Randomness Guide to London

Welcome back, with another bumper crop of updates, although this one is not directly related to the Good Beer Guide.



Our featured article is Tip Top Cafe, BR8 8ES in Swanley. It's not quite a greasy spoon, instead it's a full-fledged British cafe, but not posh. Can't fault it if you ever find yourself in, or indeed find, Swanley.

Right then, plenty of new articles. We have Flavours of Paani Puri in Kingsbury, a casual Indian cafe with a good line in Pani Puri, masquerading as a shop. Then, not far away in Colindale, is Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall, the successor to the late lamented Oriental City, with loads of options, variable quality. A bit further out in Wembley is Krishna, a small and okay Indian vegetarian restaurant. And also in the north-west is Delisserie in Stanmore, a New York-style deli (which is to say, more of a cafe I guess) with a bunch of NW London outlets.

Moving out east is Hasi, an Albanian restaurant in Barking. You may not find a menu, but you'll have options, and while they may seem basic, they turn out to be worth eating. Swinging down across the river is Kitchen Counter, a vegan restaurant in Herne Hill run by "Deliciously Ella"; we only visited for breakfast, but it may be worth exploring. Over to West Norwood for Frangipani, a cafe with a cozy bright style and including vegan options.

Continuing west we get to Orange Pekoe, a tea shop in Barnes, so expect them to brew your tea properly at least, and they're happy to talk you through it. Still west, but north of the river in Ealing is Kiraku, a Japanese restaurant in the izakaya style, which gets busy and serves excellent (if pricy) food. Bringing us back towards the centre is The Bull and Last, a well-known (and also pricy) gastropub in Dartmouth Park, but the food is top notch even if it's only vanishingly pub-like. And on Highbury/Canonbury borders is Prawn on the Lawn, a silly name for a very likeable fish restaurant (and fishmonger).

I'll just list the significant updates:
* The Robin Hood, a Young's pub in Sutton;
* YBR Cake, a Thornton Heath cake shop;
* Finch's, another Young's pub, this one in Moorgate;
* The Volunteer, a pub in Bexleyheath;
* The Belvedere Hotel, in Belvedere;
* The Eel Pie pub in Twickenham;
* The Fox pub, not far away also in Twickenham; and
* The Norbiton pub in Kingston's Norbiton.

Three reported closures are: The Haandi Lounge in Edgware; L'Autre Pied in Marylebone; and Tigris in Waddon.

Welcome back! This week's featured article is The Willoughby Arms, KT2 6LN, a pub on the north side of Kingston. Of course, you knew that from the postcode, so I need hardly say. It's a handsome building from the photo, though what were once separate rooms seem to have been knocked through somewhat (as is the style). Go to drink Twickenham ales and watch cricket on the TV, still lovely despite a musty smell.

Two new articles are Sun Luen Snack Bar in Chinatown, with eggy egg tart; and House of Bottles, an off licence in Brixton.

There are big updates to veggie favourite The Gate (their Angel Islington branch), and post-work vertical drinking favourite The Hope Fitzrovia, which used to be a nice pub once upon a time. Still, sounds like it might just be fine on a weekday afternoon if you're ever there at such a time.

Finally, just to mark the reopening of Camberwell's The Bear pub, for which our write-up is sadly rather out of date.

Hello, welcome back to a new week, which sees RGL updated with the Good Beer Guide entries for 2016! Hurrah and hurroo.

So herewith a list of all the new pubby articles. If you don't know the area, why not check out the entry? Lots of good drinking ideas!

* The Adam and Eve in Homerton;
* The Aleksander in St Margarets;
* The Antelope in Surbiton;
* The Baring Hall Hotel in Grove Park;
* Beer Rebellion in Peckham;
* The Bell Inn in East Molesey;
* The Black Heart in Camden Town;
* The Bull on Shooter's Hill;
* The Catford Constitutional Club in... oh, guess;
* The Cat's Back in Wandsworth;
* The Champion in Bayswater;
* The Chesham Brewery Shop in the far end of the earth;
* Craft Beer Co. in Clapham;
* Draft House Seething on the Lane of that name near Tower Hill;
* The Durell Arms in Fulham;
* The Great Exhibition in East Dulwich;
* The Grosvenor in Hanwell;
* The Job Centre in Deptford;
* The Junction in Battersea (by Clapham Junction station);
* The Lion and Unicorn in Kentish Town;
* The Lyric in Soho;
* The Mute Swan in East Molesey;
* One Inn the Wood in Petts Wood;
* The Prince of Wales in East Molesey;
* The Wallington Arms in Wallington;
* The White Hart in Stepney, near Whitechapel station;
* The White Swan in Twickenham; and
* Woody's in Kingston.

We took a break to get things back on track and can now exclusively reveal that this week's featured article is The Canbury Arms, KT2 6LQ, a gastropub in Kingston. (NB There was a featured article for last week, which was another pub, The Pilot Inn, SE10 0BE in North Greenwich, which I last went to years ago, but it's rather nice.)

New additions are The Moon Under Water, a Wetherspoon's pub (if you hadn't guessed already) in Norbury, and Lahore Masala House, a Pakistani restaurant in Kentish Town.

There are updates to The Gatehouse, another Wetherspoon's pub in Highgate, Shahee Bhelpoori, an Indian restaurant in Norbury, and Quinn's, a pub on the Kentish Town/Camden borders.

Two reported closures are the Good Beer Guide stalwart, The Manor Arms in Clapham, and Livebait, a restaurant on The Cut in Southwark.