Randomness Guide to London

This week's featured article is Momo And Roti, TW3 1NP, a Nepalese restaurant ("Taste of Himalayas") in Hounslow with cheerful décor.

The Dec/Jan issue of the London Drinker is now out, and available from a pub near* you. It reports several closures, some changes, and a reopening:

The Lord Nelson, E14 3BD, a pub in the Isle of Dogs, has reopened under new management, having closed earlier in the year. We don't know what might have changed, so caveat emptor.

The closure is reported of the Hoxton Pony, EC2A 3AH, a DJ bar that wasn't in Hoxton, and maybe didn't even have a pony. It had been brash and new when last visited in 2008, but its operator has gone into administration, with the lease up for sale.

The Hack And Hop, EC4Y 8BH, a pub off Fleet Street, has a new operator: the "Portobello Pub Co.", which as far as I can see has next to no online presence. I hope they're still doing Five Points' Railway Porter.

The Market Porter, SE1 9AA, a pub by Borough Market that has been in the Good Beer Guide continuously for over a decade, has halved its number of real ales.

The Star & Garter, part of which had been converted to Les Delices De Tresor, SE14 6TJ, an Ivorian restaurant, has closed. The restaurant itself -- a small one-woman business with especially flavourful stews -- is presumably still functioning.

The Cambria, SE5 9AR, a gastropub near Loughborough Junction, has closed and its future is uncertain.

TGI Friday's, W1D 7AG in Coventry Street off Piccadilly Circus has closed. On a visit (though in 2007), the food was substandard, so maybe this place will not be missed.

*YMMV