Emily Moss

Sunday lunch. There’s nothing quite like it. An elemental meal, one that Londoners take incredibly seriously. Debates about what constitutes the ‘perfect’ Sunday roast have been known to last for hours. There is no shortage of top roasts in London. We’ve rounded up the city’s best Sunday meals from a host of homely pubs and restaurants all around town. What makes a good roast? For us, it’s simple; a cosy room is a good start, maybe in a pub with an open fire. Then it comes to the plate – we need perfect roast potatoes, well-cooked lamb, beef or pork and a decent plant-based option too. A Sunday roast is more than just lunch - it’s self-care. From snug neighbourhood staples to more bijou gastropubs, posh hotels, Michelin-star spots, and even a metal bar in Camden, we’ve got something for every taste (if that taste is for comforting mounds of roast meat, lashings of gravy and carbs for days).  A lot of these places get quite busy, by the way. So you’re always advised to book ahead to avoid disappointment.  RECOMMENDED: London's 50 best pubs. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and her Sunday roast order is usually pork belly with extra gravy, extra roasties and a big glass of Pinot Noir. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

You don’t need to fight for a seat on the morning commute. The office is eerily quiet. There’s no queue at your lunchtime falafel stand. And when you go to the pub for a post-work pint of Neck Oil, it only takes a minute – tops – to get served. You’d be forgiven for thinking this is the Monday after England lost the Euros final, but it isn’t. This is just an increasingly typical Friday in the capital.  It’s no secret that central London isn’t what it was pre-pandemic, and this is especially true for nightlife. Data published by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) showed that London lost 1,608 night time businesses between March 2020 and December 2023. Meanwhile, venues are closing too early to allow for a spontaneous evening out and Gen Z are starting to ditch big nights altogether. But it’s not necessarily all doom and gloom. If, like so many Londoners, you work from home some days and head into the office mid-week, you’ll probably be in central on a Thursday evening and notice it’s rather busy, to say the least. Welcome to your new Friday night out. T.G.I.T. Hybrid working in 2024 is the norm: as much as 65 percent of the UK workforce works from home on Fridays, helping to cement Thursdays as the preferred night for in-person, after-work socialising. According to a study published in February 2024 by the Mayor of London, early weekday evening visitors to central London between the hours of six and 9pm peak on Thursdays. Dubbed the so-called ‘Friday effect’, the rep

Airplanes and airports aren’t exactly the first things that spring to mind when you think of the word ‘eco-friendly’, but living on an island means that for almost all of us, planes are still the fastest and cheapest way to travel abroad. But what if flying became ever so slightly less terrible for the planet?  This week, Gatwick Airport announced it has partnered up with Airbus, budget airline easyJet and Air Products to form the ‘London Gatwick Hydrogen Hub’. The group will work to explore how hydrogen – a clean, low-carbon, renewable energy source – could be introduced at the airport, which is the UK’s second busiest. As part of the project, airplane manufacturer Airbus is developing new hydrogen powered aircraft, and is apparently aiming for them to be ready for commercial flights by 2035. Meanwhile, Air Products, one of the world’s largest hydrogen producers, will be the ones supplying the fuel for these new aircrafts. The project will be an important first step towards possible zero-carbon flights from Gatwick. The airport was apparently chosen over others because the early hydrogen-powered aircraft will initially only be doing short to medium haul flight routes, and Gatwick is the UK’s leading hub for these. Hydrogen won’t just be used as fuel for airplanes, though. The new project will also be seeing if liquid hydrogen can be supplied and stored at Gatwick, as well as examining other ‘shorter-term opportunities’ for using the renewable energy source.  Steve Wingate, G

You may already know that London is home to plenty of lost rivers, many of which were built over and have, over the centuries, become part of the city’s sewer system. While not officially ‘lost’ rivers, two waterways in north London flowing through the boroughs of Harrow and Barnet have become all but invisible in the last few decades.  Burnt Oak Brook and Edgware Brook are going to be given a new lease of life thanks to ‘Action for Silk Stream’, a new restoration scheme run by the charity Thames21. The scheme aims to restore local waterways to their former glory, which in turn will make them less likely to flood.  Over the years, Burnt Oak Brook and Edgware Brook had been modified to fit into London as it expanded: artificially straightened, deepened, and had their banks reinforced. On top of making them polluted and more prone to flooding, these man-made interventions also have reduced biodiversity and made the rivers less hospitable for plants and animals.  It’s hoped that the restoration scheme will change this. It’ll remove the two rivers from their concrete channels and make them more prominent in their local areas so that residents – and wildlife – can more easily enjoy them. At the moment, both rivers are so hidden away that many locals apparently have no idea they even exist.  As part of the scheme, the parks in which the Burnt Oak Brook and Edgware Brook respectively run through – Watling Park and Chandos Park – will also receive improvements, including new paths, n

