Weird London: Best quirky things to do, restaurants & bars

There’s museums dedicated to serial killers and loos converted into cafes, as well as unusual dining experiences to spark interest and delight.

London also has a stack of unusual restaurants for dinners that are a little bit different too.

With that in mind, here are the best quirky, unusual weird and offbeat things to do, events, bars and restaurants in London, primed for a good time.

1 Mercato Mayfair

One of four Mercato food markets around London, the Mayfair location is housed in a Grade I Listed former church, which still retains stained glass and heritage features, and well as that calm, churchy feel.  It has two floors of food vendors that prepare dishes that come with an international flair. Also has roof terrace.

Address: St. Mark’s Church, North Audley Street, W1K 6ZA

Website: mercatometropolitano.com

2 CellarDoor, Aldwych

Find this tiny underground cocktail bar in an old Covent Garden former loo. It’s been styled out in the vein of New York’s basement dive bars, with a touch of 30s Berlin. Drag kings and queens, cabaret and burlesque acts, and musicians and live music acts take the stage each night.

Address: Zero Aldwych, Wellington Street, Covent Garden WC2E 7DN

Website: cellardoor.biz

3 The Attendant, Fitzrovia

No one ever really wants consume food and drink found in a public inner-city loo, except for this one. This Victorian public urinal has been turned into a rather sweet café from Attendant Coffee Roaster. Come here for fresh coffee or a light, home-style breakfast, lunch or brunch, which you an even eat in, if you fancy.

Address: 27A Foley Street, Fitzrovia W1W 6DY

Website: the-attendant.com

4 Tattershall Castle

This pubs comes with a smashing Thames, because it’s actually on the river. This boat is permanently moored at Embankment, so from the deck, with a rose in hand, you can take in the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster. A functioning pub, you can grab pub grub classics if you’re up for some food, and look out for comedy and jazz nights.

Address: Victoria Embankment, SW1A 2HR

Website: thetattershallcastle.co.uk

5 Jack the Ripper Museum, Aldgate

Perhaps you’ve already gone on a Jack the Ripper tour through the back streets of Shoreditch and it just wasn’t enough Victorian serial killer for you. Housed in an old Victorian terrace, the Jack the Ripper museum delves into the serial killer’s grizzly story, detailing who the victims were, as well as the main suspects in the case.

Address:  12 Cable St, Aldgate, London E1 8JG

Website: jacktherippermuseum.com

6 Horizon 22, City

You’ll find Horizon 22 on the 58th mezzanine level of 22 Bishopgate, and this newly opened viewing platform is not just the highest in London, but it’s the highest free viewing gallery in London. It stands 254 metres tall, it’s more than twice the height of Lift 109 and almost 100 metres taller than the Sky Garden. So, you’ll get a pretty good view of London, whatever the weather.

Address: 22 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AJ

Website: horizon22.co.uk

7 Vaulty Towers, Waterloo

An underground pub with a delightfully hectic interior, Vaulty Towers has an events programme, filled with music and comedy, that is a busy as its walls. It’s run by the same team as The performance venue The Vaults so expect a similar aesthetic. The pub has a list of gyoza and dumplings, with a few options for sides for food, with choice enough for the non-meat eaters.

Address: 34 Lower Marsh, Waterloo SE1 7RG

Website: vaultytowers.london

8 God’s Own Junkyard, Walthamstow

God’s Own Junkyard is a chaotic neon wonderland and neon-sign factory  turned gallery regularly papped on Instagram. While it’s probably not worth a day out on its own, you’ll find this lairy shopfront on an industrial estate along with, Pillars Brewery, The Wild Card Brewery and taproom, and gin palace Mother’s Ruin, the sum of which are.

Address: Unit 12, Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall Street, Walthamstow E17 9HQ

Website: godsownjunkyard.co.uk

9 Twist Museum, Oxford Street

A museum dedicated to illusions and immersive experiences, Twist Museum marries immersive multi-sensory experiences with escapism, education and technology. It delves into how illusions work, exploring such questions as, when all your senses are deceived, what happens to the brain, and how do these stimuli shape your sense of reality? 

Tickets: From £23.50/£18.50 adult/child

Address: 248 Oxford Street, Oxford Circus, W1C 1DH 

Website: twistmuseum.com 

10 London Shell Co, on Regent’s Canal

Enjoy a meal as you putter along Regent’s Canal. London Shell Co’s Prince Regent is a cruising restaurant which takes diners past iconic landmarks such as London Zoo and Regent’s Park while diners enjoy seasonal seafood, straight from the Cornish coast. For those of you who don’t like to eat on the move, The Grand Duchess is the sister venue and moored in Sheldon Square, Paddington.

