Meat feast in Picadilly
If you like beef, this is cow heaven. Tucked away in Piccadilly, Gaucho provides a bit of the Pampas relocated to the heart of the West End.
The first thing you notice as you descend into the restaurant by its dramatic wrought iron staircase, is the aroma of meat sizzling on the open grills.
As well as steak this South American restaurant does a selection of other dishes including fish and chicken.
The new Supper Lounge on the top floor offers music and dinner until very late.
But if you go, go for the meat. You won't be disappointed. Very large steaks are available for serious appetites.
They don't take bookings, so get there early.
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Cote Restaurant
+44 020 89477100
8 High Street Wimbledon KT3 4
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Far from the West End, and proud of it too
Wimbledon is not exactly the first place that pops into your mind when you think of nice restaurants. Unless you live there, getting to it can be a bit of a day trip, so the reason for it better be good. In Côte's instance, it is.
It appears that Wimbledon is - so they say- a favoured testing ground for new restaurant concepts. Well-heeled, well-behaved residents are, I suppose, a captive audience, as it were.
Expect Côte's menu to be (mostly) in English and to be (mostly) French.
Prices are not too prohibitive, with first courses starting at £4.25 and main courses at £8.50 (if you want bread and butter you pay £1.50), olives are £1.95 and a slice of pissaladière is £3.25 topped with anchovies and £3.50 topped with Reblochon cheese.
Sauces for the grills are also priced separately, eg Béarnaise for steak at £1.95. This idea I'm not in love with, but I can live with it- it's a bit like getting charged 10p for mayonnaise at KFC...right?
At least filtered water offered in what look like old-fashioned ceramic ginger beer bottles is served free.
Most desserts are heavy on the chocolate, so let that be a warning. Or an invitation?
Worth visiting if you are in Wimbledon. Worth visiting even if you are not.
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Good place, but cheap food
As you know, most London restaurants are expensive. At least the ones worth eating in. However, Arbutus is slightly on the cheap side . For now anyway, you can enjoy a set menu of three courses at £15.50, plus a glass each of good wine.
In case you are wondering, Arbutus is Michelin-starred and although the ingredients are, lets say, economical, the cooking is faultless.
Well worth a visit.
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This bar is friendly!
It's also very, VERY LOUD!! But that is to be expected in London's West End, right?
The Friendly Society a nice little bar, but not somewhere you'd want to go to for a chat with some friends - you'd spend the whole night saying 'huh?', 'what?'.
Despite the noise, and the location it is a nice venue. Located in a basement down a side alley in the middle of Soho, it's quite small, but has a nice little vibe to it. Try heading there earlier in the evening to get a little leather-bound room/ alcove, which you may or may not have to share with other people.
The staff are always friendly and they sure smile a lot!
Straight friendly.
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Odd books, good books
On Charing Cross Road, you have a handful of second hand bookshops. Any amount of books is known mostly for its large basement selection.
They tend to buy private collections, and, though not necessarily cheap, they do have the kind of literary little gems which will ensure you become a lifelong customer.
Dust aside, they tend to leave their just-bought-boxes, halfway opened in the basement. I never know if we are meant to look through them or not, but I always do, as do most of the people there. I remember finding a 1930s photographic Encyclopedia of Europe bound in red leather. I came very close to buying it, but could not afford the price. But it was that kind of material which made me return, and continue to return ever since.
And if the selection were not reason enough, they tend to keep late hours during the week, ensuring that more than one happy reader takes their respective nightbus book in hand.
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Spicy chicken
Nando's in Soho is a great place to eat out with friends, and quite handy for when you are splashing out on the West End during the weekend.
Although they tell you the place is Portuguese, don't be fooled, the spices and cooking methods they use, as well as the general decor of their restaurants, is South African. But it doesn't matter, what you want is chicken, and chicken you will get!
You first have to order at the till, get a stick with a colored and numbered rooster on top, then head to the numbered table. You get your own drinks and then your food arrives. Grilled chicken with Nando's famous Peri-Peri sauce. If you don't want this, you can always go for lemon& herb, or garlic, or just plain.
And drinks and frozen yogurt are bottomless here...just in case your food was a tad spicy!
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Fabric from heaven
Liberty's is one of London's, and fashion's, institutions.
The building itself, a striking, timber-framed, Tudor revival building on Regent Street, is a must see.
No other shop in London, if the world, has such a strong iconic association with design. Mention a “Liberty print” and a clear image of the shapes, colours and textures involved immediately springs to mind. Don't forget to buy a liberty print while you visit. You can find them in anything from a small notebook to a ready-made shirt.
With small, intimate staircases, intricately designed elevators, wooden balconies and glass atriums – this has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing and unique department stores in the city, if not the world. You can go inside and just have a wander, with no intention to buy anything.
Not content with merely following trends, Liberty regularly showcases and sponsors new British designers. Its shop windows on Regent street are certainly a must see at any time of the year.
Run your fingers over designer womenswear, ogle the arts and crafts antiques or simply watch would-be fashion designers drooling over the textiles in the fabric department. Fabulous.
PS: In case you were wondering, in Italy, Art Nouveau is known as 'Stile Liberty' after this British store.
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Modern cuban cuisine
Inside this stylishly dark basement restaurant in the heart of Soho, you'll find London's greatest tribute to Cuban style and culture.
Floridita is a place to indulge the senses. The experience starts with the cocktails - deliciously alcoholic and slightly dangerous, they set you up for the meal that is about to come.
The Floridita menu, though Cuban in inspiration, is an attempt to work in modern culinary influences: the chefs have tried to imagine what Cuban food would be like, if Cuba wasn't so isolated. Or so they told me.
Don't miss the house's specialty - Cuban lobster: fresh, meaty and slightly sweet. Delicious.
If you are there long enough, a Cuban band will eventually appear on stage and the dance floor will fill up with couples ready to mambo the night away.
Remember to ensure your credit card is up to the task. Floridita is rather an expensive night out, but well worth it.
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Queen Mother Sports Centre
+44 020 76305522
223 Vauxhall Bridge Road
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Friendly Health & Fitness
If you live or work local, and you are looking for a place to exercise on a rainy (or a sunny) day, the Queen Mother Sports Centre has a modern, well equipped gym, a great pool, and a wide range of exercise classes plus a variety of other facilities which ensure there is something for everyone fitness-wise.
If the gym, pool or fitness classes aren't for you they also have a Squash & Badminton court, Five-a-side football classes, Netball and Volleyball teams you can join.
It is not expensive and the staff are very friendly and family oriented.
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Vintage clothing emporium
If the thought of a pair of 1940s patent leather pumps makes your heart pound faster, then this is the shop for you.
Known for its ever-expanding stock of vintage clothing, shoes, hats, scarves, jewels and accessories, Cornucopia is a law unto itself.
From pleated 1930s yellow dresses reminiscent of Schiaparelli to vintage 1970s platform boots (with all glitter intact!) and 1960s white framed designer Jackie O' glasses, Cornucopia never ceases to please, excite and surprise.
Not too expensive, and the staff don't mind if you are there for hours trying stuff on....just make sure you buy something at the end of your dress rehearsal...
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