the Affordable Art Fair. There’ll be thousands of artworks from dozens of galleries on offer, as well as popup cafes, wine bars, and such and such. As for what constitutes affordable art? The explicit price range is from £100, with a whole ‘under £500’ gallery. So the name really isn’t just a load of Pollocks.
Details: 12th – 16th March | Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ, UK | £14
St. Patrick’s Day Fest | Bottomless Guinness & live music
Fun fact! St Patrick was English. Which means that this party – the largest indoor St Pat’s shindig in the city, thanks to its 1,500-strong crowd – is a thoroughly good way to honour the man. Plus it has bottomless Guinness, live music, interactive games, singalongs, and more.
Details: 15th March | O2 Forum Kentish Town, 9-17 Highgate Rd, London NW5 1JY | Tickets from £20
St Patrick’s Day Parade | A party with 50,000 people
The St Paddy’s parade is always a big affair, with roughly fifty thousand people on any given year. For 2025, we can expect a procession filled with Irish marching bands & dance troupes making its merry way from Hyde Park Corner, past Trafalgar Square, and all the way to Whitehall. Expect tons of floats, concerts, performances, food demos (from Anna Haugh no less) and more.
Details: 16th March | Starting at Hyde Park Corner at noon | Free
London Soundtrack Festival | A week-long celebration of film, TV, and gaming music
It seems weird that there hasn’t been a soundtrack festival before. Like, what were we all waiting for? A dramatic orchestral swell? Anyway, there’s one here now, and it’s going to be taking place in some of the best venues in the city, including the Royal Festival Hall, The Roundhouse, and BFI IMAX. Highlights include The Lord of the Rings trilogy screened back-to-back and introduced by Howard Shore, Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley presents an evening of Great Movie Songs at The Roundhouse with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, and there’ll be a massive concert of incredible video game music too.
Details: 19th – 26th March | Various venues across London | Ticket prices vary
BFI Flare | The nation’s largest LGBTQIA+ film festival
BFI Flare is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival, and this will be the largest BFI Flare yet. Not only will there be dozens of films from around the globe, but there’ll also be DJ nights, parties, galas, special presentations, a Big Gay Film Quiz, and more.
Details: 19th – 30th March | BFI Southbank, SE1 8XT | Ticket prices vary
London Original Print Fair | Get some fresh prints
Looking for some fresh prints? Then head to Somerset House towards the end of the month and check out the London original print Fair. If you can believe it, it’s the longest running art fair in London, now celebrating its 40th edition. You’ll get to see (and possibly buy) prints by everyone from Matisse & Picasso to Hockney & Basquiat.
Details: 20th – 23rd March | Somerset House, The Strand, WC2R 1LA | £20
Silent Disco in the Painted Hall | Dance under the stars (literally)
A silent disco, on a luminous dancefloor, underneath a massive model of the sun, inside Britain’s answer to the Sistine Chapel, while drinking space-themed cocktails. Sure, that sentence sounds like a slightly random word salad, but it’s actually something you can do, for real, this month.
Details: 22nd March | The Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, SE10 9NN | £45
CeramicSpace + Space House | Where pottery meets brutalism
CeramicSpace is taking over the iconic, and very appropriately named ‘Space House’ for a free exhibition marrying contemporary ceramics with raw 1960s architecture. Under the building’s distinctive concrete Y-columns, works by artists like Jane Cairns and Sue Gunn will be showcased on Case furniture, including Matthew Hilton’s ‘Dulwich’ tables and Robin Day’s ‘Forum’ seating. Oh, and don’t miss the limited tours of Space House on 28 March.
Details: 26th–28th March | Space House, Kemble Street, WC2B 4AN | Free
Mother’s Day Floral Workshop: ‘Spring is Served’ | Become her favourite child
Here’s a gift of an idea for Mother’s Day: head out to the ‘Spring is Served’ workshop at Chelsea Physic Garden. Under the guidance of seasoned florists Jessica and Shirley, participants will curate vintage-style plates adorned with eclectic pots filled with beautiful spring plants, bulbs, and flowers. She’ll 100% be dropping it into the family WhatsApp.
Details: 30th March | Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HS | £50
It’s Mother’s Day | Consider this a friendly reminder
Guess what? It’s Mother’s Day on the 30th. That means, if you’re reading this, you can get flowers before the florist’s triple their prices, and book a restaurant before all you’re left with is a 4pm lunch in a service station. You’re welcome.
