Underage Festival is back, and bigger and better than ever!
Only 2 days, 13 hours, 58 minutes, 10 seconds, until Saturday, 1 January 2011. Have you got your ticket to celebrate?
The Nextmen’s Guide to London
Posted by: Mark O’Donnell 02/12/2010 @ 16:10 Subject: Clubs
When it comes to turning a dance floor into a hot and sweaty writhing mess, there aren’t many DJs who can touch The Nextmen. Since the 90s this dynamic DJ/production duo have been laying down incendiary mash-up party sets, both in clubs and on their awesome mix CDs (A Child’s Introduction to Jazz is a personal favourite), as well as cooking up beats featuring the likes of Plan B, Alice Russell and Dynamite MC.
The Nextmen’s Guide to London is a tour of honour around some of their favourite hang-outs, with a big nod to their neck of the woods in the north, and just like their music selection, The Nextmen’s Guide to London is a mish-mash, albeit one that seamlessly fits together.
The Nextmen’s Guide to London
Pubs and Cafes
The Old Dairy
Our local. Proper boozer in Stroud Green that’s been tarted up by just the right amount. It’s massive and welcoming. Big warm sofas, unobtrusive TVs and high-end nosh is the order of the day. They sometimes throw a party too, setting the decks up and turning the gaff into a sort of ye olde club. Just watch out for the Symonds cider on tap. A few of those and you might as well citizens arrest yourself.
The Front Room
We don’t just frequent this place because it’s near our studio in Finsbury Park. Oh no, this is the place to get lunch if you’re after good hearty food and a friendly vibe. Wicked breakfasts, loads of lunch options and a mean coffee make it the best cafe in the area. Great music on the stereo and top staff too. We’re pretty much part of the furniture in this place.
The Junction Tavern
Calling all Tufnell Park massive! Can’t go wrong if you like it a bit bougy. I don’t know much about wine but these guys serve up a mean glass, and the food is the business. We’ve wiled away many a boozy Sunday in here and there’s a garden for when the summer comes. If you’re a bloke don’t order the banana bread for dessert because they’ll laugh. There’s a well hot barmaid in there too. Not that I’m stalking her or anything.
Quinn’s
No I haven’t lost it. The perfect antidote to the skinny-jean-bad-taste-in-music-double-trendy-infested uber ‘cool’ bars in Camden. You know the ones with the guy who ‘knows’ Amy Winehouse at the bar, in high heel plimsolls and some rotten fruit in his top pocket? Quinn’s in Kentish Town has got absolutely nothing cool about it, the colour scheme is a disaster and there might be a fight. But it’s real and has a selection of over one hundred beers. The immortal gent who kicks the crackheads out of the bogs is the owner, so don’t mess.
Restaurants
Busaba
Don’t be put off by the wait. Its part of the experience here (you get the menu while you’re queuing outside) and made worth it by the quality of the scram. If you like Thai food - this place will blow your head off. I’d eat here all the time if I lived in Soho. Rose Apple and Chicken Stir Fry, anyone?
The Sitara
A good curry is fairly easy to come by in London but this place on Holloway Road is pretty special by any standards. There are some gems on the menu including all the usual masala stuff. The nan bread in here is fantastic. My mouth is watering just writing this. The owner is a jazz nut so you get a different style of soundtrack than you do in most curry houses.
Banners
Crazy internationalism on the menu at this restaurant in Crouch End. There’s a bit of a West Indian twist but you can get everything from popcorn to jerk swordfish and it’s all of a high standard. I haven’t brought myself to try one of the real insect lollipops but have sampled most if the menu and it’s all pretty special. Is almost always very busy so book in advance even if there’s just the two of you.
Clubs
Fabric
Not an original choice but it does deliver festival-style line-ups every weekend. We’ve been spinning here since it started and it really does cater for everyone. We love playing here, the sound is unbeatable and anyone who is anyone has played here over its ten years of existence.
