Penny Blood's Black Book - My Independent Guide to London » West

Notting Hill Bookshop

Penny Blood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:31:42 +0000

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 only be opened at a 45 degree angle and when not being used must be kept in a plastic bag at all times. This is for the sole purpose of being able to take them back to the shop and get my money back*. I don’t like having things around that I won’t use again, it also means I don’t need to be too selective with which books I buy. Whilst waiting to pay the American in front is asking “Is this the bookshop from the movie Notting Hill?” (it is), I wonder how many times they get asked that, that would drive me mad. It’s a cute little shop if you were looking for a travel guide or a book by Bill Bryson, as travel books and travel guides are all they sell. Beware of travel bores though as a couple of rich white kids perusing books on South East Asia are boring each other with their gap year stories, each waiting for the other to finish so they can tell their own far more impressive story.

*Another great tip I have is buying one of those single hole punches which you can use at cafes that have loyalty cards, where you get your 10th coffee for free. Some use fancier punches with rabbit or monkey shapes but you can get these off the internet. I’m not telling you which cafes or where to get the punches though, you will have to figure that out for yourself.

The Notting Hill Bookshop, 13-15 Blenheim Crescent, London, W11 2EE
020 7229 5260
Monday – Saturday 10am-6pm Sundays 12pm-5pm

Ladurée

Penny Blood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:30:47 +0000

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 that but anyone who knows better goes to Selfridges. Ladurée however is wonderful. This decadent Parisian patisserie is famous for macaroons and looking like a tearoom Louis IV and Ludwig II would have dreamt up. The people next to me are eating croissants with a knife and fork. No comment. If you love French opulence, gateaux that will clog your arteries and confectionery that will bankrupt you, then you will love this place.

http://www.laduree.fr/public_en/maisons/londres_accueil.htm

Ladurée at Harrods, 87/135 Brompton Road, London SW1X 7XL
0203 155 0111
Monday – Saturday 9am-9pm Sunday 12pm-6pm

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Tiroler Hut

Penny Blood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:28:44 +0000

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 if you didn’t know it was there and it’s been frequented by as many celebrities as the Ivy. It’s been around since the 1960’s and still appears to be a favourite of many. The Austrians I dined with said it was more Austrian than anything you’d find in Austria, with staff dressed in full Lederhosen and food being somewhat questionable but not bad if you like boiled bread and sausage….. and beer, huge stein-fulls of it. It’s like being in a ski chalet with low ceilings and small fake windows with fake snowscapes and deer antlers taking up every conceivable square inch. Little wooden tables and chequered table clothes with wine bottle candle holders encrusted with wax complete the ‘look’. I’d say it’s best to come with a group as it’s too loud to do a lot of talking due to the ‘performances’ of the owner playing 80’s pop music on his accordion, the random Japanese guy who apparently just ‘turns up’ every evening to serenade with Italian opera not to mention the cow bells the owner rings in accompaniment to the music. Just when you think you can continue with your conversation everyone has to stop and watch the stuffed goat sing songs from the sound of music – oh yes they play tunes from the sound of music a lot. All of this I can handle, and actually quite enjoy, the problem is the people who come here. They are the ‘just left the office’ types getting very drunk with annoying girls screaming and singing along to karaoke. On this occasion there was a huge party of Americans getting WAY to into it prompting the question “Why are Americans always so fucking enthusiastic?” Be aware though that they have a tendency to keep the drinks coming which although this could be conceived as a good thing, will give you a shock when the bill comes.

*For those that don’t know Austrians are a bit weird.

P.S The food looks like that (above right), I thought I should warn you.

www.tirolerhut.co.uk

Tiroler Hut, 27 Westbourne Grove, London W2 4UA
020 7727 3981

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Daunt Books

Penny Blood — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:34:33 +0000

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 you will find Japanese authors alongside guide books on Japan. This is good when I’m going through a phase like the time I was into everything Mexican. As great as Amazon is, it’s only good if you know what you want or which topic. The best thing about book shops is that you can browse through the covers and see something that you would never have thought of buying and it feels so good to pick up a book too. Charity shops are also a great source for good books but it’s totally random although you will usually find most of Bill Bryson’s books and I’ve already read all of them. Daunt books is just a pleasure to visit, like my all time favourite Shakespeare and Co. in Paris it’s just a nice place to kill time.

http://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/

Daunt Books, 83 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW
020 7224 2295
Monday – Saturday 9.00 – 7.30 Sunday 11.00 – 6.00