Fancy restaurants | Restaurants with a view | Best afternoon teas
Helios | Go on, sun
Luke Jerram is an artist whose niche is making massive, hypnotically illuminated, incredibly detailed models of the earth, the moon, and Mars, and dangling them all in extraordinary spaces for people to gaze up at in jaw-dropping awe, and then immediately whip out their phones to flood the ol’ social feed. And after working his way through the heavenly bodies, he’s now going for the real star of our solar system: the sun. It’s dangling in the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College (AKA ‘Britain’s answer to the Sistine Chapel’) for the next three months…
Details: Until 25th March 2025 | Old Royal Naval College | Romney Road, SE10 9NN| £16.50
In The Dark | Live music in total darkness
In The Dark takes you to some of the most amazing venues in London… then blindfolds you, so that you don’t see any of them. Because that’s when they put on a live concert, with world-class musicians piping music directly into your undistracted consciousness in a remarkable way.
Details: Until 28th March 2025 | Multiple venues | £35+
Sunday Papers Live | Some first-class relaxation
Sunday Papers Live is back. It sells out every single event, and it’s returning this month ready to transform its new venue into a living personification of the most relaxed day of the week. Park Village, just off Regent’s Park, is usually a studio space for film, TV and advertising, which basically makes it one huge blank canvas. And upon that canvas they shall daub sink-right-in sofas, piles of oversized newspapers, fascinating speakers, live music, Bloody Marys, and a borderline reckless amount of tea & cake.
Details: 30th March | Park Village, One Park Village East, NW1 7PX | £20+
Scream Along | Something to shout about
An art installation that encourages full-blown, blood-curdling, from-the-pit-of-your-belly screaming? Sign us up.
Express some cathartic rage in a socially acceptable way thanks to the British conceptual artist Saskia Takens-Milne. The installation is housed in The Bohemians Hair Salon along Deptford High Street and inside the rather chic-looking space you’ll find a staircase leading to the basement. There, you’ll find a space that’s been transformed into a dimly-lit, speakeasy bar complete with a microphone and stage, and a silent loop of women on film screaming, ready for women to step up and, well, scream-along with them to their heart’s content.
Details: Until 31st March | The Bohemians Space | Underneath The Bohemians Hair Salon, 53 Deptford Broadway, Deptford, SE8 4PH| Free
The Conversation | Enlightening evenings in an atmospheric crypt
London’s church crypts are full of intellectual luminaries – but conversations with them tend to be pretty one-sided. Which is why it’s high time we had The Conversation: a series of thought-provoking evenings held in the atmospheric crypt below St Martin-in-the-Fields, featuring a talented array of philosophers, writers, scientists, theatre-makers and more. All of whom are, helpfully, alive – they include Hanif Kureishi, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and David Spiegelhalter. After the main discussion, engage in personal conversations with the speakers at your table.
Details: Until 22nd April 2025, 6:30 pm every Tuesday | St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square | £15
Vogue: Inventing The Runway | 40ft legs striding across the screen
After hosting two blockbuster exhibitions (The Moonwalkers and David Hockney: Bigger and Closer), Vogue: Inventing the Runway is the Lightroom’s third show. It makes use of the magazine’s extensive archives, and the venue’s immense, 40ft wall-to-wall & ceiling-to-floor screens to deliver a breathtaking, 360° documentary like no other – involving a lot of very long legs.
Details: Until 26th April 2025 | Lightroom, Lewis Cubitt Square, London, N1C 4DY | £25
The Magician’s Table | Closeup magic & cocktails
The Magician’s Table is a pop-up immersive close-up magic show, and – cynicism alert – we often find ourselves a little disappointed by immersive shows, given the hyperbolic, quasi-evangelical over-promising, compared to the plywood-flavoured disappointment that so frequently ends up happening. Well, this one actually nails it. The closeup magic that the show is built around is genuinely mind-boggling, and brilliantly executed. The story ticks along nicely, there’s some great audience involvement, and the cocktails aren’t half bad either. Get there before it disappears into thin air….
Details: Until 30th April | Secret location in London Bridge | £72.45+
Astronomy Photographer of the Year | These photographers shoot for the stars
Want to see some truly stellar photography?