Plastic People
The sound system in here is a lesson to other clubs, loud and deep but it somehow manages to spare your ears. The dancefloor is small and dark like one should be, and you can see some of the more underground/tastemaking DJs here.
Catch The Nextmen at the Clash Magazine End of Year party at Big Chill House on Saturday 11th December. For all things Nextmen head to: http://www.thenextmen.com/
Rob Deering’s Guide to London
Posted by: Mark O’Donnell 18/11/2010 @ 16:54 Subject: Pubs & Bars
For people of a certain age, Rob Deering’s Guide to London may well be scarily similar to your own life story: there’s the clubbing years with its sweaty nights out at The End and Cream; there’s the pub-club-DJ-bar years when you want to be able to hold a conversation with your mates but still hear good tunes; and then there’s the hotel bar and members’ club years when you can’t be arsed with the prospect of an all-night rave-up and prefer to lord it up in art deco surroundings whilst sipping a bespoke cocktail. Sound familiar? No, okay, I’ll get my coat.
Currently touring the UK with his Rob Deering Experience show, this guitar-loving, award-winning stand-up may know that his dance floor days are numbered but he also knows there’s life after The End – it’s called having kids.
Rob Deering’s Guide to London
Bars
Claridge’s Bar
I love Claridge’s - hey, who wouldn’t? - and the best way to experience it without taking out a mortgage and staying the night is to head to Claridge’s Bar, via the hotel’s opulent reception and the beautiful yet almost secret door under the stairs. Take a moment to pop into the Fumoir - you can’t smoke in there anymore, but it’s just about the most gorgeous room in London. Spencer Tracy said ‘when I die I don’t want to go to heaven - I want to go to Claridge’s’.
Century
This members’ club on Shaftesbury Avenue is another top-end haunt, but for all its classy expensiveness it’s wonderfully laid-back. If you don’t want to shell out for a membership, why not just hang around outside until someone takes you in? Their roof terrace is like a magic treehouse, open to the sky but warm in winter, with cosy corner tables and fairylight-swathed chimneys. It’s another smoking area - I’m obsessed - but I don’t smoke, I go up there for the martinis, which are the best anywhere.
The Three Kings of Clerkenwell
Much more of a pub pub, perfectly so in fact. It feels warm and friendly like a classic local, but it’s effortlessly groovy too. Yes, ‘groovy’. I said it. Small and gets really busy on the weekends, but I say get in there, get jostled and enjoy it.
Restaurants
Yum Yum
My default restaurant is Yum Yum in Stoke Newington, but that suggests it might be a bit basic - it isn’t. Delicious, authentic Thai food and - a theme begins to develop - excellent cocktails. The mojitos are particularly good. Get a table in the ‘oriental section’, slip your shoes off and enjoy the company of the Koi Carp.
S&M Café
The S & M Cafe chain have a branch at the Islington Green end of Essex Road which is beautiful - until 10 years ago it was Alfredo’s, a classic caff which opened in 1922 and had the classic Art Deco decor to prove it - like Claridge’s working-class cousin. Thankfully S & M have kept it just the same, and sell their great Sausages and Mash there. What did you think they meant?
I don’t eat meat or fish, but I like a good feed; veggie options and vegetarian restaurants often leave me hungry. So I was pleasantly surprised when I went to Mildred’s in Soho. Great cosy place, loads of little tables downstairs, or the front room upstairs has a big square table which is great for a party. Most importantly they do hearty tuck - pies, for example. Although I may have eaten all of them.
Clubs
The Old Queens Head
The Old Queens Head, on Essex Road again, is of course a pub, but their DJ nights are all excellent; their function room is the venue where all my favourite parties have taken place. Check the listings for ultra-hip guest spots on Fridays and Saturdays, or just head down for their legendary Sunday Social. As long as you don’t have anything worthwhile planned on Monday. The Paradise in Kensal Rise is their sister pub. Achingly cool also. Love a DJ Bar if you’re South London-based, Dog Star in Brixton is a beaut.
