The London pop-ups to catch in 2019

Banquet of Hoshena

Dinner Time Story, creators of the immersive dining experience Le Petit Chef, are back with a new illusionary-fuelled pop-up: Banquet of Hoshena. Billed as a ‘two-hour, five-course theatrical fine-dining experience’, 3D audio-visual technology is used to transform the dinner table into a microcosm of flowing rivers and flying spirits, where guests become the hero of the story. Expect talking plates and dishes with a supernatural edge.

Kitchen FM x Crispin

Fabien Spagnolo and Max Truel, the chefs behind roving pop-up Kitchen F.M, are taking over all-day café and wine bar Crispin for two weeks only this April. The French-born chefs met in the kitchen of the Michelin-starred Pollen Street Social, and later worked together at Frenchie Covent Garden. They briefly went their separate ways but came together again in 2017 to create Kitchen F.M – a pop-up serving seasonal dishes inspired by Spagnolo and Truel’s French roots as well as Mediterranean cuisine. For £27 a head, guests can sample everything on the menu, which features the likes of crab with focaccia and beef tartare.

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Eleven98 at Hackney Coffee Co

Hackney Coffee Co is a coffee shop by day, interactive fine dining experience by night (on occasion). Going by the name Eleven98, the pop-up supper clubs are held roughly once a month and seat up to 20 guests at a time. Guests are welcomed with a cocktail on arrival – but are expected to bring their own drink of choice to see them through the rest of the evening – leaving the focus on chef Aidan Brooks’ six-course tasting menu, which is comprised largely of ingredients grown in the borough of Hackney.

Michelle Trusselle's Myristica Supper Club Series

Fine dining meets Caribbean soul food at Michelle Trusselle’s delectable supper clubs. Dishes are exciting, overtly colourful and impossibly pretty – arranged with intense attention to detail on the plate. The food is sourced sustainably, too, all found locally in a bid to mirror the freshness of meals served in the Caribbean. The supper clubs are held once a month and regularly book up well in advance, so hurry if you want to reserve a seat at the table.

Dinner is Coming: Game of Thrones Supper Club

With the eighth and final series of Game of Thrones has come a spate of GOT-themed pop-ups. Our pick of the bunch is Dinner is Coming – an immersive dining experience at The Vaults.

The evening is a feast for both the eyes and the belly: while the drama of a royal wedding unfolds, guests are treated to multiple courses complemented by a specially designed drinks menu. Guests are encouraged to truly commit to the experience by dressing ‘in accordance with their chosen house’, and by being prepared to declare where their loyalties lie.

Tender Touches art café

Have you ever looked at a piece of artwork and thought: that looks so good I could eat it. If you have, you’ll be in good hands at Tender Touches, a pop-up gallery-cum-café at Peckham’s AMP Gallery. The menu here has been curated by Inês Neto dos Santos, a multi-disciplinary artist who focuses on merging art with sustainable food practices. Together with 11 other artists, Santos has created a dining space in which the crockery and cutlery is hand-sculpted, and both candlesticks and napkins have been designed by the artists to reflect textures of different body parts. Tuck into plates of jelly art while pondering the hanging artwork that’s been made with corn, clay and fruit.

HOPE supper club

London-based event designer Hilde has teamed up with bespoke catering company Caiger & Co. to launch a supper club in aid of St. Cuthbert’s, a drop-in centre for vulnerable and homeless people in west London. The supper club, which will run once every three months, is housed in loft venue Benk Bo, which has been styled by Hilde and decked out with flowers from Still Life Flowers, stationery from Sixfold Studio and photography from Jessica Williams. The menu, curated by Caiger & Co., promises to focus on being nutritious and macrobiotic, with a nod to nose-to-tail eating. Alcohol-wise, it’s bring-your-own.

Monograph’s Japanese Supper Club

Those with a penchant for authentic Japanese cuisine with a hint of the experimental to it should book in to one of Monograph’s Japanese Supper Clubs. The events are held in secret locations and are a chance to dine on an unusual multi-course menu: from a watercress salad through rich, broth-soaked mains and into sweets of the matcha, chocolate or sweet bean paste variety. The atmosphere is informal and relaxed, and guests are invited to bring their own drinks, too.

The Brick Bar

Just when you thought pop-ups couldn't get more niche, along comes a bar constructed entirely of Lego bricks – over a million of them in fact. Australia-based Brick Bar, which is in no way affiliated with Lego, brings a unique experience to an undisclosed location in Shoreditch this spring. A ticket gives you 90 minutes in the bar, where you can sip on a range of cocktails, tuck into the signature Brick Burger and, of course, build your own creation brick by brick.

Dinings SW3 x Japanese Cherry Blossom Season

Japanese restaurant Dinings SW3 in Knightsbridge is heralding cherry blossom (‘sakura’) season with a bespoke menu designed by executive chef Masaki Sugisaki, which alludes to the candy floss-like flower. The menu, which runs throughout April, combines traditional Japanese techniques with modern European cuisine, and features the likes of Kumamoto oysters; Sakura-infused Red Snapper fish; and Sakura Cheesecake Ice cream for dessert.

Filth burger at Dirty Burger Shoreditch

Following the success of their Pure Filth pop-up at Tate Modern, expectations were high when chef Gizzi Erskine and nutritionist Rose Ferguson announced they were embarking on a three-month residency at Dirty Burger in Shoreditch, unveiling an all-new vegan burger there. Thankfully, it’s a crowd-pleaser; rumours are rife it just might be the best vegan burger in town – and there’s nothing filthy about it.

Black beans, black quinoa and non-GMO soy mince form the basis of the patty. It's then fried and topped with vegan beer ‘cheese’, beetroot ketchup, roasted garlic aioli, cucumber pickles and crispy onions; and comes served in a bright beetroot bun. By way of sides, diners have the choice of salads or sweet potato fries dusted with seaweed miso. While for drinks, you’ll be looking at plant-based shakes made with Booja Booja ice cream.

The Chocolate Cocktail Club

Following a sell-out stint in Brighton, sugar-laden pop-up The Chocolate Cocktail Club has begun a four-month run in Shoreditch, bringing chocolate cocktails, chocolate beers and even chocolate wine to sweet-toothed Londoners. The bar serves ‘delicious duos from mochas to mint’ as well as its signature chocotini, and there's even an onsite chef making chocolate brownies. Customers are advised to book an hour-and-a-half slot in advance, and will receive a chocotini with their ticket.

Lost Lagoon by Bompas and Parr

If you’re feeling bored of the dull and dreary winter weather, respite in the form of Caribbean escape is closer than you think, thanks to a new immersive experience from Bompas and Parr. The multi-sensory experience connoisseurs – known for their awe-inspiring pop-ups including immersive ice cream exhibition SCOOP: A Wonderful World of Ice Cream – have launched a new one, Lost Lagoon, this February. It’s an underground boat-based, rum-laced adventure inviting guests to explore a series of cocktail-based escapades as part of an extravagant theatrical production.