The last time I was in a tipi it was some time around 1989 in a backyard in the Garden of England and the only food and drink on offer was sausage rolls and cartons of Five Alive. So imagine my surprise when the Queen of Hoxton launched their rooftop tipi, otherwise known as WigWamBam. From fruit drinks to warm punch, stale pastry to meat cooking on open fires. What a let down the past was…
Located on the roof of the Queen of Hoxton, that bastion of multi-faceted entertainment on the corner of Curtain Road and Liverpool Street, WigWamBam is a semi-permanent pop-up of outdoor fun. Standing proud from October to March, the structure takes advantage of the venue’s spacious terrace. It’s a long way up but once you’re there the views out from the gigantic tipi are impressive. The tent itself might have felt more like an events marquis had it not been for some intelligent accessorising that perked it up. The centerpiece is the wood-burning grill that hangs in the centre of the space, serving lamb rump, salmon and pork belly with coleslaw, stuffing and forest fruit chutney. And that food is apparently a nod to the polar theme that dominates the rest of the space. Colourful wall hangings, candlelit lanterns and (faux) deer hide covered seating spread out within the wigwam.
What we were most excited by came from the bar. Surprisingly this wasn’t the drink; despite how good the hot buttered rum punch, hot pumpkin spiced cider and hot gin punch all tasted. The excitement was all in the presence of sticks of marshmallows on sale. At WigWamBam if you can brave the cold of the open-air terrace’s decking then you can spend your downtime overlooking The City while toasting marshmallows over an open fire pit.
Finally, to complete the polar theme, a Queen of Hoxton version of the Northern Lights is projected onto the tipi and an outside screen, just to really instill the wintery effect and get you thanking your lucky stars its hot punch your clutching rather than a box of Five Alive…
