Randomness Guide to London

Hello and welcome to another week of London randomness.



Our featured article this week is a micropub and crafty beer shop in Ruislip, The Hop and Vine, HA4 7AN. Expect friendly service, wood-panelled walls, ales, cheeseboards and, if you're lucky, maybe a dog or two.

Reported temporary closures for the Cartoon Museum (yes there is one and it was in Bloomsbury, but intends to move to Fitzrovia), and Cote d'Azur, a French/Mauritian fusion restaurant in Croydon, which has closed rather more mysteriously (so it may or may not return).

Reported permanent closures are Maze, a fancy Gordon Ramsay-owned restaurant in Mayfair (I'm sure you went all the time, so we're sorry to let you down); The Waterloo Bar and Kitchen which was a bar and kitchen in, er, Waterloo; and finally Obia, an Italian restaurant in "Croydon's restaurant quarter" (South End).

Welcome back! I was off on Monday traipsing around the many fine licensed establishments of Bromley (the one in South London), and then I completely forgot about this update. Here it is, in time for the weekend.



Your featured article this week is The Brookmill, SE8 4EJ. It's a long, narrow pub in an awkward corner site, with jazz on the sound system and five handpulls for ale. There is even a very interesting sounding vegan burger on the menu. Sounds like a nice place.

Lots of new additions this week, mostly pubs! I can but speculate as to this seasonal flurry of additions, but eagle-eyed readers will know this happens around this time every year:
* The Prince, a fine pub and microbrewery in leafy Wood Green, which I very much like, but watch out for the, er, ice;
* The Arnos Arms, in Arnos Grove, a big pub formerly a Harvester, but now it's not a Harvester, so that's already an improvement;
* The King's Arms in Fulham, another big pub, with ornate decor;
* The Foresters Arms, also a boutique hotel and a posh restaurant, in Hampton Wick, where you can expect a black pleather bar and some ales;
* The Henry Addington just by Canary Wharf station -- it's a Nicholson's pub in an early-90s building but it's going for an old fashioned vibe;
* The Wellington Arms (also a hotel) in not-technically-London Watford, but it doesn't sound like somewhere you'd necessarily make a special trip north for;
* The Windsor Castle in Kensington/Notting Hill, a well-divided and partitioned bar with lots of area and character, and frankly it's a surprise it hasn't been on RGL until now. Can't really go wrong, it's a classic pub, just watch out for posh locals I guess?

There's also a new entry for the distinctly not-a-pub Trullo, an Italian restaurant by Highbury Corner. It's very popular, and that makes sense given the quality of the food. Definitely one for pasta exploration.

There are also updates to The Temperance pub in Fulham (cavernous!), Dalchini in Wimbledon (Indo-Chinese food! though be careful), and The Lion in Teddington/Hampton Wick (partly a French restaurant now!).

Finally, reported permanent closure for Kenya Coffee House in Romford, which may yet find a new location.

I'm back-back-back from my holidays to take over update duties from Kat.



The featured article this week is the imaginatively named Food House, W1D 5QH, which we can confirm does indeed offer food. But perhaps instead you should call it 風味食堂. In fact, it's Northern Chinese and Sichuanese food, moved from that bit of Charing Cross Road currently being refurbished. The food was a mixed affair -- check the review for more details -- but the Chinese 'hamburger' was considered rather good at the most recent visit, and the service is friendly.

Lots of new articles, many of them in Tooting. Those that aren't are a relaxed Italian in Covent Garden, Wildwood Kitchen, and the Clapham Junction branch of We Brought Beer beer shop (we added their Balham branch recently). Moving onto those Tooting outlets, we have: Apollo Banana Leaf (a meaty Sri Lankan); Dosa n Chutny (a South Indian cafe); Gourmet (a Pakistani bakery/sweet shop); Pooja Sweets and Savouries (an Indian sweet shop); and Tooting Daily Fresh Naan, which will sort you out for all yr naan needs (though watch out for the hygiene rating).

There are updates to The Lyceum Tavern and The Edgar Wallace, both on or near the Strand.

Sadly, plenty of reported closures too, most of them pubs as noted in the London Drinker magazine: All Bar One by London Bridge ('redeveloped'); Costa Dorada on Hanway Street; The Fox Reformed in Stoke Newington (renamed); The Gilpin's Bell Edmonton Wetherspoons pub; The Man in the Moon Stanmore 'Spoons; Mela (an Indian on Shaftesbury Ave); The North Pole in Islington (renamed); The Queen's Head in Mitcham; The Widow's Son pub in Bow.

We've heard that Mum's House (a Burmese grocery, not literally your mum's house, unless your mum is Burmese and runs a grocery shop) has moved from Wood Green to Tottenham.

The Misty Moon in High Barnet is now called The Butchers Arms.

Finally, Adams Cafe in Croydon has reopened, for your London Road greasy spoon needs.

Hello! And sorry for the slight delay posting this update; all my fault.



This week's featured article is Addis, N1 9DT. It's an Ethiopian restaurant at the bottom of Caledonian Road, with plenty of options for veggies and vegans. Looks like everything was excellent, though you might want to think carefully about ordering falafel.

There are three new entries: a Turkish bakery and cafe called Tuana near Archway; Mi Rancho, a Colombian eatery in Nag's Head Market, Holloway, offering tasty street food in an unpretentious setting; and Black Cat Cafe, a vegan cooperative cafe in Lower Clapton.

Reported permanent closures are La Fermata on Tower Bridge Road, and Verru in Marylebone.

Finally, happier news, the old Duke of Edinburgh pub in Wanstead has been rebranded as The Duke and reopened. Looks promising.

The featured article is The Railway, SW16 5SD. You'll have guessed two things about this pub: it's near a railway station and it's in Streatham. The station is Streatham Common in fact. It had only London ales on tap on our RGL correspondent's visit, and did an excellent salad.

Loads of additions this week too. There's Bruce Castle Museum (and local history archive) in Tottenham. We now have Cafe Royal, a cafe (!) in Park Royal (!), and on a similarly straightforward naming strategy, Burgers and Coctkails in Marylebone, which serves... oh I think you can guess; it used to be called Guerilla Burgers and garnered some pretty bad reviews, so I guess they tried rebranding. There's also The Toll Gate, a very Wetherspoony Wetherspoon's in Turnpike Lane, Lituanica grocery store in Walthamstow, Venerdi Italian restaurant in Lower Clapton (the old Thang Long House), and Mirch Masala's Goodmayes branch.

There are updates to The Anerley Arms, Yas Iranian restaurant near Olympia, and The Bull Inn in far-flung St Paul's Cray (where? why not look at the article to find out!).

Finally, we have been told that The Old Duke of Cambridge, a pub in Bow, may have closed so any further information confirming/denying this would be gratefully received.