London ILXers. Where do you live, what three things about might interest non-Londoners?

Following on from the London thread, and the suggestion of a 48hrs in London drawn up by ILX people.

Me: Kentish Town
1. It's getting an increasing number of genuinely excellent pubs: The Southampton, up near the Heath; the Pineapple, on Leverton Street; Tapping the Admiral, on Castle Road. Excellent beers, rotated regularly. We even have our own brewery now, the Camden Town Brewery on Wilkin St, with its own bar, with Byron burgers and some shit hot hot dog stall outside.
2. Mario's Cafe on Kelly St. Still a local treasure. Though Saint Etienne fans should be warned they will not see their heroes in their. Bob Stanley only likes the name, not so much the cafe. Mario's lovely, though, and you can get greasy spoon fare and tolerable cheap Italian food.
3. Gigs. Forum and the Bull and Gate. And the Underworld, Koko, Jazz Cafe, Barfly and Roundhouse all in easy walking distance.

Waterloo
1. The South Bank. An obvious choice but you can't ignore its wealth of first-rate brutalist architecture, theatres galleries and concert halls, some of the finest views in London from the bridges across the river, and plenty of decent places to eat and drink.
2. The Anchor and Hope. One of the best gastropubs in London. Unfancy British cooking and very friendly, their no-booking policy means you don't really stand a chance in hell of getting a table at peak hours though.
3. The Roupell Street Conservation Area, a virtual time capsule of quaint early 19th century two storey terraced houses - by now absurdly expensive. Complete with two decent pubs, The White Hart (trendy, gastro pretensions, decent ale) and The Kings Arms (traditional, thai food, even better ale).

Tufnell Park
1. Booze and more booze... Aces and Eights by the tube station is surprising nice inside, The Hideaway has great pizzas (and late night drinking) and then Theatre of Wine to stock up on booze for home.
2. Sunday roasts - too many to choose from really, usually end up in The Dartmouth Arms because we can't get a table anywhere else (The Junction Tavern, St John's (haven't quite managed to make it up there yet).
3. Minor TV actors and newsreaders spotting. You are guaranteed to see at least one hanging around in the area.

4. For the TV geeks. Go and find the Spaced house.

And on Sunny afternoons, going to the Heath

Forest Hill:
1. Horniman Museum - wonderful, quirky place with strange artefacts, an aquarium and a very large collection of taxidermy including an overstuffed walrus.
2. Dulwich & Sydenham Woods - these are pretty big but they start in Forest Hill and head on up. Really lovely to walk round, including a ruined 19th century folly, a creepy disused railway tunnel, and the location for Pissaro painting, although you wouldn't know to look at it now.
3. Havelock Walk - an entire street's worth of artist's studios, with regular exhibitions and street parties and stuff. It's had an impact on the local area as well, there's been a spate of pubs and coffee shops opening up nearby that are a lot artier than anything that was there 10 years or so ago.

Manor House aka Harringay aka Green Lanes
1. Turkish food - loads of Turkish shops with all kinds of great veg / olives / bread and so on, plus many cheap restaurants and cafes.
2. Finsbury Park - seems to get a bad rep, but it has a boating lake that freezes over in winter and lots of squirrels so gets my vote.
3. "Shim" - our local crazy overweight transexual, usually to be seen on a daily basis shouting into doorways and talking to him/herself in Sainsburys. Not great, but three things of interest around here was a push.

What Jill said, and I would add proximity to the Heath.

Oh no she already said that

Stoke Newington

1. Great food - Rasa's Keralan cuisine stands out but there are loads of superb Turkish restaurants around and some very good Jewish cafes up the Stamford Hill end. Everything tends to be unpretentious and excellent value for money.

2. Abney Park - overgrown gothic cemetery that, as i found out this week, gave its name to one of only three steampunk bands in existence. Probably best not to go alone, though.

3. Stoke Newington High Street - you can get a great sense of what London's all about by walking from Stamford Hill (largely Orthodox Jewish / Pakistani), down Stoke Newington Church Street (largely Turkish / Kurdish) past Ridley Road Market (largely West Indian, and increasingly Polish) all the way to the Aldgate and the City (largely cunts). There are some great individual buildings, like an old cinema converted into a gorgeous tiled mosque, but it's more for the experience than any particular sights.

Love abney park.

I'll do this for Bethnal Green tomorrow, Palm Tree x 3 is tempting.

dont mean to be a prophet of doom but id guess there are like dozens of steampunk bands, unknown horrors compounding themselves

Brixton
1. Brockwell Park. An understated, rather less rugged S London equivalent of Hampstead Heath, or a less up-its-own-arse version of Primrose Hill. Beautiful views looking North at the city and perfect for basking all day when the sun is own. It's just a park I suppose, but I love it.

2. Brixton Village. Jay Rayner called it " the most exciting, radical venture on the British restaurant scene right now". Whether or not that's true, I don't know of anywhere else where there's that that much exciting variation in the offering, where the quality is as uniformly high, and where the prices are as reasonable. Love Honest Burger, Franco Manca, the okonomiyaki place, Mama Lan's and various others. Still several that I have been to yet as well.

