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Slideshow
Top 10 London summer pop-ups
With the summer of rain you may think the pop-up bar trend has died another death, but the recent good weather has spurred people to drink somewhere new and exciting.
The entertainment at the Jim Beam Honey event pop-up bar earlier this year.
The beauty about a pop-up bar is that you get to explore alternative venues, rooftop spaces, art installations, inventive menus and creative events.
And in London, pop-ups present the ideal opportunity to explore the capital’s urban spaces with a drink in-hand.
In Camden you can go to the “beach“, The Calf is close to all the Olympic action and there is the always reliable floating cocktail lounge.
Around London there are lots of “pop-up” options and we have rounded up the best 10 on offer this summer.
10. Red Market Pop Up
This is a huge 20,000 sq.ft. space and every inch of it is taken up with summer fun.
There are giant custom-made screens showing feature films, video art and key moments from the Olympics and Paralympics.
Throw in street food and cocktails from local traders, and it sounds like a good summer pop-up. Also on site is a summer house, a mini beach, table tennis and hammocks.
The venue will also show off two Banksy artworks not seen for five years.
12pm-11pm daily 6 July-2 September. (Free daily)
288-299 Old Street, EC1V 9DP.
9. The Calf, London
The little sister to The Cow, also located at Westfield Shopping centre, it will be well worth visiting for those wanting to find a bar or pub near the Olympic stadium.
It is quirky, colourful and a great place to drink and celebrate the London 2012 atmosphere.
Pub group Geronimo Inns has opened the pop-up which offers British produce, real ales and a selection of wines.
Geronimo founder Rupert Clevely said: “I am extremely excited by our first pop-up pub, the Calf. Our challenge has been to create a warm, exciting and vibrant atmosphere in a cathedral-like space.
“We have achieved an exciting environment which will be fun, very different and visually spectacular, all within a limited budget.”
- Open daily
- Westfield Stratford City, Stratford, London
- uk.westfield.com
8. Barking Bathhouse
Something & Son has completed The Barking Bathhouse in Barking town centre.
The project was sponsored by the mayor’s Outer London Fund for Barking and Dagenham Council and includes a spa, bar and sauna.
Paul Smyth of Something & Son said: “When you travel the world, some of the best, most memorable experiences can happen in a simple massage hut or bathhouse. And many other cultures see visits to a bathhouse as an essential way to de-stress or spend time with others.
“We hope to recreate that unpretentious but effective philosophy at the Barking Bathhouse.”
The building’s pre-fabricated design draws on the industrial heritage of Barking and the darkened timber farm buildings found in Essex and the wooden beach huts of Kent.
Open daily
Axe Street, Barking, Essex, IG11 7LX
7. Gin Bar at The Serpentine Bar & Kitchen
The minute the sun comes out, the good advice is to head straight to the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen in Hyde Park.
On the lawn you’ll find the Gin Bar, a restored 1950s Citroen H van which only makes an appearance on sunny days.
On offer is Pimm’s, 10 varieties of the juniper spirit and barbecued food. To top off the experience there are deckchairs and beanbags strewn on the grass to relax on.
Open on sunny days only.
Serpentine Bar & Kitchen, Serpentine Road, Hyde Park, W2 2UH. +44 (0)20 7706 8114.
www.serpentinebarandkitchen.com
6. The Dead Dolls Club’s Summer Affair
The Dead Dolls Club has matched up with the London Fields Brewery and has a new full bar which features leftover barrels and vintage bottles.
On the drinks menu is a dry-hopped wheat ale called Half Nelson.
In terms of food on offer a self-built “BBQ machine” will cook suckling pig (fed on leftover brewery hops), bottom beef ribs, “giant” prawn kebabs and game sausages.
No booking, no entrance fee.
Midday-midnight, on these dates: August 4, 5, 18, 19
The London Fields Brewery, 370 Helmsley Place, E8 3RR
5. The Floating Cocktail Lounge
Part of the 20-acre London Pleasure Gardens over at Olympics central, this much anticipated venue, the first of its kind in the capital, is billed as “a pinnacle of luxury and decadence” and boasts a 24-hour licence.
Soul Shakers is devising the cocktail list.
Floating Cocktail Lounge, London Pleasure Gardens, North Woolwich Road, E16 2BS.
4. Queen of Hoxton Rooftop
Perched high above Shoreditch for the summer is the Queen’s new rooftop retreat.
Local artist Matthew Dent has given the walls a new lease of life. Plus there is a new cocktail menu (including frozen cocktails) and a second bar has been added up there to avoid queues.
Rooftop Film Club is another exciting feature as it is an outdoor film experience showing classic, cult and recent film releases on the rooftop of the Queen of Hoxton until the end of August.
Daily 12pm-10pm
1-5 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3JX
3.The Maddox Club at Forman’s Fish Island
The Maddox Club beach bar at Forman’s Fish Island Riviera is said to be “where Saint-Tropez meets Mayfair.”
Maddox Club has been at the top of luxury London nightlife since it was founded by legendary nightclub proprietor Fred Moss in 2007.
Their pop-up at Forman’s will be open from 11.30am until 2am for all 17 days of the Olympics and is being represented as a place to rub shoulders with Olympic athletes and global superstars.
Access is free to guests of exclusive hire suites, or at a cost of £25 per person for beach bar entry only. This will be the VIP destination of the Games, and most likely the hottest ticket in town when the sun goes down.
27 July-12 August from 11.30am until 2.00am
Stour Road, Fish Island, London, E3 2NT
2. The reUNION
The reUNION is a new public house, in the spirit of the 1830 Beer Act in which anyone could apply for a licence and open up their front room to the public, to sell – and even brew – beer from their own home.
On offer are London micro-brewery beers, snacks from Borough Market, pub games and film-screenings – or you could restore yourself at the mini-spa.
Open daily
100 Union Street, SE1 0NL
1. The Fourth Wall
This is a roaming cocktail bar from those behind Bourne and Hollingsworth and Blitz Party.
It is a recreation of the Bourne & Hollingsworth bar in Fitzrovia – a basement bar with a vintage flair. This roaming twin is an exact replica down to the last detail, clad in floral wallpaper, chintzy decor, vintage furniture, old lamps and tablecloths. It moves to a new secret location each weekend.
It is tagged as “London’s first wandering bar.”
It is so secret there are no images for it…..
Fridays & Saturdays, 5pm-1am
Various Secret Locations….in August