Out In London | Roaring Twenties & Jazz Night Out

The Occasion: Date night

The Plan:  | Immersive Play “The Great Gatsby” | 28-50 By Night

In Short:  Dress up for immersive theatre, afterwards relax with smooth jazz while sampling through an award-winning wine list

Budget: 70£/person or more if you add dinner etc

Looking for an interesting date night? Try immersive theatre! Gatsby’s mansion is located in the fabulous Mayfair and is a perfect setting to start off your evening.

Enjoy one of the greatest stories of the 20th century and join Jay Gatsby’s party. This brilliant adaptation of the novel takes you to the roaring ’20s… at Gatsby’s new mansion, just around the corner from Grosvenor Square.

You are encouraged to dress up although it’s not an entry requirement. Keep in mind, at least during our experience, the best and worst dressed have been acknowledged – and I am all for it. I miss the days when people at least put some effort into getting ready for theatre, our lives can get so monotonic, why not make it a bit more special by mixing in a feather here or there… or a feather boa. I went all out of course:

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My tip no2 – don’t be late! Doors close precisely at start time and you will need to wait to be let in after the initial welcome by the cast is done. It’s not more than ten minutes but still takes away from experience. This brings me to tip no3 – make sure you order plenty of drinks (be it water or a bottle of Champagne or whatever else you fancy) for the play. Once it starts, the bar won’t be open until much much later – staying without a drink at Jay Gatsby’s party sounds like a shame to me!

The play is about 1 hour 50mins and you’re welcome to stay for a drink afterwards. Another good note: the only time you can take pictures inside is after the cast leaves.

Get your tickets here

23/08/22 edit: Currently can get general admission tickets for £25 (instead of £39.95) and general admission + cocktail for £34 (Instead of £49.95)! Get them here on travelzoo.com

When it’s time to leave the Mansion, it still feels too early to call it a night – I have the perfect spot for you to visit to end your evening just right:

28-50 By Night

Head to 28-50 By Night (just about 5mins walk) to enjoy a late night dinner or snacks and some amazing wine (or cocktails but they are famous for their wine list and my policy is always: …when in Rome…) whilst you enjoy smooth jazz and blues performed by some of the best of London’s Jazz scene.

The atmosphere is dark and reminds a hidden NYC jazz bar – you do need to know where to go to find the entrance! It’s the little alley just off the Marylebone lane, sort of hiding behind their sister venue 28-50 Marylebone. The team is lovely and will be happy to direct you should you have any trouble finding it!

To find out their acts line-up for the month click here.

Full disclosure, I know of both places due to PR work. It did not require a blog review but I find this night-out plan lovely and genuinely would recommend it to anyone that wants to do a little different than just getting a drink at a bar.

Love,
Justina

Out In London | Saturday Night Review

The Occasion: Saturday Night out / Date night

The Plan: Kaspar’s at Savoy | Play “The End Of Longing” | Opium | ECC

In Short: Lovely dinner, theater & great cocktails for a perfect night out.

Budget: ~200 pounds/person

When you live in London, it is so easy to get into the never-ending routine of rushing to work and back home and having all the chores to take care of, responsibilities, evening tv and weekly crazy Friday/Saturday club outings you don’t have much recollection of, thank god for Instagram, right?

But once in a while, you have to remind yourself – you live in one of the capitals of the world, full of history, culture and so much more! I wasn’t planning to write this post but recently I had one of the best Saturdays in a long time and maybe it will inspire you to plan a similar evening, or check one of the places out.

We were planning a girls night out for a while now but we didn’t want just a regular get drunk kind of night so we’ve spent a couple of hours planning and researching, and it was sooo worth it!

We decided we really want to see The End Of Longing play, so once we’ve got the tickets, the plan was built around it. We started the evening at the Savoy, drinks at their award-winning bar and pre-theater dinner at Kaspar’s restaurant. It’s such a beautiful place! Drinks, food, service and the whole experience was perfect and we couldn’t expect a better start to our night.

After a quick stroll by the river, we reached the Playhouse theater, grabbed drinks (like true ladies we’ve got ourselves a pint of Prosecco each) and got to our seats ready to be amused. And it was a great show, the first part so witty, so fun and the second part – deeper and quite sad, but with a happy ending so we left satisfied! The show is running until 14 May 2016 so make sure to go see it before then!

After the show, the night was still young and we decided it was time to check out Opium, a cocktail bar in china town. It was nominated to be one of the best bars in the world so we just had to try it out. I would recommend getting a reservation to make sure you’ll get in!

Once you are ready, and it took us a good 4 cocktails each, move on to ECC (Experimental Cocktail Club) which is just a couple of doors down the street. It’s titled and renowned almost as much as the Opium and serves truly great cocktails. I recommend checking it out because it would be a shame not to and because it has such a great atmosphere! We chose it as the last stop because it has more of a clubby lounge setting, great DJ playing and is a perfect place for the last stop of the night!

And if you feel like eating a proper meal in the middle of the night (let’s face it, maybe you’ll need it ;D) visit The Balance restaurant just around the corner. Don’t deny yourself a good meal when you have an opportunity!

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To sum up, I would rate this Saturday night out plan a 10/10. It is based on my personal experience and not sponsored! Please let me know if you decide to visit one or all of the places or you’ve been and if your experience was just as fun!

You can also check my social media accounts for live updates on what I’m up to on Instagram, my photography work on Facebook and digital marketing tips and tricks on Twitter.

Love,
Hewnly