Need something to keep the kids busy this summer? We’ve got just the thing (well, aside from our 101 best things to do with kids in London). Some of London’s most famous attractions are offering half-price tickets for children over the next two months.  Up to 50,000 half-price childrens’ tickets have been made available across Merlin-owned attractions around the country – including five in London.  The London Dungeon, London Eye, Madame Tussauds, SEALIFE London Aquarium and Shrek’s Adventure are the attractions included in the offer.  Merlin’s offer is valid for any visits up to and including September 3, and you have to buy tickets online to get the discount. There’s also a maximum of three discounted tickets per transaction, while any children under two years old go free.  Did you see that London is about to get its hottest day of the year so far?  Plus: check out our recommendations for things to do with kids during the school summer holidays in London. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel. Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.

You’re hard-pressed to walk more than a few metres in London without a peloton of e-bikes whizzing past. And now a tonne more e-bikes are available to rent in the capital, as TfL has just added 900 more to its fleet.  The TfL Santander Cycles bike hire scheme (FKA as the ‘Boris bikes’) has been around for a long time, but has faced stiff competition from Lime in recent years due to the Uber company boasting an entire fleet of e-bikes (lots of Santander Cycles bikes remain bog-standard, un-electrified push bikes).  To compete with Lime domination, TfL introduced e-bikes back in 2022, and soon users will be able to use mobile payments to hire bikes, bringing the service well and truly into 2024.  According to TfL, the Santander e-bikes are now hired at twice the rate of standard bikes. They’re available to anyone registered with the hire scheme for £3.30 for a 30-minute ride, or £1 per 60 minutes if you’re a monthly or annual member. The announcement comes amid TfL’s efforts to make London a more cyclable city. In the spring, it announced that £19.5 million of funding will be used to extend the capital’s network of Cycleways and complete cyclist-friendly routes between Lead Bridge and Dalston; Deptford and Deptford Creek, and Hammersmith and Kensington Olympia. Did you see that one of London’s major cycle highways is getting extended?  Plus: why is this London council banning e-bikes being abandoned on pavements?  Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and r

Immersive experiences have exploded in popularity in the last few years, and there seems to be one in London for almost anything – from theatre and art to Real-Life Monopoly and Tomb Raider. As if all this wasn’t enough, the largest ‘immersive entertainment’ district in the UK is coming to the capital this August.  Called Immerse LDN, the district will open at east London’s Royal Docks this August. The 160,000 square foot, purpose-built space will kick off its programme of experiences with the previously-announced ‘The Formula 1 Exhibition’ and ‘The FRIENDS Experience: The One In London’. The F1 exhibition promises visitors an interactive journey through the history of the motorsport, while the Friends experience will immerse fans by offering the opportunity to walk through faithfully recreated sets and backdrops from famous episodes. And don’t worry if you’re not crazy about F1 or Friends: more new immersive experiences will be announced over the next few months.  Immerse LDN will also be offering plenty of food and drink options for punters made hungry by all that immersing. Street food collective KERB will be bringing along some of its already well-established eateries like the Duck Shed, Masa Taqueria and Nazari, while a new waterfront food hall, bar and café are set to open later in the year too.  The ‘immersive entertainment district’ will support the Mayor’s multi-billion regeneration plans for the Royal Docks, and it’s hoped the huge venue will bring more visitors to

On our daily commute, most of us pass the time by listening to music or a podcast. But if you’re passing through Waterloo tube station any time between now and July 28, it might be worth taking your earbuds out and swapping your Spotify playlist for some ‘audio artwork’. The artwork is by London-based sound artist Joe Namy, who works across sound, performance, radio and video. It’s the latest in TfL’s ‘Art on the Underground’ series.  Called ‘Radio Underground’, the artwork is a 10-minute-long piece weaving spoken word performances together with music. It was created with the help of artists from different cultural and community spaces across London.  Keen to hear what Namy’s ‘Radio Underground’ sounds like? You can hear it playing through Waterloo’s station speakers on the moving walkway linking the Northern and Jubilee lines. And if Waterloo isn’t usually a stop on your commute, don’t worry! ‘Radio Underground’ can also be listened to through a QR code on posters in stations across the rest of the London Underground network. There’s also a link to some imagery that also offers a visual element.  Namy said about the piece: ‘This project was a dream, a deep dive into the fascinating history of the sound of the Underground, at times offering moments of peace, at other times transforming the travelator into a catwalk, and other times making space for the brilliant organisations that contributed to the project. ‘We were able to bring in so many different voices to resonate with