3. The Dogstar. Really great, no-pressure, all things to all comers place to go on a Friday night. Can serve as a pub if you turn up early, before it becomes more bar-like around 9 and then they clear the floor of tables for dancing from 11ish, at which point they charge to get in as well. The DJ plays a really clever, fun mix of pop and loosely pop-related stuff but there's still the back for sitting and a decent pool table. Open til about 4 as well.

1. Brockwell Park.

Also home to the mighty Lambeth Country Show.

I used to live on a street which kind of bisected Kentish Town and Tufnell Park. Miss the Junction Tavern, St Johns, Pineapple, Torriano, Lord Stanley ... excellent choices within a few minutes walk. A bit barren for good pubs in Aldgate / Whitechapel where I am now.

aldgate east

tayyabs...no pubs...idk i just moved here

Homerton/Hackney

1. Massive walk, either north up the River Lea towards Tottenham and out into Hackney/Walthamstow Marshes, taking in the Roman ruins (my running route, I love the sudden wildness of it); or south down the river towards Bow; or just head on out down the Greenway past the Olympics site. One thing I've always found notable about Homerton is how edge-of-the-countryside it can seem.

2. Chatsworth Road Market. When I moved here last year it was a last-minute desperation thing rather than because the area itself appealed, but I seem to have landed in a location that's obviously on the verge of...something. This market is probably, like, the Next Broadway Market or something. A lot of amazing food stalls - okonomiyaki, kedgeree, cheesecake, polenta, pies and quiches and pastillas of all sorts. There's a Hackney food fair in the churchyard on Saturdays that's also excellent. Even on non-market days I really like the vibe of Chatsworth Road with the exception of that awful twee-looking new café with its repulsive pink-and-white colour scheme.

3. Not strictly Homerton but within walking distance - probably a play in either the Arcola in Dalston or the Yard in Hackney Wick.

(4. ASHANTI MEWS for obvious reasons. Ashanti Mews!!!! I am so proud of myself for having lived within 5 minutes' walk of Grace Jones Close for four years and now Ashanti Mews)

tayyabs...no pubs...idk i just moved here

what not even the castle

another Manor House aka Harringay aka Green Lanes resident here, although haven't really got much to add to what Matt said, so, um

1. The warehouses. There's quite a big live/work community round here, so there's always interesting arty/music stuff going on. Stuff like this http://thisisdiy.blogspot.co.uk/

2. Finsbury pub. Not a bad pub.

3. Three things really is a push. My wallet and health definitely prefer living here to when I lived in Dalston, Bethnal Green and Camberwell.

Aldgate East / Spitalfields

1) Walking - last time I had visitors we took the DLR to Pudding Mill Lane and saw the olympics site then strolled back through Hackney Wick, Victoria Park, Bethanl Green then down to Whitechapel (can stop it at the Whitechapel gallery) and back to Aldgate East. It's a nice walk with lots of contrast and a good way to get a feel for east London.

2) Eating - normally take guests to Tayyabs, Hawksmoor or Sichuan Folk (or sometimes My Old Place). Can't go wrong with any of those.

3) Drinking - try the Carpenters Arms (Chesire St), The Approach Tavern (Approach Rd) or the George Tavern (Commercial Road).

Don't really like the castle! Not been in in

In forever

can't believe Upt0eleven has claimed brockwell park for brixton, it was gonna be my no.1 pick for herne hill! best park in london imo. chap otm re: lambeth country show.

ha, i wondered if someone might protest on those grounds. still, i stand by it. or lie in it.

No one goes into the Castle by choice, they go there because it's the only place open. It's pretty grim during the day/early evening.

i was jesting about the castle obviously

I'm not sure what I'd recommend in East Dulwich. It's alright if you like watching childbearing yuppies push kids with trendy names around in sidewalk-hogging strollers, I guess. There are some nice cafes and Tandoori Nights is good. The bookstore is an adventure of unalphabetised towers of books all over the place.

Maybe something like this on a Saturday:
1. Start with a walk into the forest-y bit of Peckham Rye Park and look at cute dogs being walked
2. Walk into East Dulwich and get a snack from North Cross Road market (perhaps walk up/down Lordship Lane while eating the snack, you can buy expensive cheeses and deli goods and explore the crammed bookstore)
3. Get a 185 or 176 towards Forest Hill to do everything on Matt DC's list.

Bonus thing: sit on the top left side of the 185/176 and look out the window for 549 Lordship Lane, supposedly one of the only remaining Victorian concrete houses. It's barricaded for refurbishment so it's only really visible from the top deck of the bus.

Re: East Dulwich, the food at The Palmerstone and maybe Franklins is worth travelling for.

Did we not FAP in the Castle a few years back? It had signs up warning people not to deal drugs iirc.

So do loads of pubs in London.

The Boston Arms in Tufnell used to have government posters in the toilets warning people not to rape.