Heaven
Heaven on Villiers Street must be London’s finest gay club, but it’s also the home of the Covent Garden Comedy Club on Fridays and Saturdays, one of the lesser-known gems of the London comedy scene. I always love playing there, and the line-ups are amazing. Was that cheating? I work Saturday nights, what can I say.
None of the proper dancing clubs I loved are there any more - Turnmills, The End, Cream up North - I’m showing my age - but the Ministry Of Sound is still going strong. Is it as good as it used to be? I would have thought so - you’ll have to go and find out. I won’t be able to join you I’m afraid - I’ve got children.
Rob Deering is performing The Rob Deering Experience in London at the Mildmay Club on November 27th. For tickets see: www.robdeering.com
More Guides to London
Shy FX’s Guide to London
Posted by: Mark O’Donnell 18/11/2010 @ 15:44 Subject: Clubs
Bona fide jungle/drum and bass royalty, Shy FX has been producing dancefloor anthems since the mid-90s when tracks like Original Nuttah and The Message destroyed clubs worldwide.
In more recent times he’s helped blur the lines between dubstep and drum and bass with his anything-good-goes Digital Soundboy label. Home to forward-thinking artists like Breakage and Redlight, DSB is a label operating at the bleeding edge of electronic music and ahead of the label’s first night at XOYO, the label boss put together Shy FX’s Guide to London. Think drum and bass heads only care about grimey clubs? Think again: Shy FX’s Guide to London explodes the myth as Shy shares his love of Phillip Starck design and quality cocktails, before taking a tour around the best clubs in town.
Shy FX’s Guide to London
Restaurants
Saf
A little lady named B.Traits took me here once. It’s strictly vegan restaurant in Shoreditch. At first I thought “real men eat meat” (pause) but discovered that the food there is absolutely delightful, and the cocktails are amazing! Try the Madagascar Mojito.
Busaba Eathai
This place is great for a quick bite! Delicious Thai food and tasty refreshments. My favs are the char-grilled duck and Thai calamari. Lucky me, one just opened up in my neighbourhood!
Asia de Cuba
One of my favourite restaurants in London. The atmosphere is always buzzing and I love the Philip Starck interior. I’m a sucker for the lobster pad Thai and the cocktails are always on point. Careful though - the food portions are meant to be shared!
Clubs
Fabric
When it comes to consistently killer, forward-thinking line-ups, fabric takes some beating. Fabric is one of the few clubs that people go to just because its “fabric” but ultimately, once your inside the club, your guaranteed to be educated musically.
XOYO
A new venue in East London with a good vibe around it. We’re actually hosting our own Digital Soundboy event there on Friday Nov 19th! 2 good rooms, brilliant soundsystems and modern loft-style decor. It’s run by people who know what a clubbing experience should be.
Plastic People
A classic, dark, intimate venue that over the years has always brought me back. Some of my best party memories have been there, and I’ve seen everyone from J Dilla to Bugs in the Attic to Skream and Benga and everyone in-between.
Shy FX plays at XOYO for the Digital Soundboy event on 19th Nov, alongside Breakage, MJ Cole, Hatcha, Toddla T, Redlight, Donae’o, Trojan Soundsystem and many more!
Shy FX new single ‘Raver’ feat. Kano, Donae’o & Roses Gabor is released as a free download on Mon 6th Dec. http://www.digitalsoundboy.com
More Guides to London
Skyline Trailer
Posted by: Matthew Turner 12/11/2010 @ 11:47 Subject: Film
Films seen so far this year: 425
Films seen this week: brilliantlove, Into Eternity, Megamind, You Again, Dream Home, Aftershock, Fezeka’s Voice, Of Gods and Men, Love and Other Drugs
Superhero Casting Rumour
Regular readers of this blog (both of you) will know that I loathe and despise casting rumours with a fiery passion. Usually it’s just an excuse to write a load of made-up nonsense (indicated by a telltale question mark at the end as a get-out clause) which will then get written up a second time when the story is inevitably denied. The best recent example of this was the flurry of “Is David Tennant playing The Hulk?” stories, the answer to which was a resounding “No he bloody well isn’t”. However, this week I am making a one-time only exception to my self-imposed ban on casting rumour stories, a) because the rumour has some credence, given the details and b) because it involves one of my favourite actresses and my favourite superhero franchise.
