rglondon | Entries tagged with w6

Evening all!

This week's featured article is for Browns of Brockley, a small cafe that is situated, funnily enough, in Brockley. Right by the station, in fact! If you're not a regular to Brockley, then Browns is likely to have had at least one refurb since you last visited if not more. They also don't take cash at all - no risk of getting a 1 Euro cent coin back instead of a penny.

There's an update for Cafe Adagio in Addiscombe where our correspondent enjoyed the homity pie, but can a homity pie ever be a true pie if it doesn't have a lid? (NB I advise caution before entering the #piedebatezone.)

After last week's pub update deluge, there's yet more news! It's all change in Stratford for the Langthorne pub, which is now called the Abbey Tap, while the Vauxhall Griffin has been renamed to the Griffin Belle. We have one reopening, the Case Is Altered in Harrow Weald, but on the closures list we have the Phoenix in Rainham (hopefully only temporarily), the Yardbird in the shopping centre by Hammersmith station (where will Eric Clapton get a pint of Greene King IPA now??), the Grapes in Sutton (Wetherspoons fans in Sutton will have to be content with the Moon on the Hill instead) and finally the Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch, which is to become the Goose Island Brewpub. If I had to choose between having an inebriated monkey or an inebriated goose in the pub with me, I think I would go with the goose (potentially more violent, but easier to catch).

katstevens

Hullo RGLers! This week's featured article is for the Penny Farthing, a friendly micropub in Crayford, with plenty of real ale and real cider. If you happened to be walking from Wroxter to Canterbury along the old Watling Street Roman road, it would be a perfect 162-mile pint pit-stop.

There are a couple of new pages, one for Potli in Hammersmith, a reasonable Indian restaurant/takeaway, and one for Cafe Shack, a greasy spoon in Old Coulsdon (decent deep-fried sausage but maybe give the milkshakes there a miss).

Mayfair lost a couple of Michelin stars in October with the closure of Hibiscus - I had a cracking bowl of soup there once. I never had a decent bowl of soup from the Chiswick branch of Oddbins, but that's closed too. Finally, Lancaster Gate tube station is shut until July, while they sort out the lifts.

katstevens

Bushwacker Wholefoods, Hammersmith, London W6

Evening all! A bumper week to catch up after the Bank Holiday.

This week's featured article is for Bushwacker Wholefoods in Hammersmith, which stocks a whole range of vegetarian groceries including Taifun tofu (I wonder if they have curry and pineapple flavour?

New new new! Craft Tooting is a small craft beer shop by Tooting Broadway station. Further up towards Wimbledon Park we have more beer at the By The Horns Brewery Tap, while the Pear Tree pub in Purley has little jars of beer in front of the pumps so you can see what colour it is (I love it when pubs do this). Not quite so new but existing under a different name: The Aleksander in St Margaret's is now The Alba.

The page for Lion Inn in Thornton Heath has had an update, as have ones for the Sugahill cafe in Sydenham and Imperial China on Chinatown's Lisle Street (which seems to be *the* place to meet your blind date?). Places *not* to meet your blind date, unless you want to hang around outside a now-closed pub: the Red Herring pub near St Paul's, and the Devonshire House Wetherspoons in Crouch End.

Finally, pre-gig Brixton favourite the Trinity Arms is temporarily shut for a refurb. It's planned to reopen in August, hopefully in plenty of time for any attendees of 'Progress Wrestling: Chapter 36 - We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again' wanting a pre-bout pint of Ordinary.

ewan

This week's update features Thai Smile, W6 9NH, a Thai supermarket, though it has plenty of other regional stuff. Pastes! Sauces! Seasonings! Frozen Things! Tofu! Strange herbs!

There are four new articles: Fish Kitchen in Norbiton, like an upmarket chippie; Saints and Sinners pub in Croydon, lacking ale though; Santok Maa's vegetarian Indian in Thornton Heath, with friendly staff, though not fully structurally sound puri; and Bus cafe towards the Selhurst end of Croydon, which is in a bus.

