Writing a review of a top secret experience poses quite the challenge to the budding blogger. As I sit here, tapping away on my keyboard, with Netflix in the background and the dull ache of last night’s excess in my temples, frustration is bubbling up inside me. I want to sing the praises of my Gingerline experience, loudly and in explicit terms, and to accent my enthusiasm with specific details. But alas, ambiguities and allusion it is.
We can safely start with background. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Gingerline since I came to London, gosh….(is it really?!) 7 years ago. For those of you living under a rock (just joshing), Gingerline is one of the ORIGINAL secret London supper clubs. It began as the love child of foodies Suzannah Montfort and Kerry Adamson who set it up 8 years ago, and it really quickly established itself as THE go to ticket in town. They do immersive dining experiences, with a different ‘theme’/ concept each season. There’s been all sorts over the years – dinner parties in aircraft with drag queens, forests, gondolas, giant ball pits – with the only commonality being that each set is designed to push the humble dinner party to its limit. I don’t really know why I haven’t been before. ANYWAY – I was invited down to try their latest adventure – The Grand Expedition – and responded so eagerly to the PR that it was almost awkward.
The location is secret until just before the event – all you know is the start time and the tube line it’ll be on, until a few hours before when you’re texted the precise location. We were invited to wear flight goggles, scarfs and aeronautic get up, in line with the cryptic title! Some people did, some people didn’t – it wasn’t as hard core as Secret Cinema in that regard.
From now on my narrative becomes…. more complex. I could safely say that I arrived (to location unknown), I was thoroughly entertained, wined, dined, and I left. Quite the C*** tease of a review, no? I’ll skirt danger and reveal a few more tit bits.
I arrived to said location unknown and was greeted by an innocuous building with a crowd of people (clearly fellow diners) hanging around outside like myself. We were ushered inside in small groups and met by…..a bizarre band of actors in full aeronaut costume. The characters reminded me of nothing more than the minions in Despicable Me, and kept me entertained from the moment I crossed the threshold. We received an Asahi beer, and then stepped through a hidden door into the main dining room where the adventure really begin…
I wish I could tell you what I found. What struck me more than anything when entering the dining room…after the immediate WOW moment (which I quite literally said out loud!)….was how incredibly high budget the whole venture is. Sometimes you go to these things and they are charming, but a little rough around the edges. Not Gingerline – this was Disney level quality, with every single detail honed and considered. Nothing was missed, everything was magical. The Grand Expedition Set transported me to this magical other world, like something out of a Dr Seuss book. Eyes. On. Stalks.
We were shown to our seats and the drinks started flowing. After all the guests were seated, the entertainment began and The Grand Expedition took off. There are numerous entertainers who sing, dance, and prance all throughout a 5 course dinner….beautifully eccentrically. Audience participation is constant – the entertainers interact with you a lot and you are called up at different points of the evening. It’s done in a nice way – all the focus is not on you and there’s not an ounce of cringe. There is 360 degree audio visual animation and every minute is packed with something new. The press release bills it as a “floating, feeding, falling dream” and I can’t think of a better way of describing it. I loved it.
So how about the food? It is self declared anti Michelin hoity toity fuss in style. When someone tells me not to expect fine dining, a small part of my brain suspects I’m about to be served something a bit rubbish, but I was happy to be incorrect in this case. Each of the 5 courses was pretty darn good – not fancy, but tasty and interactive, riffing directly off the entertainment happening at the time the course was served. Difficult to say more, but trust that you’ll be well fed.
Tickets are between £60-75 depending on whether you go for a matinee or evening sitting, and this The Grand Expedition set is on until the end of June. Suitable for friends, family, couples. In fact, take someone on a date here and you’ll be so thoroughly in their good book you’d be verging on biblical. You. Are. Welcome.
So….did I like it? You bet your dappy dippy supercalifragilisticexpialidocious dandy that I did! It was absolutely brilliant and I texted about a million people during the dinner to tell them to immediately book on. At times it even brought me to tears of pure nostalgia. Honestly – it’s one of the best things I’ve done in ages and you should immediately go. Gingerline…tick, tick, TICK!
https://www.thegrandexpedition.co.uk/
Note – I ALWAYS use my own photography for reviews, but the Gingerline does not permit this to help make sure the secrets stay secrets! So…pray…excuse me on this occasion and trust that I haven’t abandoned my Fujifilm!