Did you know that London’s Bakerloo line has the oldest passenger trains in daily service in the UK? If you’ve ever travelled on the brown tube line, that might not come as such a surprise. And if you’re a regular user of those trains, watch out: the Bakerloo will partially close for six days next month.  From August 3-8, the Bakerloo will shut between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone. Although the improvements won’t involve replacing the 50-plus-year-old trains (yet), they will include renewing the power system supplying signalling equipment and upgrading 3km of conductor rail, which provides power to the trains via a steel rail.  The high voltage power system that powers the trains through the conductor rails will also be revamped, while track switches and crossings, which improve train guidance and allow trains to cross paths, will also be upgraded. It’s all part of a £2 million overhaul.  Although the improvements all sound rather technical, it’s hoped that they’ll improve the quality of the service and help reduce disruption.  Over the same period the London Overground between Euston and Watford Junction will also be closed, as it shares railway tracks with the Bakerloo. During the closure, TfL customers affected by the upgrades are instead being encouraged to complete their journey by using alternative rail and bus routes. This is separate to another Overground closure from July 20 to August 4. Gary Walsh, Network Rail’s West Coast South route director, said: ‘We k

You’re hard pressed to walk more than a few metres in London without seeing some sort of architectural marvel, whether that be historic structures, shiny skyscrapers, labyrinthine subterranean networks or power stations turned into a shopping malls.  Countless new buildings spring up in London every year, but what makes a select few of them the best in the UK? Forget your bog-standard skyscrapers: the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) annual National Awards set out to find the most brilliant new buildings in the UK and provide insight into the country’s design and social trends. And this year, 12 of the 26 award winners are right here in the capital.  London’s winning buildings were a diverse bunch. They ranged from the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, the second phase of Battersea Power Station and the Elizabeth Line (who knew a train line could be considered a building?!) to family homes, local schools and community chapels.  All RIBA’s National Award winners will now compete for the even more prestigious Stirling Prize for the best building of the year. The shortlist for that will be announced on July 31, and the winner revealed in October. Meanwhile, here are some pics of all the London buildings that bagged a 2024 RIBA National Award.  Chowdhury Walk, Clapton  Photograph: Rory Gardiner The Arbour, Walthamstow  Photograph: Chris Wharton Thames Christian School and Battersea Chapel, Battersea  Photograph: Nick Kane Royal Academy of Dance, Batters

When you think of London’s birdlife, pigeons, ducks, seagulls and parakeets are probably the first feathered friends that spring to mind. But if an ambitious new rewilding initiative goes to plan, you might also soon be spotting stunning white storks around the capital.  White storks’ were reintroduced to southern England in 2016 after a whopping 600-year absence, and now urban rewilding group Citizen Zoo has developed an initiative dedicated to exploring how to bring the beautiful bird back to the capital. As part of the project, the group will be scouting out potential habitats for the storks, which prefer wetlands and farmland, and gathering support from London boroughs and locals. Citizen Zoo is likely best known for its involvement in a previous rewilding initiative which successfully brought back beavers to west London for the first time in 400 years.  Elliot Newton, the group’s co-founder, told the Guardian: ‘We know we have habitat here, and there’s a lot of wetland restoration occurring across Greater London as well so hopefully the habitat opportunities are increasing over time.’ He added: ‘We don’t know if it’s possible yet but how amazing would it be if white storks nested in St James’s Park, beside Buckingham Palace, as a symbol of ecological recovery in the capital?’  The initiative comes after a historic milestone was reached in 2020, when a pair of white storks bred in the wild in the UK at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex thanks to the pioneering White Stork P

A full-blown pizza extravaganza is coming to Walthamstow’s Signature Brew later this month.  Slice-O-Mania, the UK’s largest pizza and beer festival, is set to return to the iconic Blackhorse Road brewery for the second year running. The finest dough slingers in the land will be offering up classic margheritas and chef’s specials from a very reasonable £3 a slice, with an emphasis on punters getting to sample as many different pizzas as possible.  Every type of pizza imaginable, from a classic Neapolitan to New York and Detroit Deep Dish styles (including gluten free and vegan options), will be available from vendors, which include the UK’s National Pizza Champion 2023, Pig’s Pizza.  To wash down all that dough, cocktail experts Mixology With Olly will be hosting a margarita bar serving up spicy and classic margs, while Signature Brew will, naturally, have plenty of ice-cold beers (and presumably a few room-temperature ales too, if that’s your thing).  There will be DJ sets and live comedy throughout each day to entertain you while you munch on pizza and sip margaritas and while the festival’s daytime entertainment is family-friendly fare, the party will be going on late-ish into the night on Saturday with an 18+ session.   The vendors in attendance include a few well-established names on the London pizza scene, alongside others from as far afield as Bristol and Coventry. The full list is as follows:  World Famous Gordos (London) Slice Club Pizza (London) Fold Me Close (Bedf