Juniper Manor, Gingerline review ★★★★★

Ever since the pioneering events company Gingerline began inviting high-minded foodies to meet them at secret locations on the Overground (Ginger) Line, London has been hooked. They are to food what Punchdrunk are to theatre and the appetite for immersive dining shows no sign of abating.

Gingerline stage multi-course dining adventures, across multiple rooms of buildings that have been re-imagined to fit a certain theme. This time, it's an ode to the humble juniper berry, hosted in collaboration with Sipsmith Gin, and decorated with detail and pomp as an ornate country manor. The 'gin infused dining experience' features four courses, four complementary cocktails and four distinct spaces, with plenty of actors and interactions along the way.

Adventurers receive a text on the afternoon they are due to attend Juniper Manor. We were given directions and strict instructions to keep the secrets. So, this Gingerline Juniper Manor review is on a strictly need to know basis.

Armed with a welcome drink, you are given some time to explore the bar area (which can be booked separately for those who miss out on tickets or just want to come along for a drink). The cocktail menu is suitably experimental, but the £10+ cocktails must be purchased in addition to your tickets (£52-£70). You can also buy wine and beer to take with you to supplement the four gin drinks included in the experience.

Our chipper guide, Cleopatra, gave an introductory spiel about the history of Juniper Manor and the characters within. Then our group of around 15 people climbed through a clock, into the Secret Soiree. Each of the four rooms is decked out differently but with plenty of playful detail. The narrative doesn't stand up to much scrutiny, but it provides a framework for the variety of experiences.

Actors welcome you into each space, riff around a theme, and engage in some audience participation before serving food and drink.

Food ranges from bite-sized snacks to sit-down dinner and the various dietary requirements of our particular group (a veggie, a nut intolerance, and a lime allergy) were well catered for. It's tasty enough and generous enough, though not as daring or bold as we'd expected.

As either a dining experience or a piece of theatre in its own right, Gingerline is fine but forgettable; you'll find far better meals or far more sophisticated site-specific performance elsewhere, for less money. But it's the combination that makes the experience convincing. It gives you food, drink, entertainment, and novelty all in one.

Time: Sittings around 1-2 hours, and run from 6pm until 10pm every day
Price: £52.50-£70
Reservations: Click here to reserve a seat at Juniper Manor by Gingerline (more tickets are released on 5 October)