We have significant updates to The Norbiton and Dragon pub; The Willoughby Arms pub in Kingston; The Park Tavern pub in Kingston; and The Boaters Inn pub in Kingston. Someone's been visiting the area, I'll wager...

Temporary closure is reported for The Queen's Head pub in Kingston. Permanent closures are: Snackpot (in Norbiton); Magma Ghanaian restaurant (in Thornton Heath); and The Gatehouse (in Highgate), which is still a pub just not a Wetherspoons so is DEAD TO US.

Finally is the reported reopening of Na Pura Portuguese cafe in Nunhead.

katstevens

Kicking off a bumper round-up this week, our featured article is for Fee and Brown, a modern cafe in Beckenham specialising in fancy teas - worth a trip down for tea enthusiasts.

Lots happening in Hammersmith! We have new pages for Somali restaurant Village, veggie/vegan shop Bushwacker Wholefoods, and the Thai Smile supermarket. There’s an update for the Distillers Fuller’s pub following a visit; the Cineworld is closing in April; Thai restaurant Noodles Magic has closed, and Books For Amnesty has reopened a couple of doors down from its old home on King Street. Phew - W6 in flux!

Elsewhere, Pitt Cue Co has moved from Soho to larger premises in Liverpool Street (I wonder if that’ll make the queues any shorter). There's a brand new article for We Brought Beer, a craft beer and brewing supplies shop in Balham. In Bermondsey, Lou Farrow’s Pie & Mash Shop has shut, as has Mirch Masala in Croydon and the Harry Ramsden’s kiosk in Euston station.

Last but not least, my favourite new article name in RGL history has to go to Croydon’s Juicy Squeeze. I’ll leave you to find out what exactly Juicy Squeeze has to offer by clicking on the link.

katstevens

Evening everyone!

This week’s featured article is for A Wong, a modern Chinese restaurant in Victoria - quite different in style to last week's featured Chinese restaurant! There’s plenty of interesting dim sum on offer - the mushroom and truffle steamed bun sounds like a good choice.

There’s a brand new page for the new Curzon cinema inside the Goldsmiths campus, in New Cross. Meanwhile the New Cross Turnpike is not actually in New Cross but in Welling, and is now reopened after last year’s fire.

Some pub closures to report: the Obelisk in Chingford is on the market, and Wetherspoons have sold both the Cap In Hand in Southborough, the Plough and Harrow in Hammersmith and the Picture Palace in Ponders End.

katstevens

Evening everyone!

Our featured article this week is for the Old Orchard in Harefield, a large pub with plenty of tasty beer and food. On a nice day you can sit outside and look over the picturesque gravel pits of the Colne Valley, which I last visited around 2001 for a civilised Boxing Day stroll with my parents. Like the Colne Valley, the Old Orchard is a bit of an effort to get to unless you have a car, or live near my parents.

There's an update for the Yardbird in Hammersmith following a recent visit. This particular pub I last visited around 2001, when it was still called The Trout, so I didn't feel the need to form a rock supergroup. As far as I know Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck have never been in a band called The Trouts, but there is still time for them to get on the case.

We have new pages for two drinking establishments in Camden: firstly, a branch of the steadily-growing BrewDog empire, which reportedly has some non-BrewDog guest beers as well as their usual loopy juice. A few steps up towards Camden Town tube station, there's also the somewhat infamous rock pub, the World's End. This particular pub I last visited around 2001, when I got barred for what could be deemed 'rock'n'roll behaviour'. For some reason I can't remember the details but I was probably starting a supergroup in an overenthusiastic fashion. Eric and Jeff could learn from my example.

katstevens

Afternoon everyone! A slight hiccup disintegrated last week's blog post, which would have had Nunhead's Beer Shop as the featured article. Who knows what Ewan would have written about this new micropub/bottle shop? Well, he wrote the article being featured so you can have a decent guess. Instead I will tell you about this week's featured article, which is for Vijay in Kilburn, a South Indian restaurant which claims to be the first such restaurant to open in the UK (in 1964). It does a decent mathanga erissery along with other vegetarian, meat and fish specialities. Apparently the Indian cricket team have been known to pop in for a biryani following a hard day's batting at Lord's...

