Life’s a beach at JW3 with a milky pop up

If you’re not tucking in to delicious food at the beach on a sunny afternoon you’re clearly not in the spirit of summer. And no I’m not assuming everyone is lucky enough to get away – for you can do just this on the Finchley Road, and this afternoon I did

JW3 has got it spot on with its summer activities and food pop-up combos. Hampstead Beach is open throughout August and James A Zimmer is there serving lots of lovely food until 23 August. This week he is serving milky treats and from Sunday it’s all about meat.

I took my husband along for an early supper. We chose not to build any sandcastles (far more interested in the food) but it’s a wonderful place to bring your kids to play in a safe space while you can schmooze the afternoon away with friends or sit quietly with a book or podcast.

It’s all very chilled and there’s lots of food and refreshments to choose from. This all takes place in JW3’s new Dorfman Piazza which has a retractable roof and sides, so if it dares to rain, you can stay dry.

While we were mooching around seeing what was on offer, I found myself being asked whether I’d like a cocktail and answering “a Whiskey Sour please” as it felt rude to say no.

We pondered over pizza and pasta, but eventually decided upon fish and chips and felafel. My pitta was stuffed with very tasty chickpea balls and an interesting selection of salads and dressings. My husband enjoyed his goujons and chips and let me taste some for research purposes.

From your seat you can look up to the incredible recently installed London Jewish Mural which is nine storeys high. We also wrote a message for the hostages on a padlock on the Lovelock Hostage Bridge.

Next week there will be shawarma, bao buns, sausages and burgers for the kids and Mexican food on the menu and guess who will be back for more ‘research’?

jw3.org.uk/beach