Your January Agenda | The Best Of London, January 2025
It’s January, which means we can all make resolutions virtuous enough to impress a monk, and then flimsy enough for us all to feel massively guilty about when we inevitably break them. The simple solution? Resolve to do only the things on our January Agenda…
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POP UP EVENTS
Winter Wonderland | Ice slides, sing-a-longs, and cocktail bars
You know this one. Winter Wonderland has become a mainstay in the capital’s festive calendar, but they do at least make a noble attempt to innovate every now and then – this year, they’ve got an actual ice slide which you can careen down in an inflatable tube. And that’s to go with the parade of street food chalets, alpine lodges, sing-a-longs, ice bars, rollercoasters, and more.
Details: Until 5th January 2025 | Hyde Park | Free (off peak), £5 (standard, £7.50 (peak)
Batman Unmasked | Visit The Batcave and see some cool props
Batman turns 85 this year, but seems as ruggedly muscular as ever (proving once again that billions of dollars do make the best anti-aging cream). And in honour of the masked vigilante’s birthday, there’s a new show in town called Batman Unmasked. You’ll get to step into 9 themed rooms (a Batcave, Arkham maze, Wayne Manor library, etc) and see props & costumes from several decades of movies. Should be fun.
Details: Until 5th January | 45 Wellington Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 7BN | £21+
Veganuary Fest | No meat meet-up
Resolutions are a lot easier to keep when they look like this: Blackhorse Road’s Signature Brewing is hosting a weekend-long Veganuary Fest, with award-winning traders like The Hogless Roast, 7 Bone and Feed The Village rustling up meat-free street food, while the taproom provides the (vegan) beers and DJs all day.
Details: 11th & 12th January | Uplands Business Park, Blackhorse Lane, London E17 5QJ | Free entry
MimeLondon | Performances that will leave you speechless
After a two-year hiatus, the London International Mime Festival returns as MimeLondon. This streamlined festival showcases international productions emphasising visual storytelling, including puppetry, physical theatre, and something called “micro cinema-theatre”. Highlights include ‘La Manékinem’, a dark adaptation of a Grimm Brothers’ tale, and ‘Moby Dick’, which ambitiously features seven actors, fifty puppets, and a whale of a challenge.
Details: 11th January – 1st February 2025 | Venues across London
No Trousers Tube Ride | Mind the gap
If you have either a healthy sense of humour or a poorly organised laundry day, then the No Trousers Tube Ride might be for you. It’s a now-annual tradition (started in NYC over 17 years ago) in which hundreds of trouser-less travellers board the tube and widen some eyes. It’s all purely in the name of good fun, and there’s going to be an afterparty this year.
Details: 12th January | Old Pagoda, Chinatown | £Cold legs
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: 14th January – 22nd April 2025, 6:30 pm every Tuesday | St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square | £15
One Man Musical by Flo & Joan | “A legal minefield of a musical”
The opening words of One Man Musical by Flo & Joan are, “Is this show a legal minefield? Yes it is.” And while our lawyers have advised us to redact the rest of this, let’s just say that the man they’re roasting has a name that rhymes with ‘smandrew shmoyd shmebber’. Expect witty songs and surreal humor that affectionately lampoon the grandiosity of the musical theatre maestro. They loved it up in Edinburgh, and now it’s in Soho for a six-week stint.
Details: 16th January – 2nd March 2025 | Underbelly Boulevard, 6 Walker’s Court, Soho, W1F 0BT | £20
The London Short Film Festival | It’s like Tik Tok, but without the guilt
The London Short Film Festival is a bit of a misleading name. It’s actually ten days long, which makes it longer than Sundance. And talking of long, the festival itself is actually in its 22nd year now. Over the course of those 22 years, it’s developed a pretty decent international reputation for its risk taking, support of innovative film makers, and general quality. Hence, when you go to check out the films they have playing, you’re almost guaranteed a good time – they view over 5 thousand submissions, and prune them down to just a couple of hundred (from both the UK and abroad) to make sure they’re only showing the finest of celluloid treats…
Details: 17th – 26th January | Across London
Slomo Sauna | A sauna, in King’s Cross, run by a DJ
If you’re in the mood for a little wholesome masochism, then get ready to be happy, because Slomo Sauna is back. Yes, you will once again be able to head to a pop up sauna in King’s Cross, strip down to your swimmers, and basically turn yourself into a human dumpling before plunging into a terrifyingly cold ice bath, and remarking to everyone who’ll listen how deeply invigorating and refreshing it is. It’s reasonably priced, and there’ll be the likes of acoustic bands and “Lithuanian leaf whisking” too…
Details: 17th January – 2nd March 2025 (closed Tuesdays) | Lewis Cubitt Square, King’s Cross | £12 per session
Burns Night | Pay tribute to the bard
Burns Night is traditionally when Scots get together and raise a toast to their national treasure of a poet, Robert Burns. But frankly, we could all do with getting in on a night that demands both copious amounts of whisky drinking and dancing. So here are all the best ceilidhs, parties and haggis-fuelled suppers taking place to celebrate the bard this year…
In The Dark | Live music in total darkness
‘In The Dark’ takes mystery gigs to the next level—blindfolding the audience so you can fully focus on the music (or just panic quietly in the dark). From nu-folk to classical, world-class musicians perform in atmospheric venues like St Bartholomew The Great and the Cutty Sark. It’s either a profound sensory experience or a very niche trust exercise.