After that build-up, the actual story is probably going to seem a little disappointing, but according to various sources (and note that question mark), Zooey Deschanel is in talks to play Betty Brant (J. Jonah Jameson’s secretary, who was Peter Parker’s first girlfriend in the early comics) in the Spider-Man reboot (which, just to get some actual official news in here too, also announced recently that Martin Sheen and Sally Field would be playing Uncle Ben and Aunt May). The reason the story has more credence than usual is that director Marc Webb worked with Zooey on (500) Days of Summer – he has apparently said the part is hers if she wants it. However, given that Emma Stone (playing Gwen Stacey) is apparently the main female lead, it seems like the role would be little more than a cameo, though it’s worth noting that Elizabeth Banks played Betty Brant in all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies (although, to be fair, Banks was a lot less famous in 2002, when she was first cast). Still, there are no official plot details yet and Webb has apparently said he has big plans for the character, so anything is possible. Watch this space.
Trailerwatch: Skyline
I was unaware of Skyline until I saw a trailer and some extended footage at Moviecon back in August. At the time, I was tentatively excited, but the fact that there have only been limited press screenings both here and in the US is usually a pretty bad sign. The concept is obviously tried and tested: brain-sucking aliens invade the world; a small group of civilians fight back.
The cast doesn’t inspire much confidence though – instead of Will Smith, we’ve got … er … Eric Balfour, best known for getting killed off in a handful of high profile TV shows over the last decade (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Six Feet Under, 24). The cast also includes -wait for it- David Zayas (from TV’s Dexter) and Donald Faison (from TV’s Scrubs) and they are literally the best-known people in the cast. I don’t know about you, but I’m not optimistic about mankind’s chances of survival. That said, the special effects look impressive in places (and laughably bad elsewhere – check out that terrible helicopter/tentacle shot) and the film-makers have obviously thrown every alien-based science-fiction film they could think of into the mix (e.g. Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Independence Day), so maybe something will stick.
I like the film’s obvious money shot of all the people being sucked up into the spaceships and I like the suggestion of black humour with the car getting stomped and Balfour shouting “NOOOOOOO!” when the helicopter gets tentacled, so it could be fun. I’m finding out in a couple of hours and the review should be up later this afternoon. Skyline fans should note that there’s also a teaser trailer, which seems unaccountably fixated on Stephen Hawking.
Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me):
Despite the fact that there are no tentpole mainstream releases this week, there are still three new entries into the top ten. They
include: Mexican cannibal arthouse horror We Are What We Are, Chinese post-earthquake melodrama Aftershock and smalltown Gerard Depardieu (or as the American trailer voiceover man once called him Gerard Deepardoo) drama My Afternoons With Margueritte. I’ve dropped Buried from the list, but it’s still out there if you look hard enough, though it’s deep into its second run so won’t be around for much longer. There’s nothing new this week, interview-wise, but you can still read our exclusive one-on-one with Burke & Hare star Simon Pegg and our interviews with Made in Dagenham stars Jaime Winstone and Rosamund Pike.
1. Mary & Max
2. The Social Network
3. Involuntary
4. The Kids Are All Right
5. Made In Dagenham
6. Mammoth
7. Another Year
8. We Are What We Are
9. Aftershock
10. My Afternoons With Margueritte
DVD Of The Week: How to Train Your Dragon (Double Play DVD / Blu-Ray released 15th November, RRP £27.99)
Breaking my own self-imposed rules seems to be a bit of a theme this week. Ordinarily, it’s my policy never to review a DVD without a review copy, but since this was one of my favourite films of the year (and also because I don’t have anything else for this week), I’m making another one-time only exception.
