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Metro
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Ways to spend Pride in London including a day party with a special performance
Welcome back to The Slice! Pride Month might be wrapping up, but celebrations are far from over – especially with Pride in London just around the corner on 5 July. There's still plenty of time to show your support for the LGBTQ+ community and have a damn good time in the sun. There are club nights, fun Pride themed bites to eat, and cheeky cocktails to drink. Find it all in this week's London's Best. We're also spotlighting a bold new women+ space and revealing where to score free pizza (yes, really). Plus, season three of Netflix's Squid Game launches on Friday. So it was only right that we tried the brand new in real life experience at Excel London. It's made bold promises, but was it worth the wait? Let's find out… Read on for a whole range of recommendations for 28-29 June, handpicked as always by The Slice. The Slice is your weekly guide to what's happening in London, so if you're looking for restaurant reviews, drinks deals or just a great new exhibition to visit on a rainy Saturday in the capital, we've got you covered. Click here for this week's edit of the best things to do in town. The Slice newsletter also a brand new look! We'll still be in your inbox every week, bringing you all the very best things to eat, drink and do in the capital. So if you want get the next edition before anyone else, sign up here! If you want to do it all on the cheap, you can also find our latest batch of exclusive hand-picked offers in partnership with Time Out here. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, here are 13 of the best activities, dining, and drinking spots in the capital. By Lola Christina Alao An intimate spot with daring French-Filipino dishes and unforgettable cocktails, Belly is the newest concept from the Maginhawa group (the team behind London favourites like Guanabana). The vibe is cool comfort; they've found the balance between food that feels special and a space that feels chilled out, with a mix of high-top seating and lower tables under a huge, quirky chandelier. Every dish is a hit. Tender diver scallops sit in a malt vinegar and creamy fermented shrimp coconut sauce, beautifully presented. A piled-high serving of steak tartare arrives with a punchy coriander and mint aioli with nori crisps. The undoubted star is the tempura cod Pandesal. Once it's gone it's gone, and honestly? I'd be sad to miss out on this: delicate, flaky cod tucked in a slightly sweet Pandesal, a classic Filipino breakfast roll, with silky, tangy Ikura tartare sauce with salmon roe trickling down the sides. For dessert, ube tiramisu is a fun Filipino twist on an Italian staple, with a boozy whiskey sauce as the finisher to an already flawless dish. Full belly, guaranteed. Small plates from £8, larger plates from £22. 157 Kentish Town Rd, Kentish Town. Book here. By Josie Copson The only thing more breathtaking than the view from the 33rd floor of London's tallest building is my spicy cocktail. Sat by a vast window surrounded by red lanterns, I sip the Comfortably Numb – a fiery concoction of Grey Goose, Sichuan pepper, vanilla and lychee inspired by the elemental energy of my zodiac sign, the Rooster. I'm at The Shard's Hutong for the Bei Fang Dim Sum Series, featuring eight northern-style dim sum dishes (eight being a lucky number in Chinese culture). The dumplings are dramatically presented in tiers of wooden baskets, swirling with dry ice like the clouds drifting over the skyline outside. Get your chopsticks round the seafood spring rolls – their crisp shell gives way to sweet shrimp and scallops – and don't miss the bean curd rolls, filled with the softest lobster. This is a gem worth trying before it's too late. Bei Fang Dim Sum Series, available until 28 July. Dim sum from £16. Level 33 of The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London Bridge. Book here. Vibrant new women+ space Damsel Collective is now open in Hoxton, and it's part café, part cocktail bar, part underground culture hub. By day, sip colourful matchas and make new creative connections; by night, enjoy delicious experimental cocktails and vibey events. This summer, Madison's Summer Terrace returns with a new identity, partnering with Aperol. Expect Aperol (of course), Sarti and Campari Spritz on the menu, plus a Mediterranean summer vibe you won't want to miss. Best for: daytime ravers We love a day party at The Slice. (No need to worry about missing the last tube home or messing