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A rare night out for Father and Mother of Four!
We are going to Pete Tong at the O2 (18:30) and have also booked to go to Fair Game at Canary Wharf about 23:00
We’d like to eat between the two events. While the O2 has plenty of options, we thought it would be better to get to Canary Wharf first and were thinking of Dishoom (only Walk-ins available) or The Alchemist (maybe even both)
I’m not sure how long it will take to get OUT of the O2 after the event and over to Canary Wharf. Given it’s Christmas party season, what are our chances of getting a table at Dishoom in the necessary time?
I could book at the Alchemist- but I’m not certain enough about the time.
Worst case scenario, we eat from the streetfood vendors at Fair Game.Any thoughts on what time we should expect to get out of the venue and on to the Jubilee line? or whether we’re likely to get a table for 2 quickly at Dishoom?
Thanks
@FoF Hopefully someone will be along with a data point specific to the CW branch of Dishoom, but in case not – last time I went to the Kings Cross branch we had a 45 minute wait for a walk-in table. So I’d certainly have a Plan B
As frequent fliers of the CW (technically Wood Wharf 😉) Dishoom, I think it’s wise to have a backup plan up your sleeve. I’d personally prefer the Ivy or even Franco Manca around there vs often chaotic and cold Alchemist for food! 🙂
Blacklock is close to Fairgame and operates a virtual queueing system for walk-ins.
Have a look at Roe, same guys behind Fallow and it’s pretty decent. Was also going to recommend Fish Game which was good but last time I walked past it appeared shut…
Dishoom is nice but it’s so noisy!
Fish Game shut down unfortunately – which is a pity, as it was decent the one time I went.
Getting out of the O2 and onto the Jubilee line is a pain, the queue will be huge but it does move at a decent pace. I tend to go for a drink nearby so I do not have to queue in the cold and potential rain.
The Alchemist would not be my first choice for food, though the cocktails are fun. I assume you would eat upstairs and avoid the chaos and cold executiveclubber refers to! Roe is great, but a much higher price point (and needs to be booked too)
If you are looking for places that you do not have to worry about a booking time, Cargo / market Hall is the obvious choice, close to Fair Game and does not need to be booked. The food stalls are higher quality then Fair Game, but start closing between 10 and 11. If you go to Dishoom and the wait is too long, MMY Wood Wahrf by Mercato Metropolitano is nearby and another decent food stall idea. Just walk ina grab a table.
Congratulations on scheduling a date night 🙂
Getting out of the O2 main arena and into the tube station can be a struggle. Are you seated or standing? If the latter you can strategically position yourself near the rear exits and make a quick break for it. Some of the seats are far from any exit and there’s no way to avoid large queues.
Personally, although the options in the O2 are dire, I’d eat there, as you can be assured that at least the tube entry queue will be gone when your fork or chopsticks go down. There’s an Udon noodle place which is fast to serve, not entirely terrible, and relatively cheap.
Enjoy Pete Tong. I’ve been going to see it since 2018 in Brum (except for the Covid years) and it’s a quality night, it really is. A great stroll down memory lane.
Thanks for all the incredibly helpful responses.
We are seated at the O2. We were planning to get some small plates in the Amex lounge before the show to keep us going. (If we get ) We usually eat late at home, so it wouldn’t worry us if we can’t eat until late.
Plan A was as above, then Dishoom for food, a cocktail in the Alchemist, then the games.Noisy restaurant probably not an issue, though it’ll be noisy in all the other venues, so perhaps some respite for us fogies would be welcome!
I didn’t mention that we are veggie, most places have something- even the chophouse (Blacklock) mentioned, though that probably wouldn’t be our first choice.
Eating at the O2 to allow crowds to disperse doesn’t sound a bad idea, then a cocktail in CW if there’s time on the way to fair game… if not, some in there.
I’ll post back after the weekend to let you know how it went.
@degsy as far as I can see, it’s doors at 1830, then assuming it runs 1900-2030, but info online sparse / conflicting. I don’t know why venues can’t put an end time. Does that sound about right?I think it’s been slightly later in Brum , maybe 8:00 and done by 10:00, although I suspect each venue is different. They should publish approx timings nearer the time though.
I can’t help here but used to love listening to Pete Tong while getting ready to go out on a Friday night! He played Angels in Burnley one New Year’s Eve in the 90s. Happy days – have a lot of those tunes in my playlists!