Head on down to the Astronomy Photographer Of The Year. It’s free, it’s in the National Maritime Museum, and it’s ready to blow your mind into cosmic dust until summer of 2025. This is the 16th year they’ve held the competition, and they’ve received thousands of entries from dozens of countries, narrowing them down to just the best 100 which they’ve displayed in the lightboxes that line the walls of the museum. And there are some insanely good images in there…
Details: Until Summer 2025 | National Maritime Museum, SE10 9NF | Free
Pope’s Grotto Open Days | 300 year old tunnels dug by a witty and slightly unhinged poet
So, back in the 1720s, in the sweet, innocent days before the iron fist of planning permission crushed the dreams of eccentric rich men with shovels, Alexander Pope dug a whole bunch of tunnels under his house in Twickenham. Those tunnels are, as one might expect from such a witty and slightly unhinged poet, beautifully atmospheric and suitably eerie – and they’re open to the public just twice a month from now until the end of the year.
Details: Open twice monthly from until December 2025 | Pope’s Grotto, Cross Deep, TW1 4QG | £10
Go To The Theatre
You may laugh, you may cry, you may vomit, you may do all three… See The Best Shows On At The Theatre Now
Take A Day Trip
London’s so enormous that just travelling from Notting Hill to Hackney can feel like a day trip.
But if you merely double that journey time (and in some cases, it might genuinely be quicker), you could also find yourself eating a chippie tea on the beach; hiking along glorious clifftops; walking down quaint cobbled lanes and enjoying a wine tasting in the vineyard where it was produced… Take a look at these 21 ideas
See An Exhibition
Okay look, we’re fully aware that it seems like we’re padding the list with entries like this. “An exhibition?? What a creative and offbeat idea!” you say. We hear you. Buuuut this month features some pretty great stuff on show, including fake food from Japan, Louis XV’s actual (stuffed) pet rhinoceros, and a dive into the imagination of Tim Burton… See the best exhibitions on right now.
Your Perks, this month | A brief reminder
Just as a quick reminder, as a Nudge Member you have access to:
- 50% off cocktails at Viajante87
- 50% off secret soft launch at 3 Gorges
- 50% off baking classes at Bread Ahead
- 50% off whiskey cocktails at The Sun Tavern
- 40% off tickets to Prehistoric Planet at Lightroom
- 50% off class packs at ARC
…and plenty more to come throughout the month. See all your current Member Perks here.
POP UP RESTAURANTS
Flavour&Some | An offbeat supperclub with dancing on the tables
Flavour&Some is a company that specialises in boundary-pushing dining experiences, and it’s about to bring one of them to Battersea Power Station for three nights at the very start of spring. It’s basically a massive supper club in a uniquely atmospheric space, with avant-garde performances set between courses of refined food that’s frequently served directly onto the table…
Details: March 1st & 2nd | Control Room A, Battersea Power Station, SW11 8BZ | £145
Rambutan & Cousins x Ixta Belfrage | Sri Lanka meets Brazil for one night only
It feels like a slap in the world’s culinary face that Ixta Belfrage doesn’t have her own restaurant yet, but we get a fleeting glimpse of what could be for one night this month, when she’ll be taking ownership of Rambutan to serve up her own menu of Goraka-grilled pork, tropical lagoon prawns, and textures of mango with buffalo curd.
Details: 2nd March | Rambutan, 10 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AD | £60pp
Coombeshead Farm x Waterman’s Arms | A one-night-only farm-to-table feast
If you’ve never heard of Coombeshed Farm, it’s part restaurant, part guesthouse, part bread-making cult, all set on a beautiful working farm in Cornwall. And this month, head chef Tom Adams is coming to town for a one-night-only collaboration with the Waterman’s Arms, and he’s bringing all the bounties of his land, including Dexter beef, Mangalitza pork, and that obscenely good sourdough.
Details: 3rd March | Waterman’s Arms, 375 Lillie Road, SW6 7PD | £55pp
Trullo at Harvey Nichols | Fresh pasta in a fresh space
Trullo is now a stone-cold classic, having been one of the first restaurants in London to spear-tip the fresh pasta golden age we all live in way back in ’08. And now it’s Benjamin Buttoning its way back to a simple pop up on the fifth floor of Harvey Nicks for the next three months. Expect classics (beef shin ragu, pici cacio e pepe, etc) a few new dishes (including tagliarini with Beluga caviar) and and some stellar wines.