Anyway, this week’s DVD of the Week is the wonderful How To Train Your Dragon, based on the children’s books by Cressida Cowell. The film is set on the island of Berk, where the Viking inhabitants have all become dragon-slayers in order to fend off frequent dragon attacks. However, nerdy teenage Viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is something of a disaster in the dragon-slaying department, so his Viking Chief father Stoick (Gerard Butler) forces him to attend dragon-fighting classes. However, when one of Hiccup’s inventions brings down a feared Night Fury dragon, Hiccup befriends it and gradually discovers that there’s more to dragons than he had assumed. Beautifully animated and superbly written, this is a hugely entertaining and emotionally engaging adventure with thrilling action sequences and a terrific voice cast.
It’s also very funny in places and builds to a terrific climax, with 3D dragon-flying sequences that, frankly, put Avatar to shame. In short, it’s enormous fun for both adults and children alike. I haven’t seen the extras but the expensive Double Play DVD / Blu-Ray version apparently contains a filmmakers’ commentary and featurettes on both the cast and the technical artistry behind the dragons. The Blu-Ray has tonnes more extras, obviously, but that’s a rant best saved for another time. Highly recommended, anyway.
Film Blog
Gulliver’s Travels Trailer
Posted by: Matthew Turner 05/11/2010 @ 10:54 Subject: Film
Films seen so far this year: 416
Films seen this week: Chatroom, Due Date, Mammoth, Fit
Hollywood Wish List – Part One
Most discerning film-fans have a Hollywood Wish List (for shorthand purposes “Hollywood” here means the film industry in general).
Essentially it’s a list of either fantasy projects that currently only exist in your head or long-awaited, possible, once-mooted projects (like the idea for a sequel to Dude, Where’s My Car? called Seriously, Dude, Where’s My Car?) that still seem nowhere near fruition. Or it could just be a list of things you want to happen. Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s the first instalment of mine. Feel free to suggest yours in the comments section below, both of you.
1. Denzel Washington to make more Easy Rawlins movies. If you’ve never seen Denzel Washington’s 1995 detective thriller The Devil In A Blue Dress, then rent it immediately, as it was one of my favourite films of the 90s. More importantly, it’s the film that launched Don Cheadle’s career, as he plays Easy’s psychotic, trigger-happy best friend Mouse. Anyway, the film was based on the first in a series of Easy Rawlins detective novels by Walter Mosley (all of which I highly recommend) and I’ve always wondered why Denzel Washington never made any more of them. The early ones have a strong historical background (the Communist witch-hunts, the Watts riots etc) and would make great thrillers. Rest assured, if I ever get the opportunity to interview Washington, it’s the first thing I’m asking him. Actually, while we’re Hollywood wish-listing, I’d like more detective movies in general, please.
2. A blanket ban on 3D features for at least the next 2 years. I don’t know about you, but I’m bored to tears with 3D, at least in live-action features. Case in point – I just watched the Gulliver’s Travels trailer (see Trailerwatch, below) for the first time and groaned out loud when the 3D announcement came up at the end. Basically, if you can’t make your 3D as good as it is in Avatar, I’m not interested and the recent booing of 3D announcements at Comic-Con (as well as something of a blogging backlash) has hopefully given Hollywood pause for thought. As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Warner Brothers recently decided to release Harry Potter 7.1 in good old-fashioned 2D after all, as the 3D post-processing wasn’t up to scratch. Here’s hoping other studios follow suit.
3. Scorsese to make Dino. Every time Martin Scorsese finishes a new movie, I get excited that his next one might finally be Dino, his long-awaited biopic of Dean Martin. It actually looks like I might finally getting my wish – sort of, anyway – as the imdb seems confident that Scorsese will produce and direct Sinatra sometime next year. Frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it, but in the meantime, let the casting speculation begin!
