Randomness Guide to London

Hello all! It's the busiest week of the year at my work, so thinking about places to eat and drink is always a pleasurable divertissement.



This week's featured article is the extravagantly-named Mandalay Golden Myanmar, NW6 2DB, where you can enjoy all your favourite Burmese food... or is it Myanmarese? I understand there's quite a bit of politics behind the naming of the country, and who would have guessed 10-20 years ago how we'd be thinking about Aung San Suu Kyi nowadays, eh? Ah well, there's still the food, and I'm certainly intrigued to try tea leaf salad, despite some of Kake's adjectives.

Two new entries are for The Hercules, which is the bar in the old Pillars of Hercules pub building, and Naughty Piglets, a wine bar ant tapas-y restaurant in Brixton with a twee name.

Loads of updates pages, mostly for pubs...
* Kulu Kulu in Soho, a Soho sushi place;
* The Duke of Argyll in Soho;
* The Newman Arms in Fitzrovia;
* The King William IV in Leyton;
* Browns of Brockley, a cafe in Brockley;
* The Nightingale on the Green in Wanstead;
* The North Star in Leytonstone;
* Domali, a cafe/bar in Crystal Palace;
* The Crown and Sceptre in Streatham;
* The Duke of Wellington in Belgravia;
* The Dog and Fox in Wimbledon "Village" if you will;
* The Aeronaut in Acton;
* The Roebuck in Hampstead;
* The Sir Richard Steele in Belsize Park;
* The Ivy House in lovely Nunhead;
* The Rye in Peckham;
* The Herne Tavern in East Dulwich; and
* Babur Indian restaurant in Forest Hill.

Finally, there are two reported permanent closures, being The French House, a French cafe in Crystal Palace (not the Soho pub!), and Mr Lawrence in Brockley, a sad loss to the area, which has been on the decline for some time but had been a fixture there for many decades.

Hello! Unusually this week the featured article is not a place but a category: the Good Beer Guide 2013. Every year on the release of this guide, Kake uploads the 2013 pub information, and as a result a number of new pages are created in RGL (which she and other contributors try to visit before the publication date).

It's worth pointing out that the new articles that have been added as a result do not represent all the new 2013 GBG pubs, just the ones which didn't already have a page on RGL.

The new articles which are not GBG-related are: Dost, an Indian street food restaurant in Uxbridge; Bookworm, a second-hand bookshop in Carshalton; Raizes, a Brazilian restaurant in Bethnal Green; and Cafe Z Bar, a greasy spoon cafe in Stoke Newington.

So, those new GBG articles:
* All Inn One in Forest Hill;
* The Angel in Hayes End;
* The Argyll Arms in Soho;
* The Barnsbury in, er, oh guess;
* The Beehive in Bedfont;
* The Black Lion in Essex's Epping.
* The Botanist in Kew;
* The Coal Hole on the Strand;
* The Elm Park Tavern in Brixton;
* The Forester in West Ealing;
* The Grenadier in Belgravia;
* The Greyhound in Keston;
* The Hare in Bethnal Green;
* Howl at the Moon in Hoxton;
* Noble Green Wines, an off licence (not a pub) in Hampton Hill;
* The Old Sergeant in Wandsworth;
* The Queen's Head in Downe;
* The Railway Hotel in West Wickham;
* The Rising Sun in Surrey's Epsom;
* The Sir Michael Balcon in Ealing;
* The Sun in Carshalton;
* The Sussex Arms in Twickenham;
* The Swan in Hammersmith;
* The Three Greyhounds in Soho;
* The Walnut Tree in Leytonstone; and
* The Windmill in Mitcham.

No closures reported this week.

Today's featured article is Pitt Cue Co., W1F 7RB, a barbecued ribs specialist in Soho. Expect long queues, though I've found popping in for a takeaway pulled pork roll is an easy thing to do at lunchtime, and worthwhile for the meat-eaters out there.

There are several new pages. We have four new pubs: Catford Bridge Tavern (you can guess where); The Parcel Yard at King's Cross station; Sylvan Post in Forest Hill; and Tapping the Admiral, just by Kentish Town West.

There is also: Harry Ramsden's Express, fish and chips takeaway at Euston; a greasy spoon in Kennington, Parma Cafe; and another one in Walworth, Cafe Silam.

One temporary closure is The Ship and Shovell, a pub at Charing Cross.

There are two reported permanent closures: V.V. Rouleaux, a Sloane Square ribbon shop; and The Wenlock Arms in Hoxton.