up your sleep routine.) If you're in the same boat, The Pride Day Party at Clapham Grand is where you need to be. The fun kicks off at 5pm with a sensational live performance from Nadine Coyle. Don't want the fun to end? Catch Tulisa and Bimini at the After Party. Clapham Grand, Clapham. Tickets from £15. Book here. Best for: fun and glam Soho's Albert Schloss is transforming into a Safe Space Salon in collaboration with Absolut and Gaydio. Expect a whole glam squad to help you shine and get set for the day, plus welcome drinks and bites, access to the Bottomless Brunchen Klub and more! Albert Schloss, Soho. Find out more here, including how to win tickets. Best for: the ultimate Pride pit stop The queer-owned Eastern Mediterranean restaurant in Soho is serving fierce flavours and even fiercer cocktails all month. Pride drinks have been specially crafted to honour the LGBTQIA+ community and the queer creatives behind the bar. Choose from cheeky cocktails like the Pisco Inferno, the Rainbow Heatwave, the Thelma or the Louise. Plus its terrace will open for Pride London Day (5 July) as the Pride Pit Stop. Party! Kapara, Soho. 1 June to 6 July. Book here. More Pride! Pride in London has opened a pop-up shop, where you can grab yourself merch such as rainbow pin badges and soy wax candles, as well as food and drinks. You can also expect vintage Pride items, all from LGBTQ+ designers and makers. 7 Walkers Court, until 7 July. More info here. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Crosstown (@crosstown) A limited edition doughnut lands at CROSSTOWN this month. The Handmade Vegan Virgin Piña Colada Raindough-nut features a pink sourdough base with silky passion fruit jam and coconut-pineapple icing. 10% of sales go to Rainbow Grow Hackney, an LBQTQIA+ led gardening initiative. Crust Bros' biggest pizzeria to date will open in Covent Garden on 7 July. Are you free? If so, head down on opening day for some free pizza (served up between 12-5pm). You'll even get to have your pizza curated by Crust Bros' very own pizza stylist. It's the final week to try the new Burger & Beyond collab, with chefs Tom Brown and Richard H. Turner. They're bringing you the Iberico pork & prawn pan de cristal' – featuring Iberico pork, prawns, chilli, garlic, aioli, Ossau-Iraty cheese, hot honey, and slaw. And it's served with a special pork jus for dipping. If you love burrata as much as we do, head down to The Burrata Bar (4-5 July). It's a five-course feast dedicated to the creamy cheese, including baked n'duja burrata and strawberry & cream salad with a Pimm's! Get your tickets. A brand new Monthly Market series arrives at High Street Kensington from 28 June. More Trending Head down to Phillimore Walk from 10am-5pm on the last Saturday of each month, to find a mix of contemporary makers and artists. Full monthly line-up. Squid Game: The Experience landed in London with bold promises. While the set design impresses – especially the towering, eerie likeness of the iconic animatronic girl – and some of the guard costumes look convincingly lifted from the show, the overall experience falls flat. The games themselves lack any real skill or strategy, feeling more like themed time-fillers than actual challenges. Immersion takes a major hit as you can clearly hear other groups shouting and moving through different rooms, and one of the games was fragile to the point of glitching during our run. That said, the bar space at the end is lively and fun, making it a decent post-game hangout – just don't expect much more than Instagram fodder. View More » Squid Game: The Experience. Excel London Waterfront, Excel London. Tickets: Adults from £35, children from £25. Book here. MORE: I went to the world's wettest Pride parade where everyone gets soaked MORE: 10 of London's best rooftop bars for summer Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
Metro
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
We tried 'daring' sandwiches in London and these are the best ones
