18 Mum-Friendly Things To Do In London This Mother's Day

Look like you planned weeks in advance when really it's now Thursday and you're on BuzzFeed.

1. A trip to Southern Italy at Union Street Cafe.

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Union Street Cafe has just launched a new pop up downstairs that's inspired by southern Italy. Called The Olive Grove, its menu is all about olive oil, with each dish (think focaccia sandwiches, olive oil-drizzled sea bream tartare, and creamy mozzarella mousse) focused around the ingredient.

The cocktails also use olive oil, and before you get up and leave, hear me out – the Olive Garden cocktail of gin, violet, elderflower, and yes, olive oil, is a MASTERPIECE of taste, as is the dark chocolate and mint cioccolato. I was sceptical, then after tasting I *believed*. So, in conclusion, the food is great, the interiors are great, and this is a great last-minute shout for Mother's Day.

Price: cocktails £9.50, dishes are 6 for £20 or £4 each

Book here

2. Cocktail-fuelled bowling at All Star Lanes.

All Star Lanes

If like me, you love organised fun, then All Star Lanes is the place to take your mum to. They have bowling, karaoke, and a restaurant, so you can have wholesome activities and food all day. Pro tip: Try to book the Brick Lane branch as it's just had a big fancy refurb.

Plus, if you go on Mother's Day they're giving away a free "Mum-osa" to all mums: a sparkling concoction of rose, prosecco, and pomegranate.

Price: cocktail is free, bowling is £9.95 at peak times and £6.95 off-peak

Book here

3. Lunch at Sea Containers.

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Sea Containers is a terribly chic restaurant at the Mondrian Hotel that will make your mum think you've gone to way more trouble and expense than you actually have. The interiors and views of the river Thames are suitably wow-factor-y, but the sharing dishes start from only £4 a pop.

Plus, on Mother's Day your mum's brunch or dinner will be taken off the bill (as long as four or more are dining, so take the whole family). Basically, you get all the credit, minus the expense.

Price: sharing dishes range from £4 to £20+ so you can budget or splurge as much as you like

Book here

4. A floral afternoon tea at The Savoy.

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If you really do want to splurge on your mum this year though, the Savoy is one of your best bets. It's doing a special Mother's Day afternoon tea that sounds brilliant. Full traditional afternoon tea in the glorious Thames Foyer (google pictures, it's bloody magical), plus a bouquet of lush Savoy Flowers and a bottle of Penhaligon's new eau de parfum, Savoy Steam (smells of rosemary, fresh geranium, and rose), on arrival.

Sure, it's £200 for two people, but if you've got it, I'm sure your mama deserves it. Either book it for this weekend, or for a later date of her choosing.

Price: £200 for two people

Book here

5. Sweet treats at Chai Wu.

Chai Wu

Upgrade your weekly family Chinese meal with a visit to Chai Wu – a brilliant contemporary Chinese restaurant that will blow your usual sweet and sour chicken out the window. Plus they've created an amazing-looking (complimentary) "Chocolate Garden" dessert just for Mother's Day; a miniature-sized flowerpot with a chocolate cake topping and a dark chocolate mousse and rich blackcurrant cream centre.

Price: dishes from £15 and the dessert is free

Book here

6. Gin-themed afternoon tea at Mr Fogg's.

Mr Fogg's

Because I've yet to find a mother who doesn't like gin. Mr Fogg's Residence, a gorgeous Mayfair bar hidden behind a closed door down an unassuming street, does one of my favourite afternoon teas in town – a gin one.

Dine on finger food and gin cocktails served in tea pots, surrounded by fireplaces, plush velvet chairs, and miscellaneous Victoriana decor everywhere. There's also a beautiful botanical gin garden outside to sit in afterwards for, you guessed it, more gin.

Price: £40 per person

Book here

7. A day of culture at the Museum of Brands.

Museum of Brands

The Museum of Brands is a lovely little out-of-the-way museum that's fantastic, but suitably unknown enough to look like you did a lot of research to find it. This Mother's Day, there'll be talks and walks exploring the history of Mother's Day and how mums are seen in the media.

TBH, whether you're going with your mum or not I think this sounds fascinating – it's basically a building full of old adverts featuring everything from Edwardian games, to 1920s biscuits, to nostalgic old brands like Spangles, Kellogg’s County Store, and Lyon Maid ice lollies.

Price: tickets from £8 for children, £11 for concessions, and £14 for adults

Book here

8. Dinner with a surprise at Nutbourne.

Nutbourne

Nutbourne is a really lovely brasserie that's airy and bright and serves up things like wood pigeon saltimbocca and crispy chicken skin with saffron aioli. Plus, on Sunday they'll be giving mums free orange blossom macarons with their dinner or lunch and omg I can't tell you how much I want orange blossom macarons, does anyone have a child they could lend me so I can pretend I'm a mother, I'll split the macarons with you (JK, I won't be sharing them).

They're also giving away macarons at Rabbit, the sister restaurant, but I think it's better to try go to Nutbourne as it's new so likely to be less busy.

Price: starters from £8.50, mains from £14.50

To book email [e-mail] or call 0207 351 0555.

9. A floral crown masterclass at Corrigan's.

Instagram: @corrigans_mayfair

Did anyone else go to a country school where they forced your poor, harried mother to HANDMAKE floral crowns for you to wear in the school Maypole dance? No? Well, if they did, now is the chance to say thank you by going and making a flower crown for your mum at Corrigan's floral crown masterclass this Sunday.