Archway/Upper Holloway:
1. Waterlow Park/Highgate Cemetery is nearby. Karl Marx is there and stuff.
2. "Suicide Bridge" - nice view over london and good for suicides I suppose.
3. "Archway Tavern" - the cover photo of kinks' album Muswell Hillbillies was taken here. Now it's called "Dusk till Dawn" and is a shithole.

Non-londoners - wouldn't recommend visiting, tbh.

xpost guys i need to dig up the sign i took from the toilets at The Holloway (RIP) in Holloway out again.

You're not too far from Crystals. That's a good thing.

2. Chatsworth Road Market. When I moved here last year it was a last-minute desperation thing rather than because the area itself appealed, but I seem to have landed in a location that's obviously on the verge of...something. This market is probably, like, the Next Broadway Market or something. A lot of amazing food stalls - okonomiyaki, kedgeree, cheesecake, polenta, pies and quiches and pastillas of all sorts. There's a Hackney food fair in the churchyard on Saturdays that's also excellent. Even on non-market days I really like the vibe of Chatsworth Road with the exception of that awful twee-looking new café with its repulsive pink-and-white colour scheme.

I keep meaning to go to this market. There's a new restaurant I read about called Shane's Chatsworth Road that sounds interesting. Don't know if that's the twee-looking café.

probably a play in either the Arcola in Dalston or the Yard in Hackney Wick.

love the Arcola but I've found The Yard disappointing mostly, in terms of the venue and the plays.

Carpenters Arms (Chesire St), The Approach Tavern (Approach Rd) or the George Tavern (Commercial Road).

I live on Globe Road about 2/3 mins from The Approach but I am not a big fan of it really. I like the Carpenters a lot though.

Lately I go to The Camel a lot, which I used to find awful, but the main reason is cos they sell Brewdog now... makes a massive difference.

I find it hard to specifically pick three things about where I live, need to consider this.

When we've got a few more entries, will someone send this thread to NYT travel editors?

the twee café is called cakey muto :(

i haven't heard of shane's, the ones i frequent regularly are the crêperie (does what it says it will) and l'épicerie (opposite it, kind of a deli-cum-café place - you can buy stuff and eat it outside in the summer but usually it's more of a takeaway. the freshly made stuff, from pastillas to clafoutis, is highly recommended; their cheeses, wines, breads etc are all good quality but rather overpriced). there's venetia's café too, i've only ever had one sandwich from there and it was too salty.

the elderfield pub is probably the best in the area, happily less than a minute's stumble from my front door. feels weird recommending pubs specifically though.

e2

1. Palm Tree - Nothing ever changes here, this is the best and worst thing about it. Time stood still at some indeterminate point in the past. Good band playing Sinatra covers and similar Thurs-Monday, sporadically nice/narky staff though always nice once you've been in a few times, someone asked to charge their phone there when I was in on Saturday, anyone who's been there will know what a lol that is.

2. Corner Room in Bethnal Green Town Hall - High-end food and it's relatively cheap. Great wine, good service.

Struggling a bit for a third if I have to keep to my immediate vicinity. I would say the best general thing is, as someone said, walking, there are loads of small pockets of goodness in wider east London and you can walk from one to the other very handily, once you're not in a hurry.

I find myself enjoying a long walk through a good number of the nice places in Hackney/Dalston and maybe Stoke Newington, all on a Sunday where you can meet diff friends in different places.

x-post think shane's literally opened last week, I read the menu and a review and it sounded great.

Have you been to Viajante?

ronan the fountain off globe road has a nice pool table if you like that sort of thing (at least it did 3 years ago when i used to go frequently - it may have been 50p a go I think back then??)

has this thread become uninteresting to non-londoner yet? (i don't know!)

Might be of interest to non-londoners that apparently we spend 60% of our time in the pub, 30% in restaurants, and 10% in the park.

not been to viajante no... never quite took the plunge as i believe it's expensive. you?

how is the fountain? it always looks menacing.

anyone ever go in to the railway tavern on globe road? went in once a few weeks ago to see how bad it was. it was bad. met an irish guy who was severely delusional.

Not been to Viajante yet either but it feels like a proper "destination" restaurant.

I have been to Viajante and it is tremendous (as is the Corner Room, but going to Viajante feels like more of an event). We've been to quite a lot of restaurants around London and Viajante is my wife's favourite, and maybe mine also. We're going there for her birthday next month, hooray.

I too have been to the Railway on Globe Road, as part of an unfinished project to visit every pub in London called The Railway, with a view to proving they were all rubbish. Looking back, I was unnecessarily kind to this one: http://freakytrigger.co.uk/pumpkin/2004/11/pub-science-experiment-1pub-2-the-railway-tavern-globe-road-e2/

Yeah that's the vibe we got, everyone sat at the bar, total "fuck off" atmosphere. I assumed the fountain would be the same. Did consider a blog where you go to all these places (the Shakespeare on Bethnal green road looks a good shout) but might ultimately be a bad idea.

i walked past shane's on my way home, it is literally a minute from my house

<3 my new ends, crossing fingers so hard my landlady doesn't decide to sell up :/