If restaurants are our bread and butter then pop-ups and residencies are our crisps and dry roasted peanuts. There’s something uniquely exciting about a pop-up - they’re fleeting, impermanent, and a final day visit offers an opportunity for unequalled smugness. Best of all is that they give restaurants and chefs an opportunity when rent support is non-existent and financial security is uncertain. Here are the ones that have caught our eye.
THE SPOTS
Until: 18th October
Supa Ya Ramen are popping up at Lucky & Joy this Sunday from 12pm. There are only 100 bowls on offer, so get down early to avoid disappointment and to maximise slurping.
Until: 18th October
The Middle Eastern vegetarian spot in Spitalfields is celebrating its first birthday with guest chefs coming into the kitchen on Sundays. Next up is a collaboration with their neighbours a few doors down, Som Saa. You can book tickets here.
Until: Indefinitely
N5 neighbourhood favourite Frank’s Canteen has started serving Sunday roasts from 3pm - 6pm. There’s chicken, Tamworth pork belly, dexter beef sirloin, or a roast crown of pumpkin with all the trimmings, plus cauliflower cheese on the side. Chocolate babka for dessert also sounds spot on. Book here.
Farm Girl
Until: November-ish
Pastel and avo-toast enthusiasts Farm Girl have popped up on Hoxton Street for the foreseeable future. Expect all the things on toast, grain bowls, and bottomless brunch.
Stoney Street
Until: December
Chef and Irish beef ambassador Tom Cenci will be in the kitchen at Stoney Street for the next few months every Wednesday to Saturday evening. The changing menu will focus on grass-fed Irish beef and sustainable British produce, aiming to use every bit of every ingredient to minimise food waste. You can reserve here.
Flora
Until: Indefinitely
Popping up at Portobello Dock is JOY, the perhaps ironically named new spot from Stevie Parle of Pastaio. Described as an outdoor garden restaurant, it’s open until the end of September and will be serving a daily-changing menu full of things like ricotta and ’nduja stuffed roast chicken, or borlotti bean salad.
Until: January 2021
Newsflash! Brat has extended its London Fields residency, and that is most definitely a good thing. The flame-grilled goods remain as delicious as ever: from that anchovy bread, to John Dory, to a new luscious roast chicken rice. The space - a covered arch - has a nice indoor/outdoor thing going on, and it’s open for dinner every day of the week.
10 Heddon St.
Until: Indefinitely, Thursday to Saturday
The product of two chefs who met whilst working at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Fallow has taken up residency at 10 Heddon Street in Mayfair. There’s a big focus on zero waste and the menu is an enticing mixture of everything from beef rib to cod’s head with nduja butter.
Until: Indefinitely, Thursday to Saturday
Klose & Soan are in Winemakers Deptford making a medley of small plates like chickpea panisse or Korean fried wings, as well as homemade pastas and larger plates. Friday is pasta night, where you can get a plate of pasta and a glass of wine for £12.
The Old Nun's Head
Until: Indefinitely, Wednesday to Friday
Nigerian KERB favourites The Flygerians have taken control of the kitchen at The Old Nun’s Head in Nunhead from Wednesday to Friday. There’s jollof, twice-cooked wings, and ewa riro: a stewed one-pot wonder that makes for an excellent weekend brunch with eggs
Until: Indefinitely, Friday to Sunday
The team behind Leroy launched Royale, a rotisserie chicken shop, over lockdown and now it’s taken up a residency at the East London Liquor Company by the Bethnal Green end of Victoria Park. Expect juicy chicken, fat soaked crispy potatoes, dips, salad and focaccia.
Gipsy Queen
Until: Indefinitely, Monday to Sunday
Sho Foo Doh are currently in the kitchen at The Gipsy Queen cooking a brilliant sounding Japanese menu. There’s yaki soba with aonori and bonito flakes, chicken kaarage, and Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki on the weekends. See you there.
Until: Indefinitely, Friday to Saturday
For the forseeable future, Shuk - the Israeli street food spot in Borough Market - is hosting Erev, an al-fresco dining pop-up on Friday and Saturday nights. There are sharing plates like wood grilled aubergine with tomato and labnes, silky hummus, and a whole lot to mop it up with.
Untitled
Until: Indefinitely, Thursday to Saturday
There’s Korean anju-inspired menu at Untitled Bar in Dalston. Anju is the term given to food eaten with booze, so expect small plates like cold noodles, pork lettuce wraps, and a chicken sandwich. It’s all being cooked by Restaurant Jae.
Sun & 13 Cantons
**Until: Indefinitely
Tendril Kitchen is a plant-based pop-up by Richim Sachdeva (formerly of the Chiltern Firehouse and The Dairy, amongst others) popping up at The Sun & 13 Cantons in Soho. Expect fermented, burnt, and lots of other things done with cabbage.
