When I visited New York City in January, my friends brought me to the restaurant Jean’s in NoHo, where a waiter nonchalantly took orders for spaghetti pomodoro and tuna carpaccio… at 1:30am. I was dazed by the low-lit, packed dining room. Back in London, at my local pub, “Last orders, kitchen’s closing soon” happens at a very polite 9pm.
But lately, old stereotypes about early-to-bed London are showing some cracks. At the much-fêted Mountain in Soho, chef-owner Tomos Parry recently pushed latest reservations back to 10:30pm to meet demand from diners. The same late slot is available at The Dover, a dimly-lit celebrity haunt that opened at the end of 2023, where the room is 80-90% full during post-10pm seatings from Thursday to Saturday. Two openings this spring – Soho pasta bar 27 Compton Street and a new Chinatown location of the Sichuanese cult hit Noodle & Beer – both promise to serve until the wee hours.
“In the old days, you could eat in London at any time, pre-theatre, post-theatre,” said The Dover’s owner Martin Kuczmarski, who was COO of Soho House Group for 15 years. “[But] Covid made everyone a little bit lazy. Customers got used to being at home, and so restaurant owners said, ‘There’s not much business after 10pm, let’s close early.’ It unfortunately became a vicious cycle.”
Making London a “24 hour city” has long been a goal for Mayor Sadiq Khan – with mixed results, partly due to local councils’ resistance to issuing late-night licenses. Brexit and the pandemic further shackled the hospitality sector, forcing many venues to cut opening hours. But big news broke last month that the government is piloting a programme in which Khan will have the power to overrule local councils’ licensing decisions – including in key going-out areas. Nights out in London this summer might be getting longer.
“There are stretches in London that have always been late dining destinations, like Edgware Road and a lot of the Lebanese restaurants down there, or Green Lanes and the Turkish and Kurdish community,” said Jake Missing, editorial lead at restaurant recommendation platform The Infatuation. “But then on the other hand, if we’re talking about areas with higher investment, your Soho and Shoreditch type places, I think it has switched. People don’t just expect good food. They want a unique experience, and also a night out if possible. Sometimes you need reminding that it’s quite nice to stay out past your bedtime.”
When One Club Row opened in Shoreditch this April above the Knave of Clubs pub, its good-times, noughties energy (big trays of martinis going round, live piano, hefty cheeseburgers au poivre) racked up a quick fanbase. Last reservations are currently 10pm, but they have ambitions to push things later. “What has been a surprise is just seeing people come in past 9 o’clock all through the week,” said Benjy Leibowitz, one of the co-owners. “Just last Tuesday, we were fully sat around 10:30pm.”
One Club Row
Justin De Souza