rglondon | Entries tagged with nw8

Hello and welcome back to another random week.

Harry Morgan, St John’s Wood, London NW8

This week our feature article is Harry Morgan, NW8 7NH, a restaurant and deli in St John's Wood. Expect Jewish (albeit non-kosher) comfort food in a NYC style. Expect good size portions and attentive staff.

A temporary closure reported for The Constitution pub, for refurbishment apparently, so fingers crossed that goes well.

A more permanent closure for The Blue-Eyed Maid pub in Borough. Who knows if it will return...?

Finally we've got reports of a "possible" closure of Casa Morita, SW9 8LB in Brixton's trendy market. It might be back but the website and socials are all a bit vague.

katstevens

Our first featured article of February is the Devereux pub, just off the Strand. It's had a recent change of ownership so those looking for the usual Taylor Walker menu will be met instead by a variety of toasties. According to the website, they also sell Curly Wurlys!

There's a new article for Harry Morgan, a restaurant and deli in St John's Wood. Expect salmon bagels, salt beef sandwiches and, if it takes your fancy, a bowl of cold borscht.

It's the dawning of a classic sitcom plot in South Norwood as cafe Nico moves premises over the road. Will the old carpet shop be able to squeeze itself into Nico's previous home with hilarious results? We'll let you know if we see them sending passive-aggressive paper airplane notes across the street to each other on our next visit.

Finally, some pub news to report:
- the Fuller's Brewery Tap in Brentford has reopened after a refurb;
- the Royal Exchange in Paddington is temporarily closed after some sad news;
- Walthamstow Antic pub Mirth, Marvel and Maud is undergoing redevelopment;
- the landlords of the Ealing Park Tavern have decided not to renew their lease;
- the Change of Horses in Farnborough has had a Change of Management; the effect on the weekly Orpington Folk Club meetings is as yet unclear;
- the Load of Hay near Brunel University in Uxbridge has also recently had a refurb. Whether this will stop locals referring to it by a slightly different name remains to be seen.

katstevens

Evening all!

This week's featured article is for the Prince George, a friendly local tucked away in the backstreets of trendy Dalston. But I bet you hear about Dalston all the time! What's happening in Epsom, I hear you ask?

Well, if you want to find out, why not have a look at the new page for veggie cafe and deli Organico (featuring a reasonable attempt at vegan ham sandwich) or the updated page for the Marquis of Granby (featuring nduja mayonnaise, not attempting to be vegan in any way). Epsom! It's all go, I tell you. Look out for more exciting developments from the south-west outskirts of London on RGL in the near future!

Other pub news, courtesy of the recent issue of London Drinker: The Cape in Wapping, Corney and Barrow near St Paul's and The Beauchamp in Knightsbridge have all shut; the Charcoal Burner in Sidcup is no longer aflame, and is now just The Charcoal; and the Obelisk in Chingford has reopened as The Mount. The Clifton in St. John's Wood has reopened without changing its name at all (a lack of imagination, perhaps), as has the Crown & Greyhound in Dulwich Village, a lovely sprawling pub which I'm glad to see back on the drinking map, and not just because it's walkable from my house.

katstevens

Hullo all, I hope you had a good break!

This week's featured article is for Mazi, CR0 2RF, a small Turkish restaurant in Croydon. The kebabs and stews definitely come recommended - the yoghurtlu lamb shish sounds delicious.

New to RGL is Chennai Dosa, a laid back South Indian restaurant in Tooting serving dosas and uttappam (aka Indian pizzas). The spice level is variable but the pricing is very reasonable.

A number of pub closures to report: the Star in St John's Wood, the Green Dragon in Winchmore Hill, and the Carlton Tavern in Kilburn - which was demolished without any warning given at all. Outrageous! Less drastically, the Adams Cafe in Croydon is now a pizza restaurant, the Clarence on Balham High Road is now called the Balham Arms, the Charles Dickens in Borough is closed while it's having a spruce-up, and the Kennington Bookshop is set to close at the end of May.

ewan

Hello there, sorry for the delay. Kake tells me what's in the charts this week and it always then gets lost in the depthless mess that is currently my inbox. So this week's featured article is...

... the Ship and Shovell, WC2N 5PH, a charming and slightly hidden little pub, one of the few remaining outposts for Hall & Woodhouse (aka Badger) beers in the capital, as yet unsullied by any word of "craft" or the like. Just a row of handpulls dispensing classic and well-kept English bitters and pales (or "boring brown ales", though I don't mean that as any disrespect: I love the BBB). The pub is rather more interesting for its unusual twin-site arrangement, taking up buildings on both sides of the little alleyway. The north has the main bar, the south has the "Crow's Nest" upstairs.

Our one new article this week is for Garden Community Cafe, a community-focused greasy spoon by Prince Regent DLR out there past Canning Town.

Two reported permanent closures are The Old White Bear in Hampstead (which we felt had gone downhill since it was Ye Olde White Bear and was a proper real ale pub), and The Clifton in St John's Wood, one of very few pubs in the area and a delightful little getaway, so it's particularly sad to see this one go.

Finally, two more impending pub closures. There's The Star, also in St John's Wood because clearly nobody is drinking there anymore, or (more likely) property is worth more as residences. And then there's The Sekforde Arms in Clerkenwell, which your correspondent only visited for the first time a couple of years ago, and what a delightful unpretentious boozer it is, serving tip top Young's beers, and now sadly looking like it'll become a restaurant after only 185 years of sterling service to drinkers.

But at least there's a couple of reopenings, both following refurbishments, and both out in Twickenham: The Prince Blucher and The Eel Pie.

katstevens

Hello RGL crew! This is the last update of 2013, and there's plenty to report.

Our featured article for the next three weeks is the Black Cat Cafe, a vegan co-operative on the site of the old Pogo Cafe, which sounds like a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon chatting over tea and cake.

Our sources tell us that banh mi and other Vietnamese dishes will soon be back on the menu at Panda Panda in Deptford. New year, new noodles!

Unfortunately the following won't be around in 2014: the Old Duke of Cambridge in Bow is likely to be turned into flats, as will the Whitesmiths Arms in Borough (shame - they had a great jukebox) and the Victoria Cross in Thornton Heath. London is certainly short of decent, affordable flats, but at this rate it will be short of decent, affordable pubs too...

The Lamb Brewery pub in Chiswick has changed its name to simply 'The Lamb'. It's no longer a brewery, so fair enough! This follows its takeover by the Mitchell & Butlers chain (along with other former Convivial London Pubs outlets The Botanist, the Crown and Anchor and the Clifton, the latter of which may not yet have reopened after its sale).

Finally, the Pilot Inn in Greenwich has reopened after a refurb. We have no idea what it's like now! There could be a cross-dimensional portal in the ladies' for all we know. If you're in SE10 over the festive period, why not pop in and check it out for us?

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed to RGL over the last year, especially

kake and

bob (and of course my co-blogger

ewan!) for keeping everything running smoothly. See you in the new year!