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.

Hello, it's that time of year, time for the new Good Beer Guide and all the new pubs it brings. The category page for this book is therefore, of course, the featured article.

Before we get into that, there's one new unrelated article, which is Banh Mi Hoi-An in London's trendy Hackney, which will do you a decent noodle salad.

Now this leaves us with all the new pubs for this year, so brace yourselves:

* The Aeronaut in Acton (also a brewpub!);
* The Argyle in Clerkenwell (Hatton Garden area);
* The Black Horse in High Barnet (also a brewpub!);
* The Clarence in Mayfair;
* The Constitution in Pimlico;
* Craft Beer Co. in Brixton (ell, can't complain about the beer selection I guess);
* The Crooked Billet in Upper Clapton;
* The Crown in St Margaret's, Twickenham;
* The Elephant and Castle in Kensington;
* The Flying Pig in East Dulwich;
* The George in South Woodford;
* The Grapes in Sutton;
* The Grove in Ealing;
* The Hops and Glory in Canonbury (Essex Road);
* The Hour Glass in Brompton;
* The Huntsman and Hounds in Upminster;
* The King's Head in Tooting;
* The Leyton Technical in Leyton;
* The Lighthouse in Battersea;
* London Fields Brewery Tap Room by the park of that name in Hackney (really a brewery);
* The Lord Aberconway by Liverpool Street;
* The Misty Moon in High Barnet (ex-Spoons, obviously);
* Oaka at the Mansion House in Kennington (the Oakham Ales pub);
* The Old Bell on Fleet Street;
* The Old Loyal Britons in Greenwich;
* Old Tom's Bar under the Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall Market;
* The Pig and Whistle in Southfields;
* The Prince of Wales in Clapham;
* The Railway Bell in New Barnet;
* The Royal George by Euston Station;
* The Shortlands Tavern in Bromley;
* The Sporting Page in Chelsea;
* The Station Hotel in Hither Green;
* The White Lion in Warlingham;
* Williams Ale and Cider House in Spitalfields; and
* Woodin's Shades around the corner on Bishopshate, by Liverpool Street Station.

There are also two stub entries which will be filled out by Kake in the next week or two:
* The Door Hinge in Welling (a micro-pub!); and
* The Hare and Billet in Blackheath.

This week's featured article is Akwaah's Kitchen, N17 8NS, a small African restaurant in Tottenham with a focus on Ghanaian food in particular and serving up some excellent kenkey (read the review if you don't know what that is!).

There are five new articles. We have Sawadika, a Thai restaurant in Holborn; Peckish Cafe and sandwich bar in Sutton; Japanese Canteen, part of a chain near Liverpool Street station; Itsu, another chain restaurant in the same part of town; and The Imperial Arms, a pub in Chislehurst.

Note that The Duke of Edinburgh in Wanstead has temporarily closed (so go to the nearby Nightingale).

Finally, The Elm Park near the tube station of the same name (at the edge of Hornchurch) has permanently closed.

This week, we travel south south south to Sutton for our featured article, which is Little Squiggles Cafe, SM1 1NR. As you may have guessed from the name, it's aimed at children, so having some would probably help.

Otherwise, it's a very quiet week, with only one reported closure, of the Royal Margin Vietnamese restaurant in Surrey Quays.

If there are any places you've recently visited and want to let us know about, why not suggest them below! If you're an RGL contributor already, why not add or update an entry with details of somewhere you've been to recently? I shall try to do my part...

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.