Date Night review: The Lounge Cinema Fine Food & Film

Well Laura surpassed herself this date night!!! This planner of mine had the great idea of booking us into a showing of The Great Gatsby at The Lounge cinema in Bayswater, London.  This cinema is unlike any cinema I have ever been to - at this cinema they serve you dinner while you watch the film in the most amazingly opulent surroundings!

If you have read any of date night posts in the past you may know the idea behind the surprise date night is that one of us has to come up with a date idea and give very little idea about what is involved expect the date and what to wear! We take it in turns and this month it was over to Laura.

This night was one I had just under a weeks notice about so I tried to put it out of my mind until the day it was happening. From 3pm on-wards I was ready with questions; where was it? How long would it take to get to? Why am I dressed up? Will I have been before?

Laura gave little away!

After work we met at Hyde Park corner and got a bus together towards Bayswater. At this point Laura mentioned that we may want to get a snack as we wouldn't be eating till gone 9pm. This sent my mind into overdrive and by the end of the bus ride Laura had submitted and I had found out we were seeing The Great Gatsby and eating in the dark. Although I knew this information I was still a little confused.

As we arrived in Bayswater we entered the Whiteleys shopping centre and headed straight upstairs to the Odeon, it's here that I got my first sight of; The Lounge.

As the film didn't start till 9pm we had almost 2 hours to entertain ourselves and it just so happened that the Whiteleys centre were holding a Great Gatsby themed party downstairs and we were invited! We were given a cocktail on arrival, party food to fill us up and dancers, singers and a brilliant piano player to entertain us. We also got to dress up and get our photos taken. It was great fun!

After we had got into the 1920's spirit it was time to make our way into The Lounge. It was beautiful. The bar area is like a high scale venue, it has huge sofas and seats and waitress services. We ordered cocktails and relaxed until we were called to enter the theatre.


As we took our seats we checked out the menus, reclined our seats, raised the foot rests and enjoyed snuggling up on the Love Seats Laura had pre-booked. We were on our own little island ready to watch The Great Gatsby in 3D in with waiter/ress service. We buzzed and ordered the food just as the film started.

Wait just 1 sec.......getting this seat just right is important :)

Laura ordered steak sliders with a side of onion rings and I went for the Mexican not dog, vegetarian sausage, guacamole, grated cheese, jalapenos chilli, sweet corns, tomatillo salsa and chips! The food was DELICIOUS!!! The whole menu was designed by a professional chef and you could tell! It was not the cheapest date but it was worth it.

The film itself was perfect viewing for the surroundings. Like Moulin Rouge this film has elements of glamour, opulence and majesty that seemed all the more real in 3D. Admittedly neither of us had read the book but the film itself seemed to fly through the story line. Leonardo Di Caprio stole the show as the lead but it was the party scenes that made it worth seeing at the cinema.

The rest of the film lacked 'bite' or real impact (in my personal opinion). Narrated by Toby Maguire as Carraway he never really convinced us that he was the party boy or the innocent - he just seemed nice. The same could be said for Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan - she never really convinced us she was ready to run away with Gatsby.

If anything the film was like a grown up Romeo and Juliet without such tragedy. It took us on a journey where we unsure who to support, in fact Isla Fisher as Myrtle probably made the best case as the trapped 'other woman'. I would choose this type of film over thrillers or action movies as the insight into 'how the other half lived' was probably the best part of the film for me. Who doesn't love the fantasy right?!

I can officially say I was sad when the film ended, not just how it ended, but the fact that we had to leave behind our luxury surroundings. It was the best film viewing experience I have ever had.

I am definitely grateful to my wonderful Laura for the experience! She really is the best planner!