Retro Home Exchange

Penny Blood — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:48:36 +0000

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 helping themselves to a five finger discount as most things are behind glass despite the fact they are worth about 10p. I love ’60s and ’70s design and the Retro Exchange is just full of classic kitchenware, vases and all kinds of other things to decorate your kitchen like tea pots and cookie jars, and lots of Scandinavian stuff. The Scandinavians had fun designing plates and chairs when the rest of Europe was busy recovering from the war you see. They’re not just striped cardboard.

http://mgeshops.com/main/Retro-Home

Retro Home Exchange, 30 Pembridge Road, London, W11 3HG
020 7792 1715
Monday – Sunday 10am-8pm

Providores

Penny Blood — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:14:39 +0000

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, an omelette is just as good as steak tartare. We met a while back whilst working for the same crazy boss who had taken to urinating in a jar and cleaning out his ears with the end of a biro, as you can imagine we bonded over a shared disgust in our day to day reality. That and our love of restaurants and cafes. Now Marylebone has several places worthy of note including one of Alexa’s favourite’s, ‘Providores’. Known for it’s exceptional restaurant upstairs Providores also has a more relaxed tapas room downstairs serving things like brown rice, apple, maple syrup and miso porridge with tamarillo compote or French toast stuffed with banana and pecans with grilled smoked streaky bacon and vanilla verjus syrup. It’s owned by New Zealanders so features alot of weird New Zealand stuff like Vegemite. I don’t mind this though. I like people from New Zealand.

http://www.theprovidores.co.uk/

The Providores, 109 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4RX
020 7935 6175
Monday – Friday 9am-10:30pm; Saturday 10am-10:30pm; Sunday 10am-10pm

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Chelsea Bun

Penny Blood — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:18:52 +0000

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 since the sixties with the usual stodgy caff food. A few years back whilst doing an internship at a model booking agency up the road I used to frequent Café Picasso to get soggy chips for one of the bookers who I downright couldn’t stand and so resented this particular errand above all else. Model bookers are generally VILE BEASTS who I would gladly knock off the face of the earth. Likely as not you would see Bob Geldoff here too, he was always a bit of a fixture. I used to work next door at (I’m embarrassed to say) Prime Time Video (which in my defense was cool in those days) I don’t think a day passed when I didn’t see him there. His wife’s a bitch by the way. And he never returns his videos on time. Sadly though Cafe Picasso may as well be no more as they have given it one hell of a Jocelyn Wildenstein makeover, the place is unrecognisable and hideous at that. So thank god for the Chelsea Bun. It’s a bit out of the way as you have to go past World’s End to get there (literally, I’m talking about Vivienne Westwood’ shop) but thankfully I can tell you it still ticks all the boxes that Cafe Picasso used to with a menu consisting of huge plates of pasta, full English breakfasts and hamburgers to boot.

Sorry terrible photo’s but the waitresses were looking at me funny so I didn’t dare ask.

http://www.chelseabun.co.uk

Chelsea Bun Diner, 9A Lamont Road,SW10 0HP
020 7352 3635
Monday – Saturday 7am – 6pm Sunday 9am-6pm

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Alfies Antique Market

Penny Blood — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:58:33 +0000

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, 60’s furniture with the odd junk shop or two thrown in. I can spend hours here, there is so much to look at and root through and prices range considerably so it’s always worth asking. There is a café on the roof too which is a highlight, I saw Daisy Lowe there the other day.

http://www.alfiesantiques.com/

Alfies Antique Market, 13-25 Church Street, London, NW8
020 7723 6066
Tuesday – Saturday 10am-6pm

Cafe Diana

Penny Blood — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:45:55 +0000

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 to her. Aside from that it’s pretty much like any other caff with nice wooden booths and the usual caff food. It’s quite pricey though but its strange shrine like adoration to Diana particularly when she was going through her ‘I want to appeal to the people, leggings and oversized denim shirt phase’ give it the edge.

Cafe Diana, 5 Wellington Terrace, London, W2 4LW
020 7792 9606

http://www.cafediana.com

River Cafe

Petersham Nurseries

Penny Blood — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:33:19 +0000

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. Being an actual nursery it’s an idyllic setting with potted trees, flowers and stone statues everywhere. Part of it is a fairly expensive restaurant designed to feel like you are outdoors…. Indoors, with a canopy like roof and vines growing up pillars, all the while decorated with antique furniture and old paintings. It’s gorgeous. The café is equally lovely yet more relaxed serving all kinds of cakes, soup, quiche, that kind of thing. It’s a perfect place to make a trip on a sunny day for a cup of tea and a piece of Victoria sponge cake.

http://www.petershamnurseries.com/

143 Petersham Road, Richmond, TW10
020 8605 3627
Restaurant (Monday – Tuesday Closed) Wednesday – Sunday 12.00- 2.45
Cafe (Monday Closed) Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4.30pm Sunday 11am-4.30pm

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