Pop-Up Rundown

With all the temporary bar and restaurant installations out there, we know how hard it can be to keep track. So here's the Bar Fly rundown of the best pop-ups in town at the moment. They might not be the newest kids on the short-attention span block, but make sure you catch all of them at least once before they disappear forever…

Opera Quarter Bar

Douglas 'Lab and Townhouse' Ankrah 's three-story Georgian pop-up bar in Covent Garden seems to be holding strong as one of the central destinations du jour. Low key, with great cocktails, a perfect location and a smattering of occasional entertainment, if you're lucky enough to catch it on the right night the buzz can be wonderful. Here for the Summer only, pop it on you immediate to-do list.

13-15 Tavistock Street, WC2E 7PA
Mon-Sat 4pm-12:30am, Sun 12-11:30pm

Frank's Café

Despite a deliciously dismissive review in The Guardian, Frank's cash-only Peckham carpark restaurant and bar is a serious Summer essential. If 'summer grill' doesn't float your culinary boat and Campari isn't your libation of choice, you might be in for a spot of trouble. But how often do you get to eat on the top of a ten story car park – in style?The views are magical, and there's plenty of parking spaces too.

10th Floor Peckham Multi-Story Carpark, 95a Rye Lane, SE15 4ST
Thurs–Sun 11am-10pm

The Pale Blue Door

Tony Hornecker's pop-up-pop-down-pop-back-up restaurant out East has developed a more than cult following. Originally the very definition of illicit, the Hackney stylist/artist's transient eatery is now generally as much on as it is off. But any chance to slip into Hornecker's magical world of warped childhood, mismatched fantasy, and drag-licious entertainment is welcome indeed.

5 Glebe Road, E8 4BD
Dates and times vary, booking is essential

Surrealist Dinner Party

Now this is what we call a pop-up. WIth no website, a limited run, fixed menu, and a thoroughly undisclosed location in Shoreditch, the Surrealist Dinner Party does exactly what is says on the can, and gloriously so. As much installation and performance as restaurant, expect to dress the part (elegant and stylish if not not plain nuts) and with a scant 15 seats per night and advance booking required, you'd better get set to it before it vanishes in a puff of pink smoke.

Somewhere in Shoreditch .
Thurs–Sun 7:53-11:30pm. Booking essential.

Bombay Sapphire Dusk Bar

Only here 'till mid October, this is pop-up done with finesse. Designed by Tom Dixon's Research Design Studio and set up in Somerset House, the Dusk Bar offers a uniquely chic spot to sit, cocktail in hand, the translucent blue bar glowing as the sun slowly sinks into the Thames. It may not sport celeb DJs, underground cuisine, or mad East London trannies, but it's a real gem of a space and yet another that is soon set to disappear.

Somerset House , Strand, WC2R 1LA
Daily 10-12am

Yours illicitly,
The Bar Fly

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.