Details: 3rd March – 3rd June | Fifth Floor, Harvey Nichols, SW1X 7RJ
Carousel x PYRO | A fiery Greek preview before Borough Market gets it
When PYRO opens in Borough Market later this year, it’ll mean that – along with OMA and AGORA – there won’t be a better place to get Greek live fire cooking outside of a taverna without smoke alarms. It’s because head chef Yiannis Mexis basically bleeds Michelin Stars, having finished a stint as head chef at HIDE. And if you want a preview, you can head down to Carousel this month…
Details: 4th – 15th March | 19-23 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 1RL | £79.50
Bloodshot Disco | The best catered party maybe ever
“4 DJs. 5 chefs. 1 disco ball.” That’s the simple pitch for Bloodshot Disco, the all-day, all-night, ’70s-style fever dream from chef Robin Gill (of Bloodshot Supperclub fame) taking place this month. And what that little quote doesn’t tell you is that the chefs include Angela Hartnett, Neil Borthwick (of the French house), Gizzi Erskine, Valentine Warner, and Robin Gill himself. And that the DJs include Darren Emerson (of Underworld), Nancy Noise, Arveene, and Chewy. And that the disco ball will be spinning from 1pm – 11pm.
Details: 8th March, 1 PM–11 PM | Darby’s, 3 Viaduct Gardens, SW11 7AY | £130 (all day), £17 (after party only)
Jemma Harrison at Dina | Jewish-Eastern European flavours for International Women’s Day
On International Women’s Day, Dina welcomes back chef Jemma Harrison (Westerns Laundry, Camille, Petersham Nurseries) for a one-day-only kitchen takeover. This time, her menu draws from her Jewish and Eastern European heritage, with influences from recent Asian travels. Expect latkes, oversized schnitzel, and a wine list celebrating female winemakers.
Details: 8th March, from 12:30 PM | Dina, 37A Queensdown Road, E5 8NN
LUTO X Joyau | Filipino food in a lovely wine bar
LUTO is a Filipino comfort food concept from head chef Mary San Pablo (A Wong, Som Saa, Quality Chop House, etc), who has a gift for the kind of food that can make you nostalgic about a childhood that you never even had. And this month she’s popping up in the delightfully charming & intimate wine bar Joyau, which means there’ll be plenty of great booze, rich flavours, and probably zero leftovers.
Details: Until 8th March | Joyau, E7 0AQ | Book here
D4100 Singles Night | Meet the love of your life: pizza
“How did you two meet” your impishly adorable grandchildren will ask you and your aged, stalwart, apple-of-your-eye partner. “Well, it all started when we got pizza with like, 98 other people at a singles night run by the guys at Dinner For One Hundred, and there were welcome cocktails, and a quiz, and we all had to swap seats like 5 times until everyone had flirted with everyone else, and then the two of us were both equally terrible at making small talk, which felt like fate.”
Details: 18th March | BAR D4100, 143 Evelina Rd, SE15 3HB | £25
Momo Party | Unlimited dumplings from Anna Di Costa
If the words ‘momo party’ don’t excite you, then a) check your pulse, and b) stop reading about the avalanche of fluffy, silky, delicately pleated, and crucially unlimited Nepalese dumplings which are going to be on offer at Eat Momo for one day this month, with special guest fillings from Macanese chef Ana da Costa, who’ll be throwing down with prawn-filled momo served with a peri-peri lemon butter sauce.
Details: 18th March | 1 Bank End Arch 229, SE1 9FJ | £28
The Candid Club | A supperclub where models serve the food
© Cleo Leather
Created by a couple of friends (Jack Redmayne & Kit Paterson) who’ve variously worked as actors, models, and chefs, the Candid Club is an absurdly glamorous idea: they take over a hotel, restaurant, or gallery, and set up a kind of catwalk between the tables for models to strut down delivering the food. Thus each event serves as both fashion show and dinner. Their 4th event is happening this March in the alluringly beautiful Amar Gallery in Fitzrovia, featuring the fine art of Héléne de Beauvoir, plus a capsule collection of bleeding-edge fashion…
Details: 27th March | Amar Gallery, 14 Whitfield St, W1T 2RF | Tickets out 6th March (sign up here)
Dough Hands @ The Old Nun’s Head | Pizza that’s all about the crust
What with the fact that you can throw a stick in this town and hit six pizza places, it takes something special to stand out from the gluten jungle – and Dough Hands has that something. It’s the work of chef Hannah Drye, and she wields a near-monastic focus on creating perfect, crisp crusts using regenerative flour from Shipton Mill and Wildfarmed. Of course, the toppings don’t go without their due attention, and you’ll find the likes of ‘nduja & hot honey; soy-roasted mushrooms; and more.