Address: Sheldon Square, W2 6PY

Website: londonshellco.com

11 Vagina museum, Bethnal Green

Once again temporarily closed due to difficulties securing a premises, The Vagina Museum is dedicated to celebrating female bits. It aims to raise awareness of gynaecological health and anatomy, and to empower people to talk about this. Currently closed in Bethnal Green, the museum is looking for a permanent home.

Address: 18 Victoria Park Square, Bethnal Green, E2 9PF

Website: vaginamuseum.co.uk

12 Skittle alley, Greenwich

A Victorian bowling alley found in the Old Royal Naval College, Skittle Alley is still functional today. It was built for the Greenwich Pensioners – retired ex-navy sailors and salty sea dogs – in 1864 to relieve boredom and to act as an incentive for the men to stay away from nearby pubs. Access to the alley is included in a general admission ticket.  

Tickets: £15

Address: 2 Cutty Sark Gardens, Greenwich SE10 9NN

Website: ornc.org

13 Naked Soho

With a menu divided into A Bit of Foreplay, The Climax, Tossing Salads and Happy Endings, Naked Soho is pretty straight forward and up front about being all about sex. And food. But mainly about sex. There’s all sorts of phallic-shaped dishes and inuendo everywhere, and a wall of penises and vulvas, apparently. So if you want to start with a “c**k-prese salad” and finish on a tall dark and handsome, this is your restaurant.

Address: 10-11 Moor Street, Soho W1D 5NF

Website: nakedsoho.com

14 Dans le Noir ?, Clerkenwell

Dine in complete darkness at this restaurant which makes you re-evaluate your perception of taste and warps your senses. Diners are guided and served by a blind or partially sighted person, and Dans le Noir ? is a little taster of the visually impaired experience. There’s no menu, you just tell the team what you can’t eat and the menu is adapted accordingly. After the meal, you can look at photographs of what you ate to see if it matches up with what you thought it was.

Address: 69-73 St John Street, Clerkenwell EC1M 4AN

Website: london.danslenoir.com

15 White water rafting, Waltham Cross

Navigate an Olympic white water rafting course at the Lee Valley White Water Centre. The 300-metre course which was used in London 2012 drops and bends as good as any rollercoaster. Naturally, punters will go through all the basic skills needed and required safety elements before you hit the rapids.

Price: £60 per person

Address: Station Road, Waltham Cross EN9 1AB

Website: better.org.uk

16 Dino Snores for grown ups at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington

The Natural History Museum is a wonderland for adults and kids. They host a number of adults-only events among the dinosaurs and other beastly animals, including sleepovers in the iconic Hintze Hall. Dino Snores is an ultimate sleepover, with afterhours access to galleries, pub quizzes, comedy, and monster movie marathons. It also comes with  a three course dinner and a hot breakfast.

Tickets: From £198

Address: Cromwell Road, South Kensington SW7 5BD

Website: nhm.ac.uk

17 Sleep Over at London Zoo

Another brilliant sleepover, spending a night at London zoo sees you sleeping in the centre of the Regent’s Park zoo, a mere lion’s roar away from the animals. The sleepover includes two days entry, dinner and breakfast, as well as after-hours tours of the zoo. Look out for seasonal riffs on this events too.

Tickets: From £276.50

Address: Outer Circle, The Regent’s Park NW1 4RY

Website: londonzoo.org

18 Skuna hot tub boats, Canary Wharf

Based at London’s West India Quay, Skuna Boats are boats made out of hot tubs which you get to putt around the quay. Hot tub boats are currently imported from Holland, and it’s good to note that not only is the water refreshed regularly, it’s heated to a toasty 38C – so you can pootle around winter or summer. There are also self-drive electric BBQ boats if that’s more your thing too.

Address: West India Quay, off Hertsmere Road, Canary Wharf, E14 4AL

Website: skunaboats.com

19 Supperclub.tube, Walthamstow

Supperclub.tube is a South American inspired dinner made up of a five course tasting menu taken inside a vintage 1967 Victoria Line Tube carriage that pops up briefly each year from around August onwards. Housed at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum E17, the carriage has been transformed into a 35-seat restaurant complete with crisp linen and jazz in the background, and dishes include frijoles con arepa, asado, and tiradito de merluza.

Dates: Thursday to Saturday through to November

Address: Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, South Access Road, Walthamstow E17 8AX

Website: supperclub.tube

20 Le Petit Chef at London Cabaret Club, Holborn

Le Petit Chef at London Cabaret Club is a theatrical evening, brought to you by the world’s smallest chef. The elaborate meal uses 3D mapping technology to bring the 6cm tall French chef to life in a narrative played out on your dinner table. The action incorporates the tasting menus five courses, which are “prepared” by the chef and include dishes such as buffalo mozzarella caprese salad, bouillabaisse and lobster risotto. Although the tech relates to the main tasting menu, kids and vegetarian menus are also available.

Tickets: From £119 per person

Address: Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, Holborn, WC1B 4DA

Website: lepetitchef.com