Randomness Guide to London

Evening RGL crew!

This week's featured article is for the Douglas Fir micropub in Anerley (halfway up the hill, towards Crystal Palace). Expect all your favourite Gipsy Hill Brewing Company beers, and a place to plug your laptop in.

We've been to Orpington! This has resulted in a new page for snazzy Indian restaurant Masala Dabbas (the thali sounds good) and an update for the Orpington 'Spoons, the Harvest Moon, which looks exactly like I'd expect a Zone 6 Spoons to look like. A couple of stops up the line in Bromley we've a new page for gelato emporium Unico, which also does savoury pastries. The Wine Gallery in Purley has tapas plates to accompany your glass of rosé, while you admire the art - very sophisticated.

Keep going south from Purley and you'll reach Coulsdon, home of the Singapore Orchid, an 'old school' Singaporean/Chinese restaurant with lots of vegetarian/mock-meat options. Even further south is the Rambler's Rest in Chipstead, a country pub with open fireplaces, and the Kingswood Arms (in Kingswood), which has had an important fishfinger sandwich update. Before you start wondering if we should rename this blog the Randomness Guide to Surrey, the subject of our final new article is located right by Streatham Hill station: Perfect Blend self-describes its widely ranging menu: breakfasts, small plates, burgers, smoothies, cocktails, coffee, pancakes and an omelette. I defy you not to hum the Neighbours theme tune while reading that list ("breaaaaak-fasts....").

Finally, some closures to report. The Change of Horses in Farnborough is "currently closed for a short undeterminable period of time" (scratching-chin-emoji), the Waterman's Arms in Richmond is closed for a refurb, and Lounge 101 in Ruislip has met its pseudo-Orwellian fate at last, consigned to oblivion by Frank Skinner's comically-oversized lever.

Evening all! A bumper week to catch up after the Bank Holiday.

This week's featured article is for Bushwacker Wholefoods in Hammersmith, which stocks a whole range of vegetarian groceries including Taifun tofu (I wonder if they have curry and pineapple flavour?

New new new! Craft Tooting is a small craft beer shop by Tooting Broadway station. Further up towards Wimbledon Park we have more beer at the By The Horns Brewery Tap, while the Pear Tree pub in Purley has little jars of beer in front of the pumps so you can see what colour it is (I love it when pubs do this). Not quite so new but existing under a different name: The Aleksander in St Margaret's is now The Alba.

The page for Lion Inn in Thornton Heath has had an update, as have ones for the Sugahill cafe in Sydenham and Imperial China on Chinatown's Lisle Street (which seems to be *the* place to meet your blind date?). Places *not* to meet your blind date, unless you want to hang around outside a now-closed pub: the Red Herring pub near St Paul's, and the Devonshire House Wetherspoons in Crouch End.

Finally, pre-gig Brixton favourite the Trinity Arms is temporarily shut for a refurb. It's planned to reopen in August, hopefully in plenty of time for any attendees of 'Progress Wrestling: Chapter 36 - We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again' wanting a pre-bout pint of Ordinary.

Hello all!

This week's featured article is for Osterley Bookshop, a second-hand bookshop which makes up half of the old Osterley & Spring Park Piccadilly line station (closed in 1934 - the Station Master blog has a great old photo of the station 'in action').

Two new pages: firstly Dexter Burger in Purley, a small burger joint that offers outdoor-reared/free-range meat, local beers and interesting gluten-free/veggie options. Secondly Lahore Karahi in Tooting is a Pakistani curry house, with corkage-free BYOB and low prices.

Finally, the Bear in Camberwell has temporarily closed for a refit. Unfortunately I cannot confirm whether or not they have used the phrase 'Bear with us' anywhere on their website, because my browser tells me it's chock full of malware. I wonder if fixing that is part of their refurb plan?