Welcome back to The Slice! Sandwiches are no longer just a bit of sad ham and cheese between bread. They can have all sorts of weird and wonderful flavour combinations. And they can be breakfast, lunch or dinner – at least for us, there are no food rules over here. That's why this week we're trying three sandwiches that aren't scared of a twist: ham, egg 'n' chips, mushroom 'meatball' marinara and a slab of focaccia with a crispy piece of fried chicken inside. Don't say we don't give you variety! Find out where's worth spending in this week's London best. Any Jurassic Park fans? You can soon experience the upcoming film Jurassic World: Rebirth, and come face to face with a huge collection of dinosaurs. Find out how below. Plus: We're telling you how you can get tickets to the music festival famous for helping launch Billie Eilish. Headliners include Mabel and NAO. Read on for a whole range of recommendations for 17-18 May, handpicked as always by The Slice. The Slice is your weekly guide to what's happening in London, so if you're looking for restaurant reviews, drinks deals or just a great new exhibition to visit on a rainy Saturday in the capital, we've got you covered. Click here for this week's edit of the best things to do in town. The Slice newsletter also a brand new look! We'll still be in your inbox every week, bringing you all the very best things to eat, drink and do in the capital. So if you want get the next edition before anyone else, sign up here! If you want to do it all on the cheap, you can also find our latest batch of exclusive hand-picked offers in partnership with Time Out here. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, here are 11 of the best activities, dining, and drinking spots in the capital. By Lola Christina Alao Honey & Smoke is a family-run grill house in Fitzrovia serving up beautiful Middle Eastern mezze. The vibe is laid back, with rustic limewashed walls and vibrant, abstract paintings. What's cool about Honey & Smoke is that you can get refills of any of the mezze dishes of your choice, which is great value, as you will want more. The falafel, served on a beautifully creamy layer of sumac laced tahini, is light on the inside and golden brown on the outside. Fried cauliflower is dressed with a vibrant pickled amba sauce and tahini. Mop it all up with delicate flatbreads drizzled with lashings of za'atar spiced olive oil. Not willing to share? The Ali Nazik main, with lamb shish, baba ganoush, urfa chilli butter, pomegranate, and peas & fennel is my big pick. Though the lamb shish was slightly oversalted, and the baba ganoush seriously smoky, the pillowy bread makes for the perfect base. To finish off, there's a selection of small creative canapés to finish off. My favourite? The chocolate brownie bite, with surprise raspberry bits to balance the sweetness. Spring sharing menu – £65pp for three courses, £57.5pp for two courses. 216 Great Portland Street, Fitzrovia. Book here. Best for: make it Italian There are three things Arcane prides itself on: coffee, focaccia and cocktails. I can't tell you whether or not they do a good job of the first and last, but I can confirm the focaccia sandwiches are out of this world – especially the Social. Made with marinara sauce, crispy chicken, mozzarella and basil, the Social is an absolute classic that's been dialled up to the max. The focaccia is pillowy soft with a golden crust, the flavours are spot on and there's no scrimping on filling whatsoever. It's absolutely delicious and good value too. Sandwiches, from £8.50. 42 Devonshire Road, Chiswick. Just walk in. Best for: doing it simple We feel oddly patriotic knowing that one of this capital's greatest sandwiches is a common-as-muck pub classic. Not a Texas BBQ hoagie. Not a zippy Banh Mi. But Ham, Egg 'n' Chips from Max's Sandwich Shop, born in bread. It's mind-boggingly unpretentious – slow-cooked ham hock brings the luxe, while runny fried egg, implemented like burger cheese slices, makes it breakfast, brunch or brinner acceptable. Finally, malt vinegar mayo combines with shoestring fries to create a modern age crisp-chip butty. Ham, egg 'n' chips, £13.95. 19 Crouch Hill, Finsbury Park. Turn up early for to avoid queues! Max's Sandwich shop also have a book available to buy: Max's World of Sandwiches: A Guide to Amazing Sandwiches. Recipes range from an easy prawn cocktail sandwich to the more time-consuming tuna katsu sando. Get your copy here. Best for: umami without the meat Spitalfields' My Favourite Sandwich stands out thanks to daring twists on classic fillings: mortadella with pickled onion Monster Munch crisp, tuna mayo with spicy jalapeño chips and coronation chicken with champagne-pickled raisins. The meatball marinara (we tried the mushroom version) is our highlight, its pillowy bread soaking up a rich tomato sauce, while fresh basil cuts through the umami filling. Mushroom meatball marinara (V), £11. 