Entries tagged with chiswick

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New featured article — Flavours of Paani Puri, Kingsbury, NW9

Hello and welcome to another week of RGL.

Flavours of Paani Puri, Kingsbury, London NW9

The featured article this week is Flavours of Paani Puri, NW9 9EG, a vegetarian Indian cafe in Kingsbury. It looks from the outside like a convenience store but don't be fooled! It's great value too.

There are three new articles this week. We have for you Tea Cosy, a cafe in Upminster, like an upmarket greasy spoon I suppose, is that what "British cafe" means? There's also Ashley Brook Fabrics, a rare article about something not food- or drink-related, this one being a Romford fabric shop. Finally, there's Little Coffee Shop in South Croydon. I have a small quiz for you: guess what it is. Those who answered "it's a little coffee shop" win!

We have an update to the Crumpled Horn article, a pub out Upminster way.

Finally a bunch of reported closures for you: Muncho cafe in Croydon; The Case Is Altered pub in Harrow Weald; The King's Arms pub in East Molesey; The White Horse pub in Hampstead Heath (this one is always opening and closing); The Railway Wetherspoons pub in Putney; The Goldsmiths' Arms in East Acton; and The Duke of York in Chiswick.

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New Featured Article - Penny Farthing, DA1 4JJ

Hullo RGLers! This week's featured article is for the Penny Farthing, a friendly micropub in Crayford, with plenty of real ale and real cider. If you happened to be walking from Wroxter to Canterbury along the old Watling Street Roman road, it would be a perfect 162-mile pint pit-stop.

There are a couple of new pages, one for Potli in Hammersmith, a reasonable Indian restaurant/takeaway, and one for Cafe Shack, a greasy spoon in Old Coulsdon (decent deep-fried sausage but maybe give the milkshakes there a miss).

Mayfair lost a couple of Michelin stars in October with the closure of Hibiscus - I had a cracking bowl of soup there once. I never had a decent bowl of soup from the Chiswick branch of Oddbins, but that's closed too. Finally, Lancaster Gate tube station is shut until July, while they sort out the lifts.

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New Featured Article - Black Cat Cafe, E5 8HB

Hello RGL crew! This is the last update of 2013, and there's plenty to report.

Our featured article for the next three weeks is the Black Cat Cafe, a vegan co-operative on the site of the old Pogo Cafe, which sounds like a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon chatting over tea and cake.

Our sources tell us that banh mi and other Vietnamese dishes will soon be back on the menu at Panda Panda in Deptford. New year, new noodles!

Unfortunately the following won't be around in 2014: the Old Duke of Cambridge in Bow is likely to be turned into flats, as will the Whitesmiths Arms in Borough (shame - they had a great jukebox) and the Victoria Cross in Thornton Heath. London is certainly short of decent, affordable flats, but at this rate it will be short of decent, affordable pubs too...

The Lamb Brewery pub in Chiswick has changed its name to simply 'The Lamb'. It's no longer a brewery, so fair enough! This follows its takeover by the Mitchell & Butlers chain (along with other former Convivial London Pubs outlets The Botanist, the Crown and Anchor and the Clifton, the latter of which may not yet have reopened after its sale).

Finally, the Pilot Inn in Greenwich has reopened after a refurb. We have no idea what it's like now! There could be a cross-dimensional portal in the ladies' for all we know. If you're in SE10 over the festive period, why not pop in and check it out for us?

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed to RGL over the last year, especially

kake and

bob (and of course my co-blogger

ewan!) for keeping everything running smoothly. See you in the new year!

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New featured article — Fat of the Land, Marylebone, W1

This week's featured article is Fat of the Land, W1G 9TR, a tapas bar in Marylebone, converted from an old Sam Smith's pub. It's been stripped out and made to look all fresh and shiny and new, and though it has a couple of taps for draught beer, it's not really a pub in any way anymore. The food is decent though.

One permanent closure is Palms of Goa, an Indian restaurant in Soho. As you will recall, there was some confusion about this a week or two ago. Well, I visited and it definitely has become a branch of Honest, the burger shop which started in Brixton Village. Lovely burgers, and not too busy for Soho given the quiet location.

A temporary closure (possibly, for refurbishment) is La Trompette, Michelin-starred fine dining in Chiswick.

However, reopening is The Great Harry, a Wetherspoon's pub in Woolwich. It was dramatically burnt out in the riots last August, but has now been refurbished and reopened again to the public.

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New featured article — Queen's Head, Soho, W1D 7HN

This week's featured article is a pub in Soho, The Queen's Head, W1D 7HN, which has come under new management, and seems to be okay.

Notified closures are: Fitzgerald's, an Irish pub in Lower Clapton; Zorya, a bar/restaurant in Chalk Farm; and Nicolas, the Chiswick branch of this chain of wine shops.

Finally, Quilon, the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, is temporarily closed.

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New featured article — Bermondsey Brazilian Shop, SE16 4BD.

Image © Kake

Sorry for not posting last week! bob and I have been moving house, and had a lot to do. I did get the featured article up on RGL itself, just didn't post about it here — it was Dial Arch, SE18 6GH, a Young's gastropub in Woolwich.

This week's featured article is Bermondsey Brazilian Shop, SE16 4BD, a small cafe on the Bermondsey/Rotherhithe borders. They serve drinks and desserts during the week, and a buffet of hot food on weekend lunchtimes. They also sell various Brazilian groceries.

Recent additions to RGL include Princess Garden, an upmarket Cantonese restaurant in Mayfair; and the Melbourne, a Stonegate pub in Wallington.

Reported permanent closures are Hiba on Borough High Street, Himalaya Palace Cinema in Southall, and Ochre Lounge in Chiswick. Temporary closures are the New World in Chinatown and the George on Borough High Street.

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New featured article — Leong's Legend, W1D 6AX.

Image © Kake

This week's featured article is Leong's Legend, W1D 6AX, a small Taiwanese restaurant in Chinatown offering some rather good dim sum. Their xiao long bao are among the best I've had in London.

Recent additions to RGL include the Horseshoe, a craft beer gastropub in Hampstead; the Duke of Edinburgh, a locals' pub in Wood Green; the Pembroke Castle, a pub in Primrose Hill; and the Man of Kent, a locals' pub in Nunhead. It's been quite a pubby week; we also updated our writeup of the Ivy House in Nunhead.

Reported closures are Long Time Cafe in Brockley, Tadim Cafe in Camberwell, and Himalayan Spice in Chiswick.