If you are looking for places that you do not have to worry about a booking time, Cargo / market Hall is the obvious choice, close to Fair Game and does not need to be booked. The food stalls are higher quality then Fair Game, but start closing between 10 and 11. If you go to Dishoom and the wait is too long, MMY Wood Wahrf by Mercato Metropolitano is nearby and another decent food stall idea. Just walk ina grab a table.
These look promising options, ty
As an aside, we were going to go for the QR lounge, but the tickets for this went for at least 89,000 Avios. We already had show tickets anyway and it’s not a sellout, so I think shifting the originals would have been a struggle.
Have been to the O2 a few times for Young Voices and Disney on Ice, but with no plans for afterwards, we’ve just gone with the flow to get out and not paid attention to exit queue times
I can’t help here but used to love listening to Pete Tong while getting ready to go out on a Friday night! He played Angels in Burnley one New Year’s Eve in the 90s. Happy days – have a lot of those tunes in my playlists!
There’s a definite demographic that attends – people my kind of age reliving former glories. (Or trying to.)
As an aside, we were going to go for the QR lounge, but the tickets for this went for at least 89,000 Avios. We already had show tickets anyway and it’s not a sellout, so I think shifting the originals would have been a struggle.
Have been to the O2 a few times for Young Voices and Disney on Ice, but with no plans for afterwards, we’ve just gone with the flow to get out and not paid attention to exit queue times
Closing bids were 91k (13th) and 97k (14th).
If you are getting the Tube afterwards, go via the bus station entrance (strategically avoiding the long queue!) and join the considerably smaller queue from that side. I have seen people do that in the past.
As an aside, we were going to go for the QR lounge, but the tickets for this went for at least 89,000 Avios. We already had show tickets anyway and it’s not a sellout, so I think shifting the originals would have been a struggle.
Have been to the O2 a few times for Young Voices and Disney on Ice, but with no plans for afterwards, we’ve just gone with the flow to get out and not paid attention to exit queue times
Closing bids were 91k (13th) and 97k (14th).
How can you see what the closing bids were subsequently? Or were you watching in real-time at the deadline?
Kinaara at the IC O2 is meant to be quite good if you like Indian (I don’t), and should be far enough away from the masses to avoid a queue. Plus you might get IHG points!
How can you see what the closing bids were subsequently? Or were you watching in real-time at the deadline?
I wouldn’t want Qatar to find out my method (They have cited privacy issues before), long may it continue.
It’s how I am able to post all the UEFA champions league football winning bids in the forum thread, while being fast asleep.
If ever you meet me in person, ask me.
If you are looking for places that you do not have to worry about a booking time, Cargo / market Hall is the obvious choice, close to Fair Game and does not need to be booked. The food stalls are higher quality then Fair Game, but start closing between 10 and 11. If you go to Dishoom and the wait is too long, MMY Wood Wahrf by Mercato Metropolitano is nearby and another decent food stall idea. Just walk ina grab a table.
These look promising options, ty
Don’t mention it! There are lots of veggie options at Market Hal, Gopal’s Corner in particular could be a winner, with lots of options. I have had food there a few times and not been disappointed. https://markethalls.co.uk/venue/canary-wharf/
Down by Dishoom is a fairly new vegan restaurant called Mallow that looks decent, but I’ve not been, and you would have the issue of not knowing what time you will get there. It is big and often seems to have seats though
What went well: Awesome gig, good fun at Fairgame, no transport problems
Lessons Learned: Arriving at 17:34 was not early enough to get an Amex lounge pass. The queue already snaked from guest services to beyond the priority entrances. We got near the front at 18:00 and they had “sold out” about 10 people in front of us.
Doors at 18:30.. There was already a queue, so we joined, and went in. As I said previously, finding details about the actual start time was very difficult (and I’ve experienced this with other O2 events). My assumption that it would be finished by 21:00 (with time to get food) was completely wrong. The main event STARTED at 21:00 and we hot-footed it just before the end at 22:45 in order to make our Fairgame booking. So- plenty of people DID know it didn’t start until later. (presumably regular O2 goers) I understand a number of commercial and safety reasons why the O2 might not publish the exact start time, but if they at least told you a rough “end time” people could draw their own conclusions. Instead I sat there hangry! Luckily we shared a (vegan) hot dog and fries and had a drink when we got there to “keep us going”, or it would have been a very long night.
Glad to hear it! Thanks for the useful intell! The O2 venue itself is not a place you want to be too hungry or thirsty once you in there. There is a reason the Qatar redemptions come with £400 worth of food and drink!
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