141 Commercial St, Shoreditch. My Favourite Sandwich will be at three-day sandwich festival Sarnie Party on 16 May! Other eateries on the line up include Pophams, Mondo Sando, KÊU and more. All tickets are £30 and include entrance plus three sandwiches of your choice. Book here. By Courtney Pochin I don't think we eat enough breakfast burritos in the UK. So I was in my element when I discovered a business that combines the two. Bad Manners has moved from Hackney Central to the grounds of Shoreditch Church, serving up fully-loaded burritos from a shiny new silver Airstream trailer. Their brand new menu features barbacoa and aubergine burritos for lunch, as well as breakfast bangers like the sausage burrito, egg and bean burrito – my favourite. It contains a house-made pork patty, soft-set omelette, tater tots, American cheese, pickles and salsa roja. If you love the McDonald's breakfast wrap, this is similar, but elevated with a few extras – and it tastes a hundred times better too. The quality of the ingredients shines through in every bite, from the succulent meat to the soft tortilla wrap. It's a naughty option for breakfast or lunch but trust me, you'll feel pretty damn good about eating at Bad Manners. Burritos from £10.50 (veggie), from £12.50 (meat). Shoreditch Church, 119 Shoreditch High Street, Shoreditch. Available on Wed-Sun, at 9am-3pm. Palestinian restaurant akub has launched a special collaboration series with five chefs. Each chef brings along with them a unique style, and their cultural heritage – like Asma Khan, whose dishes will be on the weekend brunch menu throughout May, followed by Rachel Ama's dishes in June. Find the rest of the line-up here. Running the Hackney Half marathon on Sunday? Head down to Pan-Asian hot spot UBA, where you'll be able to claim a free Hugo spritz and a taco of your choice! Italian food maker Crosta Mollica is launching its very own pizzeria, Il Leopardo, with pizzas priced at just £2.50 this Friday and Saturday! All proceeds will be donated to Crosta Mollica's charity partner, EMERGENCY. So go on, get your hands on some salty, cheesy tastiness. Want more sandwiches? Sandwich and coffee shop Yolk has opened its 10th store in Holborn. The new menu is led by Yolk's signature, fresh ciabatta sandwiches – with newbies including the Crying Tiger Steak (bavette steak, nam jim mayo, coriander, crispy shallot, pink pickled onion and lettuce). To celebrate, you can get 50% off everything from 14-16 May by using the code YOLKYES at checkout. Festival season is well and truly kicking off, and we've got a FREE one for you. The Urban Village Fete 10th edition takes place at Greenwich Peninsula on 18 May, 11am-7pm. Expect performances from up-and-coming talent, panel talks and food from 30 of London's best food producers. Find out more here. Jurassic World: The Experience is opening its doors at Battersea Power Station on 23 May. For all ages, expect to be immersed in scenes inspired by the beloved films including walking beneath a towering Brachiosaurus. Plus, get a rare up-close look at the most vicious dinosaur of them all, the Tyrannosaurus rex . Get your tickets here. The British Museum and Outernet London are putting a spotlight on the timeless work of Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige through a brand new digital installation. A print from Hiroshige's Famous Places in Japan series (1832) is being reimagined across Outernet's 16k wrap-around screens. The exhibition is FREE and is a unique opportunity for everyone to experience Hiroshige's artistry in a brand new way. It may not look like it but summer will soon be here. Regent's Park Open Air Theatre kicked off its 2025 season on 10 May with the alfresco UK debut of Shucked, the hit Tony award winning musical comedy about an American community whose corn supplies are running dry. And from 19 June, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Dream Ballets: A Triple Bill will air, celebrating dance and music from some of the UK's leading musical theatre choreographers. Find out what else you can watch here! More Trending Shucked, 10 May-14 June. Rodgers & Hammerstein's Dream Ballets: A Triple Bill, 19-22 June. The Regent's Park, Inner Cir. Book tickets here. MORE: London Grassroots Music Tube map highlights city's 'crown jewels' MORE: These supermarket essentials will be 'extinct' by 2050 — here's what you'll be eating instead
Metro
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Articles up to April 26th, 2025
Lola Christina Alao | Newsletter Producer at As producer of Metro's The Slice, Lola writes about all things food and drink in London. Aside from hunting down the best picante in the city, she also edits Metro's portfolio of lifestyle newsletters. She has written for The Evening Standard, Glamour, Refinery29, Dazed, Time Out, Soho House and more as a Lifestyle & Culture journalist – before joining The Metro in August 2024.
