Randomness Guide to London

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.

Welcome back to another week of RGL!



Ah here is a Croydon pub, and it's your featured article for this week: The Cricketers, CR0 6SG. I've been there, though before it went through its troubled smoked meat phase. I mean, we all do, don't we? Luckily, they have a sandwich good enough that Kake would travel all the way there to eat it. You may demur and say, well, Kake doesn't live all that far from it, but I think it's still enough of a recommendation. Why not read the entry to find out about this wonderful sandwich? (If you like fish.)

We have an update to the Cafe Oto entry. The Persian-inspired food is perhaps a little overpriced, but I'm visiting later this year to see some kind of avant-garde cacophony no doubt, so perhaps shall get to judge it myself.

A reported temporary closure for The Compton Arms near Highbury, but I was told a few weeks ago that it was fully open once again, so perhaps just tread carefully. Perhaps it is, perhaps it's not.

Many other pubs, though, have definitely closed, and closed more or less permanently. There's The Fox in Dalston, there's South London Pacific in Kennington, there's The Fountain in New Malden, and there's the Adnam's pub The Bridge House on Tower Bridge. Times do change, but I can't imagine some of these locations will be closed forever.

One final note about the Earl Haig in sunny Hounslow, not closed but instead renamed to Keg & Cask. Well I for one will be unlikely to visit, but mostly because I rarely make it quite so far out of the centre.

Welcome back to a new week of RGL!



The featured article this week is Orange Peko, SW13 0PX, which I had been convinced for some reason was a breed of dog, but actually no it's a tea. I should have known that. So anyway this is a tea shop, not a dog shop. It gets quite busy, even on a Monday morning. The food is pretty good, and they're excellent at tea, which you'd expect, or at least you'd hope for that. No word on dog friendliness, but it's in leafy Barnes, so they can handle prams.

Lots of new additions! We have Searcy's, a restaurant and champagne bar in St Pancras International Station (friendly service, good food, but steep prices). We have Grao de Cafe, a Portuguese cafe and shop in sunny South Croydon (more friendly service). We have Divan in London-adjacent Borehamwood, a Turkish restaurant with abstract art and chill-out music, a good lunch deal and observant service (so I'd class that as good service). We have The Alfred Arms, a pub in Borehamwood, smart traditional, but still not in London. And finally we have Kiyoto, for all your Borehamwood Japanese food needs (good rice, but the food is a bit stodgy, but perhaps that's what you get when you leave London and are not in London, outside London).

Reported temporary closure for The Bear, one of Camberwell's finest pubs and due to reopen in 6-8 months' time.

Finally, three reported permanent closures. There's The Still and Star in Aldgate (boo hiss developers), The Peacock not far away on Minories (may yet reopen), and The Good Ship in Kilburn. I remember many gigs at that pub back in the day, what a strange stage arrangement it had.

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.

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.