Journal
Every guide we publish, newest first. London restaurants, bars, pubs, hotels, afternoon tea, spas and nightlife, each one checked against the venue's own published information rather than against other guides.
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We take no bookings, sell nothing, and accept no payment for inclusion. Where a price or a rule appears here, it came from the venue.
The Best French Restaurants in London: One Takes Calls for Two Hours a Day
Bouchon Racine asks you to ring between nine and eleven in the morning. Casse-Croute takes no online bookings at all. Otto's gives you the table for the whole evening. And Le Gavroche closed in January 2024.
Pub Quiz London: Nobody Runs One on a Friday
Across 141 quiz nights at 140 London pubs, not one falls on a Friday or Saturday. Tuesday takes 43 of them. The pub pays 120 pounds a week for it and funds your 50 pound prize.
The Best Sandwiches in London: One Never Closes, One Shuts on Tuesdays
Beigel Bake has been open around the clock since 1979. Max's shuts two days a week and breaks for three hours every afternoon. Three checked at source, and the clock decides which one you get.
The Best Bakeries in London Close at Four, and One Opens Until Ten
Pophams shut at four at all six doors, Poplar Bakehouse at half three. The exception is a bakery inside a museum that runs to ten at night on Thursdays and Saturdays.
London Food Markets: The Halls Run Late and the Streets Do Not
One word for four different businesses. Camden's food halls serve until eleven every night, Broadway Market has packed up by five on a Saturday, and Seven Dials has three separate booking rules.
The Best Coffee Shops in London Shut Before You Finish Work
Prufrock stops at half four, Kaffeine at five, and Monmouth's roastery shop at three. Four roasters checked at source, including the one inside a restored Victorian public lavatory.
Camden Market Is Open Every Day of the Year Except One
Christmas Day is the only closure, bank holidays included, which makes it the answer whenever the day is not yours to choose. Its own pages disagree on the closing time by an hour.
Portobello Road Market Is a Friday and Saturday Market
Open seven days a week and that fact is close to useless. Four of them are a fruit and veg run, the antique arcades open Saturdays only from 7am, and most Sundays have no street market at all.
Spitalfields Market Has Two Websites and They Do Not Agree
Old Spitalfields Market is the Victorian hall. Spitalfields Market is the estate around it. They publish different hours, one page contradicts itself by two hours, and the restaurants shut at four on a Saturday.
The Best Tapas in London, and Which Counter Takes Bookings
Every good tapas room in London divides itself up, and the part you sit in decides whether you were allowed to book it. Four checked at source, including three restaurants by one chef on one street.
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Questions we get asked
How often is the guide updated?
Continuously, and each page records the month it was last checked rather than only the date it was first written. Opening hours and prices in London change often enough that an unchecked guide is worse than none.
How do you decide what goes in?
Every entry is verified against the venue's own published information, not against other guides. Nothing is included in exchange for payment, and nothing is excluded for refusing it.