There'll be florists on hand to teach you and your mum about floristry, plus champagne and canapés – or you can skip that and just head straight to the set Mother's Day lunch, which also sounds very tasty.

Price: £75 and the set Mother’'s Day lunch is £38.50

Book here

10. A floristry workshop at Coppa Club.

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If the idea of making a flower crown brings back too many traumatic memories for your mum though, then there's a regular floristry workshop going on at Coppa Club. You'll learn about floral vase arrangement and "the techniques to build

structure and style with the flowers in an artistic form", which sounds lovely, but also let's face it you're 70% going just so you get to sit in their ridiculously cool rooftop bubbles. FYI, if you want to do this, book it now – they literally only have three tickets left.

Price: £40

Book here

11. A Mamma Mia! screening at Pop Brixton.

Mamma Mia

One of my mum's all-time favourite films – yes, I am panic researching for Mother's Day using this article as a flimsy excuse, YOU'RE HERE TOO, YOU CAN'T JUDGE ME – screened by Night Star Cinema at the very cool Pop Brixton location. If Brixton isn't a good location for you though, there's also a super luxe private screening at One Aldwych that includes dinner and champagne for £55 each.

Cost: £15 a ticket

Book here

12. A relaxing retreat at The Bingham.

Instagram: @thebingham

This is like the queen of all Mother's Day gifts. The Bingham, a plush hotel that's in Richmond (i.e. the countryside but still in London), is doing a Mother's Day package this weekend. Pay for a night in the hotel and you'll get a £50 voucher to redeem against their Mother's Day lunch menu (white leek soup! Pork belly! Chocolate ganache with blood orange!), afternoon tea, or a treatment at the Bingham’'s sister spa, Bhuti.

Price: from £221 for a double room

Book here

13. Brunch at Exmouth Grind.

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I love brunch and I love Exmouth Grind, so this is ticking all my boxes. The small plates at this new Grind location are exemplary, as are the service and interiors. Definitely order the fried green tomato with Meyer lemon as well as the chorizo-stuffed dates when you're there; and skip dessert, all room should be saved for the savoury food.

Plus if you book on Mother's Day there'll be complimentary prosecco – I'm swiftly learning from all these free Mother's Day things that mums just float on fizzy wine. From what I gather, prosecco is like catnip for mothers.

Price: dishes from £5, and if you book on Mother's Day there'll be complimentary prosecco for you and your mum

Book here

14. Live opera and small plates at TWID.

TWID

The interiors at TWID are incredible – it's themed around opera, so inside there are gorgeously luxe tables set up like opera boxes. Ask for a table "upstairs" if you can. The food is good if you know what to order – the scallops should be avoided but the venison medallions are gorgeous, as are the crab and the ox cheek – but it's the live music and decor that are the stars of the show. On Sunday there'll be a special live opera performance, plus a free Hugo cocktail (prosecco, elderflower, and mint) for all pre-bookings.

Price: dishes from £6, desserts from £5.50, cocktails are £7

Book here

15. A squiffy picnic at Cahoots.

Instagram: @cahootslondon

I've been taking people to Cahoots for a long time, and it's never failed to leave friends and family alike ridiculously impressed. There's something inherently brilliant about smugly leading someone to the slightly hidden doorway, giving your name to the doorman, and heading down into a 1940s-wartime-themed tube carriage. Basically, taking your mum here is a present for her AND for your ego.

I'd recommend booking onto the Mother's Day "squiffy picnic" if you can – it's £46 per person, but you get daffodils, pink fizz, and a Happy Mother's Day cookie plus a cocktail each and a full hamper of food.

Price: £46 per person

To book contact [e-mail] or call 020 7352 6200

16. A chocolate experience with Hotel Chocolat.

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If your mum has a sweet tooth, I love the sound of Hotel Chocolat's chocolate school. There are two options available: the Bean to Bar making experience where you can make your own chocolate, and the Chocolate Tasting Adventure, which is a two-hour session of chocolate tasting and how to pair it, with prosecco thrown in for good measure.

FYI, you can either book this for this weekend, or buy it as a gift card so your mum can pick her own date to go. Also, if for some reason you're on this post and not based in London, they also have non-London locations.

Price: £65 for the Bean to Bar making experience, and £50 for the tasting experience

Book chocolate making here and tasting here

17. A river cruise with London Shell Co.

London Shell Co

London Shell Co is doing a charming Mother's Day cruise that involves a menu of earl grey cocktails, oysters, Dorset char with confit egg, mussels steamed in scrumpy, cod with burnt leeks, and a milk chocolate torte. All while floating on a vintage canal boat down the Prince Regent.

Tragically the Sunday cruise is now fully booked, but there's still space on the Saturday one. Book it and hope your mum is so awash on prosecco she won't notice it's not Sunday.

Price: £45 a head

Book here

18. An all-round good time at The Jam Tree.

Instagram: @jam_tree

In the midst of all these Mother's Day events and special pop-ups, don't forget that there's nothing wrong with just booking a solidly good restaurant for an evening – and The Jam Tree would be my pick. 1) It's got everything; a bar, a cosy restaurant, a hidden bar behind a bookshelf, and a lovely garden for if the sun comes out. 2) It's low-key, especially on a Sunday. And 3) It's just updated its menu, and it's great.

Order the carrot and caraway dip, the beetroot ravioli (sounds weird, tastes AMAZING), the crispy Sontong Manis (squid), and the spiced duck breast, as they're the best on the menu. Then stick to the gin section of the drinks menu: You can't go wrong with sloe gin and bitter lemon.

Price: drinks from £7 and food from £4 to £21

Book here