Big birthday in London - pls help me plan!

[UncannyToad]

Please help me find a venue in London to celebrate my birthday!

I’m going down to London for my big birthday, and need to have a plan to put to a group of friends.

Looking for good food, cocktails, entertainment. Live music, perhaps? All in one place? Or two venues close to each other that work?

Preferably around Fitzrovia, Covent Garden, SoHo and a little further east. Definitely no further west. I’ll be staying in Southwark, so anything around there too eg Southbank, is great.

Shoreditch doesn’t really do it for me, but is where the majority of the people I’m meeting prefer to hang out, due to their homes/trains etc.

They’re mostly half my age, and I’ve done ‘their thing’ for a few years - karaoke, games, ball-pits etc - and now it’s my day 😂 I don’t want to ‘do a thing’ apart from eat, drink, and watch something. Maybe even dance if I drink enough and my old joints hold out!

TIA

Sea Containers?

Budget? What kind of music do you like? See if there’s a gig on anywhere that appeals and then organise the rest of the evening around that?

Ronnie Scott’s?

Bottomless brunch with a DJ at 100 Wardour Street?

The Lost Estate. Is amazing but not cheap

If I were you I'd have dinner at Bala Baya (set menu very reasonable for quality of food and the atmos is good) and (assuming this is friday or sat eve) go over the road to Mc & Sons Borough for their live irish music. Have also been to an event in the private space at Mc & Sons Borough and had their Thai food - it's v good. Imagine you could book that and eat and then enjoy the music?

Or, if not too far east, Katzenjammers for something a bit more lively. Finally might suggest Mercato near elephant and castle if you're talking about daytime summer - good buzz and nice food trucks etc but not very fun in the rain

Oh cool, thank you - I'll come back in a bit to look properly.
Random quick responses before a meeting.
No budget.
It's early April. A Wednesday or Thursday.

Not Elephant and Castle. Most come into Liverpool St, Kings X or from the east.

I love all kinds of music, apart from modern pop/boybands 😆

Ronnie's was on my list and I completely forgot my list! Thank you.
I was looking for gigs/shows but nothing's on that works.

And all-in-one place would be ideal, but I may need to do food then party.

How about Piano Works - they have one in Farringdon (the original) and another one in Covent Garden?

Got you. Piano Works was a real life when I worked in the area as a youngster but not sure I could handle the sticky floors now lol

https://www.soundsfamiliar.co/events/sf-west-end-london-2025-04-03-18-30

This is a great night out. Basically just listening to good music and having a laugh. Can't comment on this venue as I went to one in Islington pub

Thank you all so much! It’s been a bit of a day so I’ve only just managed to come back online.

That looks really interesting @MakeMeJuno I’ll have a proper look tomorrow 😴

Pianoworks is top of my list at the mo @Cherryade06 but Tripadvisor wasn’t too complimentary. I do know people tend to complain on TA. I’ve had to do icky ball pits with them, so quite like the idea of inflicting sticky floors for me 😂 Farringdon is as get-atable as Covent Garden.

@boulevardofbrokendreamss (one of my fave songs!) Sea Containers is very close to where I’m staying and I’ll probably meet other friends there at some point. The spa looks good, so I’ve added that to my list too.

I’ve found a site called Design my Night and have about 68 tabs open to research!

Anyone know these?
Inca London
Circes Rooftop
Sican
Stereo
Mrs Riot

Again, thank you!

I adore the look of this, but it’s just too far west for this group. Weirdly, I’d been getting ads for 58th Street before I even had plans for my birthday. Maybe I’ll plan another trip later in the year.

606 club near Battersea is a proper old school jazz club with a restaurant. Not in the vicinity you want but I thought I'd suggest it as a wild card option.

https://www.606club.co.uk/

Inca is great!!!!

Stereo very disappointing

I've been following a place called "the room where is happens soho" which looks great but haven't got there yet !

That looks wonderful, thank you! As you say, bit too far out of range, but I’ll squirrel it away for another time.
Damn, I wish I still lived in London.

@schoolmum11 and @Happysandysummer Thank you! Invaluable feedback - I can finally close a tab 😂
I do like the look of Inca

That looks fun! Thank you.

@UncannyToad sorry it's the room where it happens not is happens ..

Great post I'm getting some good new ideas and I'm from London !

@doubleshotcappuccino It’s Ok, I found it. Looks such fun.

It’s all going a little bit Pete Tong as the queen bee of the group has decided I need to change the day of my birthday to better accommodate her 🙄
And too many members in the chat are acolytes, so they’ll all wait for her to confirm before they commit. Daft lot.

Obviously Im not changing my plans, as if!
Thanks to you all, I now have a wonderful selection to consider.

I’ll not make any concrete bookings until more of the independent thinkers say yes.

god, peopling is nuts!

You have my full
Empathy @UncannyToad

Bumping

@Happysandysummer this lost estate looks incredible..

Thank you, I keep having pathetic wobbles now, which is annoying me.
l’ve still got time to cancel the whole week, but will see how the next few days pan out.