Beautiful Allotment sure puts your garden to shame.
If you’re going to give something a grand, boastful name, you’d better be damn sure it can live up to it. Though the name is anything but modest, Beautiful Allotment does pretty much exactly what it sets out to do: by being a beautiful allotment garden in the heart of East London. This charming spot is now open for business, serving cocktails amongst the grounds of a bountiful bucolic paradise.
As summer pop-ups go, Beautiful Allotment has a good pedigree. It’s been put together by the Bourne & Hollingsworth team, well known for their floral brunch paradise out in Clerkenwell. The result is a slice of English country heaven, situated rather conveniently behind the Geffrye Museum in Hoxton. Whereas your parent’s allotment might be filled with wilted tomatoes, this place is bursting with trailing vines, vegetable patches, and flowerbeds. Lovely, indeed, though we’re sure you’re more interested in the cocktail bars, barbecue areas, and day beds, all of which look rather inviting on a scorching summer evening…
Beautiful Allotment leans pretty heavily on its surroundings to bring the charm, so it’s a good thing they’re green and glorious. Even the cocktails have taken their inspiration from nature. The Nettle Gimlet mixes gin and homemade dandelion and nettle cordial, whilst the Flower Garden Negroni puts a rose-infused spin on a classic. You’ll find plenty of serene spots to enjoy them too, whether that be in the potting shed, or up in the allotment’s treehouse. Meanwhile, a menu of barbecue dishes will keep you well and truly satisfied – and stop you roaming round the veg patches for stray carrots.
You can’t possibly be expected to exert yourself whilst you’re lazing about in the garden, which makes it rather fortunate than roaming ‘garden-tenders’ will be ferrying drinks around in wheelbarrows. Which is the kind of luxury I never knew I needed until right this moment. If your laziness truly knows no bounds, there’s even a tractor service that will ferry you to the allotment (from within a mile of the venue), with an on-board bartender mixing up the bevs.
Let’s face it, most of us don’t have/are laughably unable to afford a garden in London. But Beautiful Allotment certainly makes up for it – and best of all, you don’t have to bother mowing the lawn…
Location: Geffrye Museum, 136 Kingsland Road, E2 8EA. Nearest station is Hoxton. See it on Google Maps.
Opening hours: 4-11pm (Wednesday to Friday), 12-11pm (Saturday), 12-8pm (Sunday). Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Entry: Free, but groups of 4 or more are encouraged to book in advance. (See more free things to do in London)
More information: on their website.