Details: Throughout March | The Old Nun’s Head, 15 Nunhead Green, London SE15 3QQ
Ling Ling’s at The Bluecoats | A+ modern Chinese food in a pub
If there’s a prime spot for a pop-up in London, odds are Ling Ling’s has already rolled in, taken over, and left everyone raving about it. We’re talking everywhere from Bambi, to Papi, The Plimpsoll, The Dusty Knuckle, Mortimer House, Peckham Cellars, and many more. And somehow, she never misses. But now, this roving kitchen queen is settling down (sort of), with a residency at The Bluecoats pub. Expect “no rules” modern Chinese food (chicken & Thai basil wontons, “Dad’s” aromatic duck salad, and matcha & white chocolate tiramisu) alongside a superb Sunday roast.
Details: Throughout March | The Bluecoats, 614 High Rd, N17 9TA
Rake | Excellent modern British food in a pub
Rake has recently finished a residency at The Gun (RIP), and it was – pun intended – banging.
For the new year, it’s moved onto the climes of The Compton Arms. It’s a modern British restaurant concept helmed by a hyper-talented trio of chefs including Jay Claus, Peter Ward & Syrus Pickhaver – their collective CVs include top-tier joints like Brat, ACME Fire Cult, and Quo Vadis, and it bloody well shows. Their food is very British, highly satisfying, frequently creative, and skilfully executed. Let’s hope there’s more to come.
Details: Throughout March | The Compton Arms, 4 Compton Avenue, N1 2XD
Uyen Luu | Vietnamese supperclubs in London Fields
Uyen Luu has her fingers in a lot of pies. She’s a chef, a cookbook author, a food photographer, she hosts cookery classes, and she does indeed throw the occasional supperclub, all from her London Fields studio space. Head on down and you’ll be treated to all manner of fragrant & lovely Vietnamese food (pho, chicken papaya salad, 5-spice pork belly, etc). No pies, though.
Details: 1st, 8th, 15th and 29th March | Unit 32, Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road, E8 4QN | £60pp
Yagi Izakaya at Kernel | Japanese comfort food in a brewery
The Kernel just got a promotion: Yagi Izakaya has moved to serve up its splendid Japanese comfort food, ready to be washed down with the ultra-fresh brews. Expect the likes of chicken karaage burgers, shokupan prawn toast, and burnt cheesecake with miso caramel.
Details: Weds-Sun throughout March | 132 Spa Rd, SE16 3AE
ROCCO at The Montpelier | European coastal cuisine, in Peckham
The Montpelier’s kitchen is now helmed by ROCCO, offering a menu inspired by European coastal cuisine, and it shore is good. Seriously though, it is. Expect whole grilled fish, BBQ meats and top-tier oysters, all prepared with seasonal British produce and live-fire cooking.
Details: Throughout March | 43 Choumert Road, London SE15 4AR
Mamapen | London’s best Cambodian eatery
Mamapen is London’s only Cambodian restaurant – and it’s a pop up at that. And if, when hearing that, you thought ‘Really?? That feels like it can’t possibly be true’, then you’re not alone. In a city with the sheer depth of culinary choice that the capital has (we have Eritrean eateries! Javanese joints! Qatari cafes!), it definitely seems weird. So it’s a very good thing indeed that Mamapen exists, because otherwise we’d be missing some punchily flavourful, delightfully unfamiliar, and remarkably good food.
Details: Throughout March | The Sun and 13 Cantons, Soho, W1F 9NG
POP UP BARS
Liquid Dreams | An all-you-can-drink beer festival
Liquid Dreams is indeed the stuff that liquid dreams are made of: a two-day independent beer festival showcasing “some of the craziest and most flavoursome beers available from the UK and beyond” that you’re free to drink from as freely as if they were flowing from your own personal beer waterfall. It’s hitting the Mall Tavern at the start of the month.
Details: 28th February & 1st March | The Mall Tavern, Notting Hill, 71 Palace Gardens Terrace, W8 4DY | £50
Bar Night at Novelty Automation | Pop up bar in a surreal arcade
Novelty Automation has some truly weird arcades. There’s a Money Laundering cash drop, an ‘Auto Frisker’ that will pat you down like a mechanical bouncer, and a ‘Small Hadron Collider’ among many others. It’s like satire meets surrealism meets stainless steel. And for one night a month, there’s a pop up bar there too.
Details: 6th March, 5-9pm | 1a Princeton St, Holborn, WC1R 4AX
The Rebellious Wine Club | Female winemakers & tastemakers take on wine myths
Settling into Bourne & Hollingsworth as of this month, The Rebellious Wine Club invites first class female talent from the UK’s wine industry in to start debates, bust myths, dive into grape-based rabbit holes, and generally mix things up. The lineup’s still TBC, but the talent that’s already graced the room has been absolutely first class.
Details: 27th March | Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings, EC1R 0HU | £39 (inc. wine & snacks)
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