There are updates to the articles for the George pub and Mirch Masala (both in Croydon), and the Riverside Bookshop has moved a few yards from Hay's Galleria to Tooley Street. Meanwhile, Swedish haunt The Harcourt has closed for refurbishment until June 2015, and has relocated to the nearby Duke of York (so Eurovision fans will still have somewhere to watch Melodifestivalen this spring).

A whole bunch of closures to report: the clanging chimes of doom have clung for the Marquis of Wellington and Royal Delight (both in Bermondsey), the Iron Duke inside Victoria station (now replaced with The Beer House Victoria - you can probably guess what font its sign uses without even clicking), the Hobgoblin in New Cross (now reopened as the Rose Pub & Kitchen), Broca Food Market in Brockley, Books For Amnesty in Hammersmith, the Duke of Edinburgh in Upton Park, and the Prince of Wales in Hillingdon. I don't think you could have watched Melodifestivalen in any of those places.

ewan

Hello all! We've got a full update this week, as we're catching up with various changes to pubs from London Drinker magazine.

Old Tom's Bar, Leadenhall Market, London EC3

The featured article this week is a little dive bar under the Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall Market, namely Old Tom's Bar, EC3V 1LR. They have ales from the Young's range and a short list of food options. Get away from the bustle.

One new article is The Star at Night, a coffee house by day in Soho but at night a gin bar. Many gins! Drink gin! (It's not a candidate for a good photo of the establishment until they finish the Crossrail works though.)

There's a temporary closure to mark for The Railway in West Hampstead, until March next year.

The following pubs have all closed since we last visited:
* The Newton Arms out back of Covent Garden, near Holborn;
* The Old Loyal Britons in Greenwich;
* The Elephant on Fenchurch Street;
* The Crown and Greyhound in Dulwich Village (though this is due to reopen in 2016);
* The Oakhill in Beckenham;
* Glow Lounge in Clapham;
* The Gate bar on Newington Green; and
* The Florence off Upper Street in Islington.

Finally a few renamings:
* Finch's in Moorgate (was The Master Gunner);
* The Pleasure Boat in Alperton (now The Boat);
* The Express Tavern by Kew Bridge (now The Express Ale and Cider House); and
* The Thatched House by Ravenscourt Park station in Hammersmith (now The Butcher's Hook).

ewan

Welcome! (A day late as usual for me.)

In case you thought High Barnet was just a destination on the Northern Line, our featured article this week is for a brewpub up that way, The Black Horse, EN5 4HY. It's split into a few different areas, and features above-average pub food. Also, obviously, their own beers, amongst others.

Three additions are: The Union Cafe in Marylebone (good for wine, pleasant and lively); The Log Cabin in Leytonstone for 24 hour burgers and breakfasts; and Finezja in delightful Neasden, where you can get good solid, gloopy Polish food, with a side of Polish news.

Finally, we have the reported closure of London's premier Argentinian-New Zealand restaurant, Lola and Simon in Hammersmith. At least, I'm assuming it was the premier, because I can't imagine there are many others...

katstevens

Hello RGL crew!

This week's featured article is for the Red Lion in Isleworth, a pub with a whole bunch of interesting ales for you to try. They've got a pub dog AND a pub cat who both like Rick Astley.

Our new articles are located in West London this week: the Thatched House is a Young's pub in Hammersmith with a decent macaroni cheese and an open fire, and the Garden Bar is a bar with a garden in Notting Hill, which also features automatic mayonnaise.

There's a significant update to the Sovereign of the Seas, a Wetherspoons pub in Petts Wood. If you don't know anything about Petts Wood, the pub has a handy guide to the history of the area.

