Randomness Guide to London

Evening all!

This week's featured article is for Browns of Brockley, a small cafe that is situated, funnily enough, in Brockley. Right by the station, in fact! If you're not a regular to Brockley, then Browns is likely to have had at least one refurb since you last visited if not more. They also don't take cash at all - no risk of getting a 1 Euro cent coin back instead of a penny.

There's an update for Cafe Adagio in Addiscombe where our correspondent enjoyed the homity pie, but can a homity pie ever be a true pie if it doesn't have a lid? (NB I advise caution before entering the #piedebatezone.)

After last week's pub update deluge, there's yet more news! It's all change in Stratford for the Langthorne pub, which is now called the Abbey Tap, while the Vauxhall Griffin has been renamed to the Griffin Belle. We have one reopening, the Case Is Altered in Harrow Weald, but on the closures list we have the Phoenix in Rainham (hopefully only temporarily), the Yardbird in the shopping centre by Hammersmith station (where will Eric Clapton get a pint of Greene King IPA now??), the Grapes in Sutton (Wetherspoons fans in Sutton will have to be content with the Moon on the Hill instead) and finally the Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch, which is to become the Goose Island Brewpub. If I had to choose between having an inebriated monkey or an inebriated goose in the pub with me, I think I would go with the goose (potentially more violent, but easier to catch).

Evening everyone! I hope you all found time to do something interesting over the holiday weekend. We're taking a few weeks off for some beer-related investigations, but there's plenty this week to tide you over until then.

Our featured article is for Redemption in Shoreditch, a vegan restaurant with an interesting (and 100% non-alcoholic) drinks menu. I don't think I've ever heard of a cocktail with lettuce in it before, let alone drunk one.

We've been to Swanley! The station is now in TfL zone 8, giving Oystery access to the Greene King-owned Lullingstone Castle pub, the Blue Harbour fish'n'chip shop (big portions, give the peas a miss), The Chef Chinese Restaurant and Sharon's Card Crafts, which sounds like a must-visit for papercrafters.

If for some reason Swanley doesn't float your boat (perhaps you are allergic to swans?) there are new articles for Cafe Adagio in Addiscombe, the Tulse Hill Hotel pub (another Greene King establishment), Pepe Italian Street Food (a pizza/pasta takeaway in Soho), The Finsbury pub near Manor Park station and the Somali Town Restaurant in Streatham, where the menu options have a refreshing simplicity (no lettuce cocktails).

The Mimosa cafe in Herne Hill has had an update following a visit, as has the Old Ale Emporium in Harringay (not to be confused with Haringey) and our old Ewok-village friend in Finsbury Park, the Faltering Fullback.

Finally, one sad closure to report: the lovely old Tudor Rose in Marylebone is going to become a restaurant. When I worked nearby I was always happy to spend time in this pub, especially in winter with its open fire and seemingly semi-permanent Christmas decorations hung all around the walls.

Morning RGL! Apologies for the slight lateness of this week's post, your correspondent was out investigating the beverages and attractions of E20 (verdict: AWESOME, reasonable-sized Olympic Park latte is £2.40).

This week's featured article is the Tin Goose, TW6 1AP, a surprisingly decent pub inside Heathrow Terminal 1. Last week you could see 38 buses from the pub's window, this week you can see PLANES. Best of all it opens at 5am!

New to the site is the excellently-named Saucy Sausage, a greasy spoon in Addiscombe with a decorative flair for ketchup sachet arrangement.

Closures: Patterson's, a posh-nosh restaurant in Mayfair is having a bit of a revamp and is 'closed until further notice', while Peaches House, a Caribbean takeaway in Walworth is consigned to the folder of RIP. However rising zombie-like from the grave is Manchurian Legends! Remember we said it was closed the other week? Well, even the best London-based review blogs can jump the gun sometimes. We're sorry, still-open Manchurian Legends!