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 Barbers in London Sell Minutes, Not Haircuts
Twenty pounds or two hundred and twenty five, both published, and the difference is mostly time. Three barbers checked at source, including the oldest barbering business in the world.
Jermyn Street Opens on a Saturday and Savile Row Does Not
The shirtmaking street keeps shop hours, publishes its prices and will sell you something the same afternoon. Four houses checked at source, including the only door in St James's open on a Sunday.
Savile Row Tailors Keep Office Hours and Sell a Ten Week Wait
The famous street shuts at five and does not open at weekends, a first suit takes three visits and eight to twelve weeks, and only one house publishes a bespoke price. Four checked at source.
Comedy Clubs in London: The Night of the Week Sets the Price
The same club, the same bill, four nights apart: 7.50 pounds on a Thursday booked ahead, 24 on a Saturday at the door. Three clubs checked at source, including the free one running seven nights a week.
Karaoke in London: What the Private Rooms Actually Cost
Five pounds a head, twelve pounds a head, thirty five pounds a head, and one of Europe's largest venues declining to say. Four chains checked at source, and why their prices do not compare.
The Best Fish and Chips in London, and the Rule Only One of Them Publishes
London's oldest chip shop asks for an hour before closing time for a table. Nobody else publishes that rule and everybody works to it. Five checked at source, one domain now serving a gambling site.
The Best Seafood Restaurants in London Keep Two Sets of Hours
A London seafood restaurant is a raw bar and a kitchen sharing a room, and they close at different times. Three checked at source, including the published raw bar only window almost nobody plans around.
The Best Vietnamese Restaurants in London Are Mostly on One Road
Kingsland Road has held London's Vietnamese restaurants for decades and everyone who eats there calls it Pho Mile. Three restaurants checked at source, including one whose entire website is an address.
The Best Lebanese Restaurants in London, and the Two That Have Closed
Kenza closed in January on its own announcement and Arabica's old domain now serves a gambling site. Three Lebanese restaurants that are actually trading, checked against their own published information.
The Best Turkish Restaurants in London Are Nearly All North of the River
Turkish food in London lives on Green Lanes, not in Soho, and the best of it calls itself Aegean or ocakbasi rather than Turkish. Three restaurants checked at source, plus one that closed and whose site now serves a casino.
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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.