4. John Allison’s Scary-Go-Round characters to feature in a film. I’m a huge fan of John Allison’s web comic strip Scary-Go-Round (and its new incarnations, Bad Machinery and Giant Days, but let’s keep this simple). If Scott Pilgrim can be a film, I see no reason why the likes of Shelley Winters, Amy Chiltern, Ryan Beckwith, Esther De Groot and Desmond Fish-Man can’t appear on the big screen too. Make it happen, Hollywood!
5. A Modesty Blaise movie. It’s a constant mystery to me why no-one has chosen to remake Joseph Losey’s 1966 spy thriller Modesty Blaise, based on the comic strip character created by Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway. I’d love to see it remade in faux-1960s style (like Jean Dujardin’s OSS-117 movies), especially since the 1960s are currently enjoying something of a revival in the wake of the success of TV’s Mad Men. Actually … Christina Hendricks as sexy superspy Modesty Blaise. Now we’re talking. Excuse me, I may have to lie down for a minute …
Trailerwatch: Gulliver’s Travels
If you’ve seen the current Orange ad with Jack Black you’re probably already sick to death of Gulliver’s Travels. I’ve only seen it once and once was enough. At any rate, the proper trailer was released this week and, well, it looks pretty good. At any rate it looks like it could go either way. Giving Gulliver’s Travels a modern-day update isn’t a bad idea per se (it’s unclear from the trailer just how modern the Lilliputians are) and Jack Black’s a likeable comic actor providing he reigns in the manic excesses. (Did I mention I met him in the Troy Club once? No? Well, that’s a story for another time).
Director Rob Letterman seems to have come from animation (Monsters vs Aliens and Shark Tale), so it’ll be interesting to see what he brings to a live-action film. The special effects look really good at least, though whether we’ll also get to meet the giant Brobdingnagians, the inhabitants of the flying island of Laputa or the horse-like Houyhnhnms remains to be seen, though I’m guessing probably not. The thing that most excites me about the trailer is the excellent supporting cast, which includes Amanda Peet (as Black’s real-world love interest), Emily Blunt (as, from the looks of things, a Liliputian princess), Jason Segel and, rather wonderfully, Billy Connolly and Catherine Tate as the King and Queen of Lilliput (or, as the film seems to have renamed it, Lilliputia). Catherine Tate’s single line (“I wanted a bracelet, not a big, hairy beast”) steals the entire trailer and I have no doubt she’ll steal the film too. The film opens here on Boxing Day and you can colour me tentatively excited.
Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me):
Technically there are only two new entries this week, though I’m also correcting an oversight, because I somehow left the wonderful Mary and Max off the top ten last week and that deserves the number one spot. It’s a bit of a lukewarm week for new releases this week and I didn’t give anything over three stars, but Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth (starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams) and Mike Leigh’s Another Year both make it in anyway, largely because several other films (e.g. Enter the Void) have now completed their runs.
Interview-wise, this week we have an interview with Robert Downey Jnr and Zach Galifianakis from the press conference for Due Date and you can still read our exclusive interview with Simon Pegg for Burke and Hare. And since they’re still on general release, you can also read our interviews for Winter’s Bone here and here, and our interviews for Made In Dagenham here and here. I’ll also give a gratuitous plug to this excellent interview with Involuntary director Ruben Ostlund.