Chung Viet in Deptford has closed (for hygiene violations, so no great loss, it seems), and so has the Whitechapel branch of Mirch Masala (albeit temporarily, following a fire).

ewan

This week is that week when the Good Beer Guide is released, so we can add all the new Good Beer Guide 2014 pubs, which Kake and bob have been diligently adding, helped by a few others. I shan't try to sum up the views of our sterling reviewers (you should read the entries to find out their favourites), so here is a list of those with new entries in RGL as a result:

In the centre:
* The Chamberlain (Aldgate EC3);
* The Exmouth Arms (Clerkenwell EC1);
* The Hung, Drawn and Quartered (Tower Hill EC3);
* The Sun (Covent Garden WC2); and
* The White Swan (Covent Garden WC2).

In the North:
* The Bohemia (North Finchley N12) [PS already closed! BOO!];
* The Bull (Highgate N6);
* The Charlotte Despard (Archway N19); and
* The Stag and Hounds (Lower Edmonton N9).

In the East:
* The Bell (Walthamstow E17)
* The Duke's Head (Walthamstow E17); and
* The Sebright Arms (Haggerston E2).

In the South-East:
* The Royal Standard (Blackheath SE3);
* The Ship (Borough SE1); and
* The Star Inn (Plumstead SE18).

In the South-West:
* The King's Head (Earl's Court SW5); and
* Powder Keg Diplomacy (Battersea SW11).

In outer London postcodes:
* The Barking Dog (Barking IG11);
* The Europa (East Molesey KT8);
* The Feathers (Rickmansworth WD3);
* The George Staples (Sidcup DA15);
* The Jolly Coopers (Hampton TW12);
* The London Apprentice (Isleworth TW7);
* The Moon on the Hill (Sutton SM1)
* The Tailor's Chalk (Sidcup DA14);
* The Three Tuns (Uxbridge UB8);
* The Windermere (North Wembley HA9); and
* The Woodman (Farnborough BR6).

There's also a stub article for The Viaduct in Hanwell, so if anyone would like to visit and let us know how it is, why not do that? We'll get along eventually, I'm sure.

One other pub addition, not in the GBG, is The Change of Horses in Farnborough, which is upmarket traditional. If you're going to go all the way to Farnborough you might as well try a couple of pubs, eh?

Reported closures, are, er, the Bohemia (see above). It was a nice pub, I hope it will be back... :(

There are significant updates to the entries for The Red Lion in Isleworth, The Portrait in Sidcup, and Ye Olde Whyte Lyon in Farnborough.

There is a temporary closure for The Pilot Inn, a wonderful and lonely pub in North Greenwich. Meanwhile, The Gate vegetarian restaurant in Hammersmith has reopened.

ewan

Hello! Unusually this week the featured article is not a place but a category: the Good Beer Guide 2013. Every year on the release of this guide, Kake uploads the 2013 pub information, and as a result a number of new pages are created in RGL (which she and other contributors try to visit before the publication date).

It's worth pointing out that the new articles that have been added as a result do not represent all the new 2013 GBG pubs, just the ones which didn't already have a page on RGL.

The new articles which are not GBG-related are: Dost, an Indian street food restaurant in Uxbridge; Bookworm, a second-hand bookshop in Carshalton; Raizes, a Brazilian restaurant in Bethnal Green; and Cafe Z Bar, a greasy spoon cafe in Stoke Newington.

So, those new GBG articles:
* All Inn One in Forest Hill;
* The Angel in Hayes End;
* The Argyll Arms in Soho;
* The Barnsbury in, er, oh guess;
* The Beehive in Bedfont;
* The Black Lion in Essex's Epping.
* The Botanist in Kew;
* The Coal Hole on the Strand;
* The Elm Park Tavern in Brixton;
* The Forester in West Ealing;
* The Grenadier in Belgravia;
* The Greyhound in Keston;
* The Hare in Bethnal Green;
* Howl at the Moon in Hoxton;
* Noble Green Wines, an off licence (not a pub) in Hampton Hill;
* The Old Sergeant in Wandsworth;
* The Queen's Head in Downe;
* The Railway Hotel in West Wickham;
* The Rising Sun in Surrey's Epsom;
* The Sir Michael Balcon in Ealing;
* The Sun in Carshalton;
* The Sussex Arms in Twickenham;
* The Swan in Hammersmith;
* The Three Greyhounds in Soho;
* The Walnut Tree in Leytonstone; and
* The Windmill in Mitcham.

