In London tonight...

The Wolsley: sensational dining

11 April 2012

London is brimming with entertainment tonight. Take your pick from fabulous films, spellbinding shows or family funfairs.

If it's comedy your after, we know where the laughs are, or how about a great restaurant for dinner? Look no further for the ultimate guide to a Monday night in the capital.

Pick of the night

Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink East Molesey. £8.50 adults, £6.50 children. Rail: Hampton Court (from Waterloo, Vauxhall, Wimbledon).
Somerset House may be the popular choice but it's nigh on impossible to get tickets, unless they were booked before the Cold War. So take the trip to Henry VIII's Surrey pied-â¡-terre, where the surroundings are just as spectacular and the crowds not so huge. What with global warming, this is the best way to recreate that old-time winter. Great for families or couples in search of romance.

Film

The Matrix Revolutions IMAX

BFI Imax, SE1. £7.50. Tube: Waterloo. Forget regular cinemas - the immense IMAX version turns already stunning special effects into sensory GBH.

Le Dolce Vita
ICA, SW1. £5.50 (concs £4.50). Tube: Charing Cross. Fellini's eminently stylish portrait of Rome's amoral fast-set is as sexy as ever.

Bodysong
Odeon Wardour St, WC2. £7.50 (concs £5.50). Tube: Leicester Square. Simon Pumell documents the human experience from egg to grave set to a beautiful score.

Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself)
Curzon Mayfair, W1. £5.50. Tube: Green Park, Hyde Park Corner. If you like your comedy jet-black, catch this hilariously bleak offering in an elegant cinema. The title says it all.

Shows

Anything Goes
Theatre Royal Drury Lane. £10-£45. Tube: Covent Garden. Cole Porter's nautical romp hasn't lost any of its witty pizzazz - a refreshingly old-school production with timeless tunes. You'll get a kick out of this one.

The Price
Apollo Theatre, W1. £10-£37.50. Tube: Leicester Square. Warren Mitchell gives the performance of his life in Arthur Miller's tense family drama. An utterly enthralling production full of humour and pathos.

Skellig
The Young Vic, SE1. £20-£25. Tube: Waterloo, Southwark. David Almond's Skellig won the Whitbread Award's 1998 Children's book of the Year (beating off one Master Potter). Now Trevor Nunn recreates its magic on stage.

Music

Madness and Aswad
Wembley Arena. £27. Tube: Wembley Park. Veteran reggae outfit Aswad shine like stars before London's nutty veterans turn the arena into a house of fun. The chirpiest event of the night.

The Monteverdi Choir
St John's Smith Square, SW1. £15-£35. Tube: Westminster.
Venetian festive works from Sir John Eliot Gardner's acclaimed singers. Also featuring the English Baroque Soloists.

Horse Stories
The Borderline, W1. £8. Tube: Tottenham Court Road. Lo-fi singer-songwriter Toby Burke is Horse Stories. Originally from Melbourne he now resides in LA and has just released a charming second album, One Hundred Waves.

Events

Dazzle
Olivier Theatre foyer, National Theatre, SE1. FREE! Tube: Waterloo, Embankment. Pop into this annual selling exhibition of modern designer jewellery and art. Great ideas for Christmas.

Traditional Family Funfair
Gabriel's Wharf and Oxo Tower Wharf, SE1. FREE! Tube: Southwark, Waterloo, Blackfriars. Perambulate among the oldfashioned rides and Victorian stalls at this wonderful fair.

Comedy

Mark Thomas
Inverse Nightclub, SE1. £7 (concs £6). Tube: London Bridge. The establishment-bating comic has a worthy record of exposing injustices and being funny. Tonight, he airs a new project. Watch out Mr Blair.

Mac the Knife Comedy Night
Mac Bar, NW1. FREE! Tube: Camden Town. Dine as you are regaled by Dan Thomas, Jay Sodagar, Brandi Borr and Mark Watson. Nat Coombs hosts.

Food and Drink

The Wolseley
160 Piccadilly, W1. Meal for two with wine: £80. Tube: Green Park. The sumptuous interior smacks of a bygone era of elegance. The former car showroom lives up to the hype as the new Ivy, but happily it's a little more accessible. Arrive early - 6.30pm - or late (towards 10.30pm) and you could be in with a shout as some tables are not pre-booked.

Lab Bar
12 Old Compton Street, W1. Tube: Tottenham Court Road. Sample the innovative cocktails in this trendy but unpretentious Soho haunt. Door policy can be strict on weekends, but midweek you're onto a winner.

Chez Gerrard
45 East Terrace Street, WC2. Meal for two with wine: £60. Tube: Covent Garden. Wonderful balcony location, perfect for gazing out over Covent Garden. Ideal for pre-theatre dining, with a decent French menu.

Clubs

Trash
10.00pm-3.00am, The End, WC1. £4-£5. Tube: Tottenham Court Road, Holborn. Great new wave and punk in the main room; end up in the lounge chilling to groovy rarities.

6 Foot Midgets and 2 Foot Blondes
8pm-1am. Cargo, EC2, Free! Tube: Old Street. Live bands Gear and The Dirty Feel and DJs Ian Camfield and Eat Your Own Ears perform at the deeply cool Hoxton hangout. Eclectic.

Staying In

DVD - Pirates of the Caribbean
Johnny Depp is on scintillating form in this hugely entertaining adventure on the high seas, now available for rental. Keep your good eye peeled for The Office's Mackenzie Crook in a suitably weird cameo.

... and for free

Ricky Tomlinson
Bookmarks, WC1. Tube: Tottenham Court Road. The much-loved Scouse actor talks about his new autobiography.

For One Night Only

Turbonegro
Mean Fiddler, W1. £15. Tube: Tottenham Court Road. The faux-gay Norwegian sextet have long been purveying the kind of unabashedly ludicrous glam-metal that The Darkness have recently charmed us with. Their extravagant primacy belies their cleverness - they sport stupid make-up and silly hats, and have been known to reduce even the most macho to extol loudly the joys of being gay. Subversive, in the best possible way. One of the highlights of the two-week K! Fest - Kerrang! magazine's showcase for bands who party. Hard.

020 7434 0964 Hank Von Helvete of Turbonegro

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