‹ Before the curtain › West End
Playhouse Theatre · Craven Street
Dinner before Cabaret
The closest places to the Playhouse that get you fed and out in about an hour, what to order so the kitchen is fast, and a Book button for the right night. Sit down 90 minutes before curtain.
Sit down at 6pm, pay by 7:05pm, in your seat for the 7:30pm curtain.
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Cora Pearl
Order fast: The set menu, plus the ham and cheese toastie
From the Kitty Fisher's team. They ask your curtain time so you don't miss it.
Set menu: Two courses £32, three £35, 5-6:15pm
From Hot Dinners' pre-theatre menus, May 2026. Photo like it: Blake Handley from Victoria, Canada, CC BY 2.0.
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The Ivy Market Grill
Order fast: The 1917 heritage set menu
The Ivy's Covent Garden spin-off, on the corner of the piazza.
Set menu: Two courses £27.95, three £32.95, Monday-Thursday all day, Friday until 6:30pm
From Hot Dinners' pre-theatre menus, May 2026. Photo like it: blmurch's, CC BY 2.0.
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Romano's
Order fast: The prix fixe, and a quick martini in the bar first
Jeremy King's second room at Simpson's in the Strand, and the best-value set menu near the Strand and Aldwych theatres.
Set menu: Two courses £21, three £24.75, all day, every day
From Hot Dinners' pre-theatre menus, May 2026. Photo like it: Jonas Nordström, CC BY 2.0.
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Balthazar
Order fast: Steak frites
The London twin of the New York brasserie, a few steps from Drury Lane and the Lyceum.
Set menu: Set menu two courses £24.50, three £27.50, Monday-Friday 12-5pm and from 8pm, Sunday from 5pm
From Hot Dinners' pre-theatre menus, May 2026. Photo like it: Willis Lam, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Poon's
Order fast: Three dishes and soup
Amy Poon's revival of her family's restaurant, in a beautiful room at Somerset House.
Set menu: Three dishes and soup £35, daily until 6pm
From Hot Dinners' pre-theatre menus, May 2026.
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Walk times are from the theater's door at an easy pace. Places picked from Hot Dinners' pre-theatre menus and the restaurants' own pages, checked open Oct 29, 2026. Set menus and prices are as the restaurant published them and change; check when you book. Shows from Wikipedia. Something wrong? hello@chefamazing.com. Chef Amazing isn't paid by any restaurant or theater here.
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