Wimbledon, Euros AND National Barbecue Week! What more could you possibly wish for?
A brand new cocktail and entertainment bar in Covent Garden? OK.
Gourmet BBQ boxes to save you a supermarket trip? You got it.
A bottomless rum punch jerk brunch? Sorted.
We can even point you in the right direction for augmented reality go-karting and a huge, free food and drink festival with a view!
With all that going on, who needs July 19 to look forward to?
Give Mario a run for his money
Who are we kidding? We love this stuff!
All this from the people who brought us the Crystal Maze! You still have a few weeks for excitement to build, but we’re telling you now ’cos we wouldn’t leave booking your slot too darn long if we were you.
From August 14, Fleet Street Hill, E1
Kick off with Kitty
We’ll also be there for its quirky Instagrammable interiors, bespoke cocktails made with the best of the best, curated wine list and live music — up to and including an accordionist — and general entertainment across two levels, two stages and an al fresco terrace.
All this slap bang in the middle of where we want to be anyways. Save us a table!
Open all week, brunch on Saturdays
10 Henrietta Street, WC2
Feeling hungry like the wolf?
National Barbecue Week! They sprang that on us.
Even better, it’s actually running for two weeks this year — July 5 to 18 — and we’ve found a way of celebrating in style without the soul-destroying schlep around the supermarket before you get your briquettes burning.
There’s spring chicken, 28-day aged ex-dairy cow sirloin, lobster and even octopus… so not your usual bangers and burgers, we think you’ll agree. Fire up the barbie, people, we’re doing it in style!
Available for delivery in June and July
Get your chops around this
But if five seems a little daunting, do what we do and get yourself an On The Table BBQ Feast Box, silly.
It features sharing plates of bruschetta (pronounced ‘broo-sketta’, shall we just clear that up?), a zesty orange and fennel salad, followed by the main event — native breed steak plus lamb and pork chops, served with tzatziki, romesco and salsa verde for dipping.
And you can pair it all with organic and biodynamic wines for less of a hangover!
Working out at around £23 per person, we think that’s pretty decent for grub this good.
Available for delivery every Friday
Solar, so good
It’s at Television Centre, which is over in White City, it’s called Solar Pergola and you can dip in from Thursday to Saturday.
They’re promising bespoke drinks such as Aperol and elderflower spritz, BBQ foods of the meaty and vegan varieties, and huge screens for the watching of Euros and Wimbledon as well as movies.
Oh, and there’ll be live music. We might just move in!
From tomorrow, Television Centre Forecourt, 1 Wood Lane, W12
Stuff yourself silly
We pity anyone going to StrEATlife, the food and craft beer festival that sprawls across two weekends up in north London in August.
Seriously, how are you possibly supposed to choose what to eat? Mexican, Indian, Neopolitan, BBQ, vegan BBQ, vegan BBQ pizza… 30-odd street vendors lined up on the south terrace of Ally Pally, where the views across London are eye-popping.
And that’s before you even get to the beers from BrewDog, Pin Up Brewing Company, The Five Points Brewing Company… Or maybe gin?
Add acoustic performances, DJ sets and live bands and you’re looking at a total blow out. And entry is free! They are truly spoiling us.
August 7-8 & 21-22, Alexandra Palace, N22
It’d be Rudie not to!
But we certainly will now that Rudie’s Jerk Shack, down in Brixton Village, has come up with the idea.
There you can tuck into Jamaican brunch dishes such as charcoal-grilled, 24-hour-marinated jerk, ackee and saltfish, lamb sausages, baked butter beans, boiled green banana and bakes (they have more trad stuff such as eggs Benedict as well) and top up with Rudie’s trademark punch, made with Kingston 62 — a rum with a 300-year pedigree.
It’s like being in Jamaica, but you can get there by Tube!
Brunch Saturdays & Sundays, 12-4pm
Unit 10, Market Row, SW9
Lyon man’s mane attraction
Hackney is getting dead fancy, let us tell you. And the latest addition to the Hackers scene is the Hackney Coterie (we’re sure there should be an accent on that ‘o’, though), a warehouse brasserie and wine bar from Anthony Lyon — of esteemed seafood eaterie Lyon’s fame.
He’s roped in sommelier and sake master Kelvin McCabe and Dominic Auger of HIDE in Mayfair as his head chef.
The decor is all brick walls, concrete and greenery — well, this is Hackney: standards are high for cool interiors — and it’s coming mid-July, so you need to get your booking sorted quicksticks, especially if you want to bag yourself a table on that outside terrace.
Or just pop in and stock up from the wine shop and deli.
230 Dalton Lane, E8
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