1.Mary and Max
2.The Social Network
3.Winter’s Bone
4.Involuntary
5.The Kids Are All Right
6.Buried
7.Made In Dagenham
8.Mammoth
9.Another Year
10.The Hunter
DVD Of The Week: The Concert (released November 8th, RRP £19.99)
This week’s DVD of the Week is The Concert, a French farce directed by Radu Mihaileanu. Alexei Guskov stars as Andrei, a former conductor who decides to get his old orchestra back together and reclaim his reputation when he illicitly accepts a gig in Paris that will require them to pose as the Bolshoi Orchestra. With the help of his loyal friend Sacha (Dmitri Nazarov) and their old manager Ivan (Valeriy Barinov), Andrei succeeds in persuading all the musicians to reunite, but things start to unravel when they get to Paris, with all the members more interested in sight-seeing than turning up to rehearsals.
Meanwhile, for reasons of his own, Andrei becomes obsessed with persuading rising-star French violinist Anne-Marie (Melanie Laurent) to play Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto. The performances are superb and the script is often very funny and neatly avoids some of the expected cliches (though not all of them). The music is exceptional throughout and the whole film builds to a beautifully directed climax that is powerfully emotional. In short, this is a superbly directed, beautifully acted French farce that’s both extremely moving and laugh-out-loud funny. Disappointing extras package though – extras only include a 13 minute interview with director Radu Mihaileanu and the trailer.
Isy Suttie’s Guide to London
Welcome to the latest special guest tour around the capital: Isy Suttie’s Guide to London. Best known for being Dobby in the Peep Show, Isy Suttie is currently performing Love Lost in the British Retail Industry at venues the length and breadth of the land. Isy Suttie’s Guide to London shows that as well as being a consummate performer and award-winning stand-up, this is one rising star who has very good taste – we’ll excuse the Marmite recommendation – when it comes to places to eat and drink. Whether it’s pushing the champagne button at Bob Bob Ricard or mixing with an arty crowd in Camberwell, this is a tour with something for everyone.
Isy Suttie’s Guide to London
Restaurants
Bob Bob Ricard
On the pricey side, but there’s such a welcoming atmosphere at this unique restaurant. Art deco everywhere, a button you can press for champagne and a dessert which is a massive golden ball they drench in molten chocolate until it melts to reveal a treasure trove of chocolate chunks.
Stockpot
I discovered the Stockpot when I was a student, and still go very frequently. You can normally have a three course meal for around a tenner, and it’s so tasty and healthy too. For some reason I always have a glass of milk with my food there, which I don’t do anywhere else.
Caravaggio
This is one of the friendliest restaurants. My friend Jane lives down the road and we often go there for some pasta or steak. The portions are massive and really well priced and whether you like it or not, you always end up having an amaretto afterwards. Well I do.
Pubs
St Stephens Tavern
I discovered this on a recent visit to Big Ben. Although it’s in the heart of Westminster there’s seemingly always a table available and there’s a real old pub atmosphere. It makes you want to smoke cigars and talk about politics.
Hermit’s Cave
Conveniently opposite Caravaggio’s, the clientele is a heady mix of art students and local residents. It’s normally bustling but there are seats outside and a good range of drinks.
The Clifton
A cosy gem which feels off the beaten track, this lovely pub serves a fine range of real ales and is very picturesque to boot.
Events / Things to do
Marmite Pop Up Shop
Who doesn’t love Marmite? Naysayers, that’s who. This pop up shop in Selfridges sells over 150 Marmite themed products, and there’s even a Marmite love it/hate it themed photoshoot.
3D Graffiti Exhibition
Who doesn’t love graffiti? The Law, that’s who. So they’d better stay away from this brilliant exhibition of 3D graffiti. It really feels like you’re inside the graffiti itself, and it’s really beautiful– you have to go to know what I mean!
London Eye
If you’ve already been on it you’ll be like, “That’s so yesteryear!” but for those who’ve let the big wheel pass them by for the last ten years, I went on it recently and it’s really worth it. My eyes were filled with tears I became so proud to be British! Still need to learn a few more landmarks….
Isy Suttie performs her critically acclaimed stand-up show ‘Love Lost in the British Retail Industry’ at Jacksons Lane Theatre on 11th and 13th November. Visit http://www.myspace.com/isysuttie for more info.
