When it comes to the English summer, you've got to be tactical, and take your chances when they come. If your plans for sunny days this spring and summer are 'nothing' or 'throwing a frisbee around', then listen up – sunny days are for eating.
We've rounded up some of the best picnic options in the capital – see them in the gallery below.
There's not much food better-suited to taking away than bento, and Nobu knows a thing or two about both of those. Its picnic set, designed for two, includes four bento boxes packed with its signature summer dishes, comprising sushi, maki and bento. The best thing? It's meant to be enjoyed cold, so no worries about that hurried scramble to make it to the park in time. Signature cocktails are also available to take away.
Picnics don't need to be full of carbs and fat – and California-style (hence the name) low-fat fast-food restaurant Bel-Air is living proof. Its summer hamper is bursting with vibrant, colourful and tasty-looking morsels, from pecan & Kohlrabi waldorf salad to melon pieces and chocolate cookies (we didn't say it was all low-fat. The added bonus? Bel-Air will provide your plates and cutlery for you, and presumably wash them all up too. Unless you 'forget' to pay, of course...
Fancy going French? North African/French-inspired Bar Boulud, the resident restaurant and bar at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge, has just the tonic in the form of its 'pique-nique' box, which features two sandwiches, salads, some of its renowned charcuterie, two desserts, a bottle of rosé, water, and a portable Bar Boulud cooler. The price for this heavenly selection? £49.
When you're located opposite a park, it's rude not to take advantage of that fact when the sun's shining. That's exactly what Rocket's doing – for £20 each, it'll bring you a hamper that includes a pizza, a cocktail, a bottle of water, cutlery and (crucially) napkins, right to the spot you've spread out on adjacent Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Rum? In the day? Madness! Not if Ron Zacapa has anything to say about it, though – but guess what, you can enjoy it guilt-free because a) it's summer, so anything goes, and b) the iconic rum brand has recruited the team at Sardinian deli Vallebona to put together a delicious selection of cured meats, cheese and more, which will perfectly complement the spirit's flavour profile.
Great Eastern Street isn't known for expansive green spaces, so the Jones Family Project's got an ace up its sleeve: an astroturf lawn, meadow backdrop and, most importantly, hampers filled with goodies for £17.50.
Clapham, on the other hand, is known for a big green thing in the middle of it, and if the weather's sunny, you can take advantage by borrowing one of Tart's picnic hampers and filling it to order with its eponymous tarts, and fresh salads to boot.
Your own personal slice of the Thames with champagne and a hamper stuffed full of delicious food sounds a little too good to be true, but it's easier than you think – just head down to the Royal Horseguards, where for £59 you can build your own picnic hamper and enjoy it alongside a half-bottle of Taittinger on its newly decked-out terrace. Which, to us, sounds like a pretty perfect way to wile away an afternoon in the sun.
A slight change of tack, but if you really want to push the boat (or horse, as the case may be) out, go a bit further afield to leafy Berkshire, and Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park. The country house hotel's restaurant, led by Simon Whitely, has three new picnic offerings, ranging from a sandwich menu to a 'deluxe' hamper.