No closures reported this week.

katstevens

This week's featured article is the Prince of Wales, SM3 8QF, a pleasant Good Beer Guide pub in Cheam. Dogs are welcome! Perhaps you have a dog, or like looking at other people's dogs? Then head to Cheam!

New to RGL are Yaki Noodle Bar, a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant close to Barking station, and 28-50 Wine Workshop and Kitchen, a wine bar and restaurant in Marylebone which is very good for impressing your parents.

Closures: Pudding Mill Lane DLR station is temporarily shut due to an exciting swimming competition* happening in Stratford. It should reopen in September, unlike the poor old Idle Hour in Hammersmith, which has permanently closed.

*Apparently some other sports might be happening too.

ewan

Hello, sorry for the delay.

This week's featured article is the excellent new Catford Bridge Tavern, SE6 4RE, an Antic pub which I can heartily recommend.

There's one reported temporary closure (due to refurbishment), The Gate vegetarian restaurant in Hammersmith.

Three reported closures (permanent) are: Gourmet Garden, a Chinese restaurant near Oxford Circus; El Paisita, a Latin American restaurant by Elephant & Castle; and The Castle, which was once a lovely pub in Battersea but was sold off and run down by Young's.

ewan

This week's featured article is Sagar, W6 9JT, a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Hammersmith. I've been there and can recommend it.

New additions are: The White Swan, the only pub near Brent Cross (but thankfully an alright one); Vegetarian's Paradise, a bhel poori house near the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury; The Bricklayers' Arms, a pub in Beckenham; and The Garden Gate, a pub near Hampstead Heath station.

Permanent closures are: Coffee Republic's branch in Beckenham; and LiquidNation, a theme bar under the railway lines at Ladbroke Grove, which has probably been closed a while.

ewan

This week's featured article is Shu Castle, SE1 5TY, a Sichuan restaurant on the Walworth edge of the Old Kent Road.

New additions are: The Oracle's Juice Bar, a vegan cafe in Brixton Market; and two pubs in Penge, one upmarket (The Bridge House) and the other aimed more at locals (Hollywood East).

Updated entries are Nincomsoup, a soup-based cafe by Old Street; The Angel, a nearby pub; and The George, a pub in Belsize Park.

Reported closures are: La Grolla, an Italian in Upminster; The King's Arms, a fine pub near Chancery Lane, now a gastropub called The Lady Ottoline; The Sun and Doves, another excellent pub, in Camberwell; and Ruby Grand, a bar in Hammersmith (but also replaced by another pub).

kake

Image © Ewan-M

This week's featured article is Princess Louise, WC1V 7EP, a Sam Smith's pub in Holborn.

It has an interesting interior, including panelling that creates multiple separate compartments around the bar for extra privacy (and extra difficulty of getting in at peak times). Apparently the gents' toilets are quite a dramatic sight too, though I haven't seen them due to not being allowed in there.

Recent additions to RGL include Mai Sushi, a small Japanese restaurant near the British Library, and the Bun House, a locals' pub on Peckham High Street.

Reported closures are Hog In The Pound just off Oxford Street (probably being turned into shops), Bermondsey Kitchen (turned into José Pizarro's new restaurant, Pizarro), and the Brook in Hammersmith (been taken over by the people behind the Bree Louise, will be reopening this autumn as the Duchess of Cambridge).

kake

Image © Kake

This week's featured article is Paul A Young, EC3V 3LP, a posh chocolate shop near Bank Station in the City.

The original branch is on Camden Passage in Islington, and they also have a branch on Wardour Street in Soho.

Recent additions to RGL include Piacere, a cafe and breakfast spot on Finchley Road in Temple Fortune; and Whitechapel Gallery Cafe/Bar, a licensed cafe in the Whitechapel Art Gallery.

One reported closure: Tandoori Nights in Hammersmith.