Randomness Guide to London

Hello again!

This week's featured article is Beck's Cafe, WC1R 4PS, a greasy spoon cafe offering excellent quality breakfast in the Holborn area. bob's been a regular nigh on twenty a year now. In my own opinion, sausages are the key, good quality sausages, can't overemphasise how important these are.

Two new entries include Bongo East, a Ghanaian restaurant/bar in Barking. It offers some tasty fufu. I'm still not sure what that is. Some kind of bread?

Another addition is Albina, another bar/restaurant this time in Plaistow. It offers food from the Ukraine, and is probably a good deal safer to visit than that country is right now (/topical). I would suggest reading our review carefully before you go in, because there's some good stuff if you choose well. Bonus Cyrillic action.

Finally two reported closures are Viajante, whose award-winning chef Nuno Mendes has gone on to other projects (he's currently cooking at the Chiltern Firehouse, which your updater is confident he will not be eating at, what with it being London's current hot ticket). At the other end of the gastronomic spectrum, the E5 Cafe in everyone's favourite postcode has also shut up shop, not long after advertising non-existent Punjabi food, which may perhaps have confused their potential customers and been something of, dare I say it, a marketing error.

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.

Hello! Plenty of pub updates this week, as Kake's been out in Sutton. Do please note that the many Sutton updates not constitute new pubs to the Good Beer Guide 2013. Those will be updated on the website on 13 September (the book's release date), so look out for them!



In the meantime, the featured article this week is Shane's on Chatsworth, a newish restaurant on up-and-coming Chatsworth Road, Clapton, which was much enjoyed by Kat. (It is very much open for business unless you walk by to take your photo on a Monday.)

New entries this past week have been: Aces and Eights, an American-style saloon bar in Tufnell Park which does very tasty pizza; and The Ravensbury in Mitcham.

Significant updates to: The Sekforde Arms, good old-fashioned pub in Clerkenwell; The Marquis of Granby and The Jolly Coopers in Epsom (which is only marginally London); and many pubs in Sutton (The Old Bank, The Little Windsor, The Cock and Bull and The Lord Nelson).

Finally confirmation of three permanent closures: Tas-Ty Snacks greasy spoon in Bermondsey; Spa Fish Bar, a fish and chip shop in the same area; and Bella Italia, a chain Italian restaurant in Epsom.

This week's featured article is the refurbished and reopened Great Northern Railway Tavern, N8 7QB on Hornsey High Street.

New articles are: Deli Spice, an Indian takeaway in Lower Clapton; Cakey Muto, a cake shop and licensed cafe on the same street; The Manor Arms, a gastropub in Streatham; and Red Sea, a restaurant in Shepherd's Bush offering food from countries located around that stretch of water.

There's an update to The Old Red Lion, now an Antic pub near Kennington station.

Finally The Rye in Peckham has reopened after a significant refurbishment.

Sorry for no update last week, as I was on holiday. Last week's featured article was The Parcel Yard, N1C 4AH, Fuller's excellent new flagship pub in King's Cross station.

This week's featured article is Venetia's Coffee Shop, E5 0LH, a coffee shop on Chatsworth Road in Lower Clapton.

Additions are: The Havelock Tavern, a gastropub in West Kensington; and Hardy's Brasserie in Marylebone.

Reported closures are: The New Chandos, a pub in Colindale; So Asia, an Asian buffet in Acton; and Muna's, an Eritrean/Sudanese restaurant in Harringay.

This week's featured article is a pub in Soho, The Queen's Head, W1D 7HN, which has come under new management, and seems to be okay.

Notified closures are: Fitzgerald's, an Irish pub in Lower Clapton; Zorya, a bar/restaurant in Chalk Farm; and Nicolas, the Chiswick branch of this chain of wine shops.

Finally, Quilon, the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, is temporarily closed.