Randomness Guide to London

Hello and welcome back again, once again belatedly (on my part)!



This week's featured article is Sunrise Jacket Potato and Oriental Food, RM1 3AB, a Filipino cafe in a Romford shopping mall. It's casual and utilitarian but clean, and the food is good, though Kake advises to avoid the chicken dishes.


After the Good Beer Guide pub blowout of the last few weeks, there are only two new articles: Jishal Goan in Wembley (again pretty basic, but with more underwhelming food), and Everyman Crystal Palace, a new outpost of the upmarket cinema chain.

There are significant updates to The Case Is Altered pub in Harrow Weald which has a large beer garden, and The Crown and Sceptre in West Kensington, a small many-pillared space.

One reported permanent closure is Cafe Adagio in Addiscombe, and a possible closure is The Station House in Chingford, but no one is sure if it's temporary or permanent.

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.

This week's seasonal featured article is a fast-food soup restaurant, Nincomsoup, EC1Y 1BE, located in the subways by Old Street station.

There are no new articles, but there's an update to Akari, a Japanese restaurant on Essex Road in Islington. There are also several transport-related updates: Farringdon station (the main exit is temporarily closed, but there's a new National Rail entrance on Cowcross Street and extended platforms); Blackfriars station (there's a new entrance on the South Bank); Victoria station (escalator refurbishment is complete); and Kensington (Olympia) station (District Line services have been restricted).

Some pubs have been renamed: The Rugby Inn (formerly the Grand Union) in Twickenham; The Clarendon (formerly The Nobody Inn) at Newington Green; and The Ascott (formerly The Manor) in Eastcote.

Also, The Fox pub in Twickenham has now reopened.