Things to do in London this weekend (2024)

The in-between-ey feeling after the heights of summer and before the inevitable chills of early autumn have rolled around: schools are still out and it’s warm, but we’re no longer planning barbecues every night and there’s hesitation before accepting that al-fresco table. Is the terrace covered and heated?

As ever though, London has the answer with the very best of music, culture and restaurants. From new dining options which give renewed hope to anyone in London’s financial district, to theatre that hasn’t seen a London turn in over a decade, this is the very best of what to see, eat and do this weekend.

Many things cause diners to double take at a restaurant: sky-high prices, beautiful decor, a celebrity nesting in the corner of the room. At Marceline, it’s the chef. Rob Aikens is the identical twin brother of Tom Aikens of Muse. This Aikens, however, has spent the past decade or so honing his brasserie credentials in NYC, arriving in London with a menu of perfectly realised brasserie simplicity. Lobster and chips, great steaks, sugar-pit bacon chops and a knockout burger make this a winner. The service feels reassuringly settled and makes the £5 “two-sip” martinis help make us take another look at heading to Canary Wharf for dinner.

The National Theatre is home to fabulous spaces. Brutally stacked, scantily lit, sometimes sequestered away from the main drag of the South Bank, and the Lasdun, the restaurant which opened last year from the team behind the Marksman, remains a fabulous eating option in an area Londoners bemoan for its swathes of tourists. Pies are hearty, custard tarts are generous and the wine is fabulous. The restaurant slightly suffers from its daily 7.05pm exodus, as the full dining room empties when pre-theatre diners head off to catch a show; but an intimate dinner, hidden away from the throngs of London below, is a magical thing here.

London-born Little Simz is curating the last of August’s Tate Modern Lates this weekend, and it’s not one to miss. Across the gallery, the Brit award-winning artist curates a special line up of DJs, workshops and talks, highlighting her myriad influences, with more than a dozen individual events throughout the Blavatnik Building and Corner Cafe. Most of the events aren’t ticketed, so just drop in, but some require a free tickets to be reserved. Wonderfully though, all of these events are free.

Tiella at the Compton Arms might be one of the best little Italian restaurants in London and this weekend, chef-and-founder Dara Klein is enlisting the help of her father, Richard, who arrives from New Zealand for a one-off wine dinner. Richard Klein runs Artigiano Imports, an Italian wine importer and for this special event, he will be selecting six wines from Les Caves de Pyrene, alongside food from Dara Klein’s repertoire, celebrating the best of late summer produce.

Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play has been called both “essential” and “dated” — perhaps both can be true — and last week, it reopened for the first time at a major London theatre in more than a decade. The Real Thing stars rising British powerhouse Bel Powley opposite James McArdle in a story of love, adultery and loyalty. A classic night at the theatre with tickets from as little as £13, it’s a must.

A short-lived kitchen residency can be a wonderful thing, something bright and exciting, which lasts only for a few days; a Mayfly of a restaurant. Before closing on Saturday night then, get yourself down to Carousel where Jaime Torregrosa, chef at the well-regarded Colombian restaurant Humo Negro, will be running the hobs. The seafood-leaning menu speaks to a clean simplicity and dedication to produce with dishes including scallop with jamón Ibérico and purslane alongside cod with tucupi, mountain papaya and white beans.

The social account “History Eats” has amassed a strong following thanks to founder Eleanor Barnett’s clear enthusiasm for the etymology of food, and from September, Barnett will collaborate with Firmdale chef Joe Fox to create a menu of historic proportions. The series kicks off with a look at Victorian feasting, perhaps dispelling a few myths about the nature of food at that time, with street food classics including smoked eel and soda bread alongside pea soup with bacon and herbs. Barnett is set to speak on the class divides which influenced Victorian food, as well as discussing how the British Empire affected the cuisine of the day.