I found the Notting Hill Bookshop whilst escaping the thundering rain and deciding to look for a travel guide for my upcoming trip to Amsterdam. I drive my friends mad by buying one of each guide and insisting on keeping the books in perfect condition, so no bending of the spine, meaning the book can [...]

Fighting your way through Harrods is a depressing experience. It’s full of WAGS, people who think Harrods is the height of class, rich Muslims laden down with bags of makeup and tourists, there are shit loads of tourists, so make sure you find the direct entrance around the corner. Harrods is special I’ll agree to [...]

Up to a point I would have to say this was one of my favourite restaurants for the sheer comedy value alone. The place is absurd. It’s Austrian for a start and I think that explains a lot*. It’s down in the basement accessed by a doorway and some steep stairs, you’d totally miss it [...]

The Daunt Books flagship store is one of the most glorious bookshops you will ever see. It mimics a beautiful old library from one of England’s palaces and reminds me of Lord Groan’s personal library in Gormenghast. Here they don’t arrange books by alphabetical order but by country as it’s primarily a travel bookshop, so [...]

Don’t expect to be greeted warmly. No no, you’ll get a sneer that’s for sure – “don’t knick anything as I can’t be bothered to keep an eye you” from the store assistant (no doubt called India….Indiyaaaah um… seriously, someone named you that? I don’t think so). Obviously The Retro Exchange is used to people [...]

So I have this friend, Alexa, she’s got fancy taste, especially when it comes to restaurants. If you ask her her favourite restaurant, no doubt she’ll reply Arbutus or Wild Honey. Nonetheless her likes are varied and she knows a good restaurant when she sees one, whether it’s Rocca or the Stockpot she’s no snob, [...]

Before I discoved the Chelsea bun, Cafe Picasso used to be my favourite. It was a Chelsea institution and a perfect place for celebrity spotting. Every walk of life went there from supermodels to actors and tourists, to rich locals and down and outs. It was a pretty standard London cafe, a bit dowdy but charming as it hadn’t changed [...]

Located on Church Street, home to a scummy street market and a bunch of really high-end antique shops is Alfies Antiques Market, the largest antique arcade in the country. A vast cavern of Antique shops, several stories high, with over a hundred vendors inside specialising in everything from Victorian jewellery to vintage lace, antique paintings, [...]

Cafe Diana might seem ridiculous but it’s been here forever which shows it’s not a gimmick, they’re serious. Every inch of wall space is adorned with framed picture after framed picture of Princess Diana. For no obvious reason the proprietors of Cafe Diana are such huge fans of HRH as to dedicate their entire business [...]

Until I discovered Petersham Nurseries “Let’s go to Kew Gardens” were 5 words I wasn’t keen on hearing. Kew Gardens is hugely over-rated and expensive. If you’re looking for a nice day out in the park then Richmond Park is a better idea the best part being afternoon tea or lunch at nearby Petersham Nurseries. [...]

Lets see, how did it go again… “Do you want that on a baguette or Ukrainian rye bread?” “Why rye today I think” “And how do you like your coffee?” “Black as a moonless night” “That’s pretty black” That was it. With walls lined with a collection of honey’s, marmalades and chutney’s as well as [...]

You’d be forgiven for thinking that either Les Couilles du Chiens or Ollie are cheap, as everything, be it animal trophies, Victorian taxidermy, bevelled antique mirrors, worn out school science lab work benches, poison bottles, old fashioned wooden clothes mannequins and stacks of rusty tins are just casually thrown together. I imagine that’s because there [...]

Aside from The Everyman in Hampstead, I have never known comfort like this. Plush leather armchairs and footstools with cream coloured walls, red velvet-like recesses and golden trimmings and a bar where you can forget the usual packaged and processed fat food and expect Mediterranean snacks such as olives and crudités, stuffed quail eggs and [...]

What was once originally a brothel is now one of London’s longest standing cinema’s, with ornate paneled walls, heavily coffered ceiling of Edwardian plasterwork, red velvet chairs and double love seats that are comfortable enough to fall asleep in (I did once, to the Royal Tennenbaums, I hate Wes Andersen, what was I thinking?) There [...]

I don’t go out to bars all that much, I usually only get as far as dinner then decide I’m done socialising and head home. Trailer Happiness isn’t somewhere I come often but if I was to recommend a good bar (which I am) then this would be it. Think South Pacific tiki hut mixed [...]