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The essential December to February pop ups.
The Christmas grotto for grown ups. It's been a long time coming is all I'll say. Getting kicked out of the kids grottos gets draining after a while, you know? Anyway, this grotto mixes fairytales, adventure and mythical stories to create an immersive experience: you travel in a wooden boat across an undersea lagoon, through an actual waterfall to an Aladdin's cave of gemstones.
Best of all, there's a hidden cocktail bar at the end (staffed by mythical creatures). Which is what all the grottos of my childhood were missing tbh.
Price: £15 for a ticket, which includes the experience and two cocktails.
Dates: on until 23rd December
Usually Coppa Club is a bangin' rooftop summer bar... and they've decided there's no reason for that to change in winter. Their answer to the cold weather? They've set up "igloos" in the rooftop space, so you can enjoy panoramic views of London in your own cosy little bubble, bundled up in sheepskin rugs.
Price: cocktails from £6.95, non-alcoholic cocktails £3.95, which is cheap as chips for a rooftop bar in London
Dates: as of yet there's no official end date, but I imagine the igloos will get packed away sometime in spring
Two words: spiced sangria. The mulled wine alternative that has been missing from your life. Served in Camino bar's winter cornucopia of fairy lights, Christmas trees and lanterns. If you're feeling peckish, be sure to pair it with some chocolate con churros.
Price: £4.50 for churros, tapas from £3, £8 for spiced sangria, or £25 for a jug to share
Dates: the lodge will remain open throughout the Christmas season
If you've overspent on presents, but still want to have a good night out, this is the pop up for you. London Cheap Eats is a website dedicated to showcasing the best of London's meals that are under a tenner. Which may still seem expensive to people outside of London, but lemme tell you, it is CRAZYTOWN here. I went to a restaurant the other night, and they charged me £4.50 for tea. TEA. STANDARD GREEN TEA. Anyway, I digress.
The website is launching a series of events where the £8 ticket includes both entry and a meal – the first one is at Clutch Chicken in Hoxton, and the £8 meal is a whopping 50% discount off the standard menu price.
Price: £8
Dates: first one this Thursday (December 1st) with more to be announced
A Treasured Little Toy Shop is the very first pop up coming this winter from new company, Once Upon A Time. It's a "dining experience", meaning food combined with immersive theatre. In this one, you enter a toy factory where the toys slowly come alive to play with you; all while you feast on "Toy Drummer's Pate" and an "interactive board game" of brownies. Also the bar's run by Moet Chandon, which is pretty swish.
Price: tickets from £70, which isn't cheap, but then it's a three course meal, plus drinks, plus theatre, so you're getting a lot of bang for your buck
Dates: on until 22nd December
Dalloway Terrace knows how to keep you warm. While you sit under the beautiful winter foliage on their covered and heated terrace, you'll find not only blankets and hot chocolate cocktails to cosy up with, but hot water bottles and complimentary Génépi liqueur shots too.
If the hot chocolate isn't enough for you, there's also white chocolate fondue. Because fuck it, just drown me in chocolate, I'm ready.
Price: hot chocolate is £3.75, beer from £5, cocktails from £10, mains from £14 and £7 for chocolate fondue
Dates: the winter menu and decor will last for the entire winter season.
Ok, so this one technically isn't in London, it's in Brighton. But 1. it's always good for us Londoners to remember there's life outside the M25, and 2. this pop up is 100% worth the day trip.
Patterns has launched a new NARNIA-themed pop up in their bar complete with a entrance filled with fur coats to walk through, turkish delight martinis (rose liqueur, rose water, grenadine, vodka, chocolate liqueur and chocolate bitters), and boozy hot chocolate.
Price: cocktails from £6, hot chocolates all £3.90 (or £6.50 with booze) and food from £5
Dates: on until spring 2017
If all the ski chalet and winter wonderland themes get a bit too much for you, know that there is a haven at Mr Fogg's Residence. Their hidden Hendricks gin garden (an elevated terrace off the main building) is kitted out like a winter garden, with tasteful tartan blankets, fir trees, and Christmas cocktails. Just the right amount of Christmas cheer, without going overboard.
Price: drinks from £7
Dates: on all winter
If there was a drink to be drunk at winter, it would be whisky. And Mac N Wild, Scottish restaurant extraordinaire, have teamed up with John Lewis to get you thoroughly "warmed up" this season, at their winter pop up bar on the rooftop of John Lewis. There's hearty Highland grub to be eaten, and whisky masterclasses to take part in.
FYI, if you feel like you aren't getting enough whisky from John Lewis, there's also a pop up whisky bar at Mac N Wild City with enough liquid fire to satisfy the chilliest of souls.
Price: "wee plates" from £5, mains from £10 and cocktails from £9.50. Whisky flights at Mac N Wild City from £11.50
Dates: On until 31st December
If you're brimming with so much festive energy you don't know what to do with it, may I suggest the new pop up roller disco at Southbank Centre? They've also got late nights on Friday and Saturdays with DJ sets, so you can really let off some steam.
Price: standard tickets are £12, Friday and Saturday club nights are £15, and you can get "Cheap Monday" tickets 7 - 11pm on Monday
Dates: on until 22nd January
Tbh, Sketch always looks like a magical fairytale land. But this Christmas they're going a step further with their Night Before Christmas themed afternoon tea. While you dine on caviar and quails egg sandwiches, and bûches de Noël, two of London's best choirs will sing to you, and you'll be treated to a performance of a Christmas story.
Essentially, this is the most Christmassy afternoon tea you're going to get in London, short of them flying out Santa Claus himself to dine with you.
Price: £71 a head. Which, yes, is steep, but think of the darling little choralists. And the champagne. FYI, if you're not drinking, the standard afternoon tea is £45, and still very Christmassy (the whole of Sketch has undergone a Christmas overhaul)
Dates: on until 31st December
The rip-roaring1940s wartime tube carriage-cum-air raid shelter that is Cahoots will be throwing a festive Christmas version of their Squiffy Picnic this December. Guests will be served up a picnic basket filled with special Christmas cocktails, and a "rationed" Christmas feast of mince pies, turkey, lavender shortbread and homemade tiffin. All accompanied by live entertainment. Essentially, if you like pretending to be an Andrews Sister in your spare time, this is for you.
Price: £46 a head for a picnic hamper feast plus cocktail ration of choice, or £66 a head for bottomless cocktails
Dates: every Saturday and Sunday this December
Street food + fairy lights + Christmas trees = pure joy. Head along to this winter garden for croquettes, crab burgers, BAO buns, full-on-meat burgers and more.
Price: the average cost of a main dish is £6 - £8
Dates: runs until summer
There's about a million different ski lodge-themed bars and restaurants popping up in London this Winter, and they're all decent. But Montague's is one of the original and best ones. These guys don't just fling a few blankets about. They COMMIT to their ski lodge theme, and I fully respect that. What, your ski lodge has a few snowflake sprinkles? These guys have buckets of snow, pine trees, snowmen and reindeer.
The menu is also a treat; there's candied pecans, winter Pimm's and hot spiced cider, which is great because mulled cider is 100x better than mulled wine. Mulled wine is trash. Don't @ me.
Price: £30 for a "ski pass" which includes three drinks (either alcoholic or non-alcoholic) plus an "Alpine platter". Extra food and drink items are £5 after that
Dates: on until 13th January 2017