Details: 25th January – 28th March 2025 | Multiple venues | £35+
Mars In The Painted Hall | A real space invader
UK based artist Luke Jerram has made himself a small cottage industry displaying replicas of heavenly bodies in rather heavenly spaces. And now, he’s now planting our neighbour Mars into the immensely grand Painted Hall in Greenwich. Prepare yourself for a little awe time.
Details: Until 28th January 2025 | Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, SE10 9NN | £16.50
Go Skating | “Ice rink, therefore I am”
Technically, ice skating is a water-sport. Only one you do with mulled wine and hot chocolate. And we’ve rounded up the very best places to do it in…
Details: Most close on 5th, but some stay open throughout January | Across London
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 16th February | Secret location in London Bridge | £72.45+
Check out some Winter Light Trails | A little light entertainment
Some of London’s winter light trails wrap up early in January, but Canary Wharf’s annual Winter Lights show is just getting started. It’s totally free to visit, and this year involves about a dozen illuminating works of art, from glowing bathtubs and iridescent mirages to a tornado of lights…
Details: 21st January – 1st February | Across Canary Wharf | Free
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
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
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, a 12th century make-up magazine, 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:
- 35% off Sauna & Plunge sessions at Banya No. 1
- 40% off food at Sussex
- 50% off food & cocktails at Bob Bob Ricard
- 50% off at an exclusive preview of Dove
- 50% off subscription boxes to JOMO Club
- 50% off food at SACHI
…and plenty more to come throughout the month. See all your current Member Perks here.
POP UP RESTAURANTS
Rake | Excellent modern British food in a pub
Rake has just finished its residency at The Gun, 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: From 9th January | 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: 11th & 25th January | 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 from 15th January | 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: Monday–Friday: 12–3 pm, 6–9 pm; Saturday: 12–4 pm, 6–9 pm; Sunday: 12–5 pm | 43 Choumert Road, London SE15 4AR
Rice Paddy @ King & Co. | Northern Thai brilliance in a South London pub
The kitchen at the King & Co is once again the preserve of one Paul Asher a.k.a Rice Paddy – after extensive travels in south east Asia, he’s come back with a menu of joltingly fiery and fragrant dishes, mostly from Northern Thailand. Thus you expect the likes of spiced aubergine with puffed rice, curried beef noodle soup, and a dreamy warm butter cake with pandan custard.
Details: Until 18 January 2025 | The King and Co, Clapham
Tomás Gormley at Carousel | Scottish Small Plates, in time for Burns Night
Stephen Lister
If you lived in Edinburgh, you’d already know Tomás Gormley. He’s the wunderchef behind some of the city’s most impressive restaurants, from Heron (which won a Michelin star in record time) to his latest open-fire venture, Cardinal. And the good news is that you don’t have to go any further than Fitzrovia to sample his cooking, because he’s popping down to Carousel for a week of refined, Scottish-inspired dining just in time for Burns Night. Expect black truffle gougères, a Cranachan granita, and lobster tail poached in lobster shell butter smoked over old whisky barrels…
Details: 21st – 25th January | Carousel, 19-23 Charlotte St., London W1T 1RW | £79.50-85
Saucy Bast*rds Burger Bar | Smash burgers in Fitzrovia
Saucy Bast*rds, led by Michelin-trained chef Zeus Ioannou, are serving up smash burgers, crispy chicken, and plant-based options with some sass & some sauce. Their signature ’Saucy Bastrd’ features two smash patties, American cheese, burger sauce, house pickles, and fresh onion, all in an artisan brioche bun. They’ve hit the Newman Arms in Fitzrovia, and will be there for the foreseeable…
Details: Throughout January | 23 Rathbone St, London, W1T 1NG
From The Ashes x The Ram | Unbelievable BBQ
After a blisteringly popular residency here in 2023, From The Ashes have returned, suitably phoenix-like, for a second round at The Ram. Their menu of BBQ grub is, in a word, outrageous: smoked pulled pork on toast with BBQ mop sauce; smoked beef, cheddar & jalapeño pie; pit-roasted squash with tahini yoghurt and their famous Del Potro doughnut all feature, alongside monster-sized roasts on Sundays.
Details: Throughout January | The Ram, 68 Wandsworth High St, London SW18 4LB
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 January | The Sun and 13 Cantons, Soho, W1F 9NG
Ling Ling’s Residency at Bambi | Sunday takeovers this winter
Despite serving some of the best modern Chinese & Vietnamese for in the city, Ling Ling’s doesn’t have a restaurant. So they’re borrowing Bambi. The takeover’s happening every Sunday, and there’ll be specially curated cocktails to go with the likes of poached king prawns; chicken & water chestnut wontons; doubanjiang mushrooms; and more…
Details: Sundays in January | Bambi, E8
POP UP BARS
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: 9th January, 5-9pm | 1a Princeton St, Holborn, WC1R 4AX
Looking for more inspiration? See all the best things to do in London