A wander along the Southbank. Lunch at Borough market. A trip to Tower Bridge. A day out in London can quickly get filled — but once night falls, it’s a different story.
Our capital has been criticised of late for having a pretty dead nightlife scene, and there are receipts to prove it.
Noise complaints to councils across the city have seen pubs and bars shut, or their hours reduced. There’s been a 19% decline in late night venues since Covid lockdowns, with iconic clubs including Tiger Tiger and G-A-Y announcing their closures or planned sales.
This month, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, even announced a new independent Nightlife Taskforce in an attempt to bring the fun back to London.
But all hope is not lost. Before you decide to call it a night at 10pm, head to the neon wonderland that is the London Night Cafe.
An East London gem in Aldgate, the café is open until 3am on weeknights (yes, including Sundays) and 5am on Fridays.
The place bills itself as a spot to simply hang out with your mates, believing that a good night out doesn’t have to involve ‘getting drunk and shouting over loud music’.
No alcohol is served, and there are various social activities on offer.
A story on their Instagram profile reads: ‘We foster a chill, intimate environment, with a bunch of different activities and nooks to sit (or lie down) in.’
Over on their website, they encourage people to ‘bring a friend, a date, some work, and/or a good book and settle in for a cosy evening in our stimulating and futuristic space.’
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Punters pay an entry fee (£7, or £10 on Fridays), and then coffee, tea and snacks are free. They also sell soft-drinks, some food and allow non-alcohol drinks and outside food to be brought in too.
While the vibes are cosy, with board games, books, video games, and even a ball pit, the sparkly London Night Cafe also hosts gigs, playing host to DJs and live bands.
There’s also an indoor beach and a multi-tiered ‘cuddle puddle’ with enough room for 15 people to lay down in an once. The bathroom also has a ‘rave mode’ button, to level up your toilet trip.
A blog post on the website, written by founder, scholar and artist, Dr Eric Rogers, explains that the café ‘is intended to cater to a more thoughtful, introspective nighttime culture, where people can move back and forth between being social and introverted.’
And, despite only being open for almost 18 months, people are already raving about the place.
‘A third space that isn’t just a pub, bar, nightclub, and what with cafés being too boring or overpriced, and libraries closing down; this cosy little gem fills a niche,’ wrote one satisfied customer on TikTok.
While another simply wrote: ‘This is the stuff of dreams’ and a third called it ‘genius’.
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