London is packed with great restaurants and bars, but sometimes you need something just a little out of the ordinary. Be it a birthday, hen-do or ice-breaking team socials, immersive experiences are all the better when there’s some food and drink involved. From dining in the dark and taking part in a murder mystery to living it in a moonshine saloon, here are some of London’s best immersive dining and drinking spots to book.

L’oscar London

This feels far more theatrical than the usual dinner-and-drinks formula, L’oscar London is hosting a new monthly immersive dining series on the first Friday of every month. Expect cabaret performers weaving through the room, a bespoke wine offering, and a feast from Executive Chef Arturas Kondratjevas served within one of London’s most dramatic hotel settings. Decadent, slightly mischievous, and made for people who enjoy a bit of spectacle with supper.

Where: 2-6 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4AA
Website: www.loscarlondon.com

Hexmoor

Hexmoor takes immersive cocktails into genuinely cinematic territory. Set inside a fictional wizarding prison in Hackney, guests are handed jumpsuits before being pulled into a live-action world of dark magic, rebellion and theatrical storytelling. Alongside the performances, three handcrafted cocktails are served throughout the experience, making it feel somewhere between immersive theatre and an extremely elaborate night out.

Where: Unit 11, 127 Hackney Rd, London E2 8GY
Website: www.hexmoor.com

Le Chat Noir

Created by The Lost Estate, Le Chat Noir transports guests straight into the velvet-draped chaos of 1890s Montmartre. Hidden behind an unassuming entrance in West Kensington, the experience recreates the world’s first cabaret club with remarkable detail, surrounding diners with live performance, music and theatrical storytelling while a decadent French feast unfolds around them. More than dinner, it feels like stepping fully into another era.

where: 9 Beaumont Ave, London W14 9lp
Website: www.thelostestate.com

Avora

If you’re a big sci-fi fan, or just fancy a London experience that’s a little out of this world, Avora is a brilliantly original evening out. Dressed in your special Avora jumpsuit, you’ll become part of the story as you mingle with local Avorians in an environment that feels straight from a film set.

To make it even better, there’s a choose-your-own-adventure element to the evening, and your decision may or may not save Avora from human destruction. No pressure, then.

To make it even better, there’s a choose-your-own-adventure element to the evening

where: 5C, 127 Hackney Rd, London E2 8GY
website: www.avora-experience.co.uk

Murdér Express

As immersive experiences go, this Agatha Christie-esque is guaranteed to have you gripped from the moment you step inside the enchanting world of 1920s East London. All aboard the train to the fictional French town of Murdér, where nothing is as it seems.

Indulge in a three-course menu as the scandalous plots unfurl in your midst. The Murdér Express promises an evening of gripping intrigue as you uncover the secrets lurking behind the veil of decadence and opulence.

Where: Pedley Street Station, Arch 63, E1 5bw
Website:www.themurderexpress.com

Tube Supperclub

Usually, if you’re having to eat an entire meal on the tube, chances are something has gone awry. A takeaway pizza desperately inhaled to provide some crucial pre-night-out soakage; a meal deal on the way to the airport to avoid being catapulted into ruin by Heathrow prices. That is, apart from Tube Supperclub restaurant, a revolutionary dining concept that dares to imagine London’s most famous transport system as a destination in and of itself. 

The meal takes place on an old Victoria Line tube carriage from 1967 (think a Bakerloo line carriage from now) located in the middle of the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, and is helmed by Head Chef Bea Maldonado Carreño. Hailing from Bogotá, she puts together a six-course tasting menu inspired by Latin American cuisine, from Mexico right down to Patagonia.

Usually, if you’re having to eat an entire meal on the tube, chances are something has gone awry – apart from Tube Supperclub

where: 10 S Access Rd, London E17 8AX
website: Tube Supperclub

Moonshine

Step into London’s hidden underworld at Moonshine Saloon, where you’ll mingle with locals, play games, and sip on custom cocktails expertly crafted from your smuggled liquor. Dressed in a Western wardrobe provided by the town’s tailor, you’ll be sure to fit right in. Watch out for the Sheriff, though, if they happen to pass through town… one wrong word is all it takes to bring down Cassidy’s empire. If you prove you can be trusted, you’ll also be treated to a close-up tour of Cassidy’s infamous Moonshine Distillery. 

Where: 28-30 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7db
Website: www.moonshinesaloon.co.uk

Park Chinois

Renowned for its exceptional Chinese cuisine, Park Chinois is also home to dazzling atmospheric music to keep you entertained all night long. In Park Chinois’ opulent dining room, Salon de Chine, enjoy the sultry sounds of glamorous jazz divas and the sophisticated house band as exquisite dishes are brought to your table.

This dining setting celebrates the heyday of Shanghai supper clubs with a nod to the golden era of dinner and dance, transporting you to another world. The live band and singers perform every evening seven days a week and during weekend lunches too.

where: 17 Berkeley Street, Mayfair, W1J 8EA
website: www.parkchinois.com

Dans le Noir?

Fancy dining completely in the dark? You can do so at Dans le Noir? The concept began in Paris in 2004, and has since spread to London, Barcelona, New York, Melbourne, Nairobi and the filmography of Richard Curtis. Designed as part-meal, part-sensory experiment, it strives to show addition through absence. 

The wait staff are all blind or visually impaired, and yet buzz around the tables expertly, and it is a baffling and hugely entertaining ordeal – you won’t know what you’ve eaten until the end of the meal, and you’d be shocked at how hard it is to figure it out.

where: 69-73 St John St, London EC1M 4nj
website: Dans le noir? 

Alcotraz

If you like cocktail bars and you like escape rooms, this experience takes things up a notch on both. With six locations in the UK, this is London’s longest-running immersive experience for a reason – there’s nothing quite like Alcotraz.

Hidden behind unassuming shutters, you’ll never assume what’s going on beyond the doors of this discreet spot. Walk in casually, as though you’re just here for a quiet drink, but when you enter, leave the real world behind as you find yourself slipping through metal detectors and getting locked inside a penitentiary. Say goodbye to friends or colleagues, your companions are now your fellow inmates.

where: Unit 3B, 127 Hackney Road, London E2 8GY
website: www.alcotraz.co.uk


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