Organized by neighborhood…
NIGHT LIFE
Leicester Square & Soho
- The Crazy Coqs (20 Sherwood St., near Piccadilly Circus)– on the edge of London’s theater district–small, attractive, art deco nightclub (above); especially fun is open-mic night, when theater professionals and talented mere mortals perform (while it’s usually on Thursday nights, you may want to check the website to confirm the schedule)
- Theater: Click here to find out what’s on!
EAT, DRINK & BE MERRY
Chelsea
- Five Fields (8-9 Blacklands Terrace)–EXCELLENT, excellent food and service in elegant, initmate room on a charming street

Five Fields restaurant in Chelsea
- Tom’s Kitchen (27 Cale St.)–deelish comfort food, casual but nice ambience on charming Cale St., which is parallel to the King’s Road
- The Orange (37 Pimlico Rd.)–The BEST gin and tonic I had on our most recent trip to London! They plopped a date in the bottom of the high-ball glass and draped a bunch of bright red currants on the side=pretty and delicious. Also, good food and convivial atmosphere.
- Peter Jones department store (on Sloane Square)– has a decent cafeteria on its top floor with amazing views of London; good for a quick bite while shopping
Hammersmith
- River Café (Thames Wharf, Rainville Rd.)–The River Café has long been adored by many and justifiably so, as it has a relaxing, peaceful, low-key stylish ambience & GREAT food. Plus, the staff are into it in the best way! The taxi ride from central London is long-ish but worth it.

The River Cafe, Hammersmith, London.
Kensington
- Walton Street–any place on this charming, short street for a good, low-key (but not boring) time, e.g., The Enterprise is nice and fun, and a hip, pulsating bar is just down the street.
Mayfair
- Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill (11-15 Swallow St.)–Opened in 1916, Bentley’s serves shellfish, classics (fish pie, for ex.), as well as more exotic fare. Sit at the ground-floor oyster bar.
Victoria
- Thomas Cubitt (44 Elizabeth St.)–nice, informal restaurant on a pretty street
Soho
- Quo Vadis (26-29 Dean St.)–Departures (2015) highly recommended Quo Vadis, so of course we bee-lined for it and it did not disappoint: SUPERB food, service & ambience!

Quo Vadis (Credit Photo: Paul Winch-Furness / http://www.paulwf.co.uk)
- Rules (35 Maiden Lane)–Rules is attractive & the oldest restaurant in London. Several scenes from “Downton Abbey” were filmed here, when Lady Mary and Lady Edith met friends in London. Check out the 2nd & 3rd floors.
- Brasserie Zédel (20 Sherwood St.)–beautiful and very deco w/good food
The following restaurants get a lot of good press, though I haven’t yet eaten there:
Soho
- Ham Yard Hotel (1 Ham Yard)–Departures (2015), among others, recommended this happy, fun, stylish décor; buzzing with people when we were there at 3:30 on a weekday afternoon
- Bocca di Lupo (12 Archer St.)–Departures (2015) recommended it so we stopped by & checked it out between meals. It is small, attractive, Italian, w/welcoming staff.
- Barrafina (54 Frith St.)–tapas, several locations, don’t accept reservations, lines
Marlebone
- Chiltern Firehouse (1 Chiltern Street)
The 3 “hippest, of-the-moment spots,” according to The [English] Times food critic (Departures 2015):
- Dinerama (19 Great Eastern Street, on the edge of the financial quarter & Shoreditch)–“the smokingest ticket in town”
- Kitty Fisher’s (10 Shepherd Market, Mayfair)–“the atmosphere is classic old-London bohemian” & the food is “at the cutting edge of current style”
- Colony Grill Room (8 Balderton St., Grosvenor)–very snazzy 1920’s deco décor in a nice hotel (The Beaumont)
PUBS
Chelsea
- Fox & Hounds (on Passmore St., @ Graham Terrace, parallel to Lower Sloane near Sloane Square)–Located on a quiet street near Sloane Square, the Fox & Hounds is a small, very pleasant, un-touristy pub, with beautiful summer/spring/fall flowers, as you can see below
- Coopers Arms (87 Flood St.)–decent food, crowd & location
Belgravia
- Star Tavern (Belgrave Mews West)–charming mews location, nice pub
- Horse and Groom (7 Groom Place)–close to Buckingham Palace, in a mews, closed on weekends
- Wilton Arms (71 Kinnerton St.)–really attractive mews pub with tons of hanging baskets of flowers out front
Wapping

Prospect of Whitby
- The Prospect of Whitby (57 Wapping Wall, between the Tower of London & Canary Wharf)–London’s oldest riverside (great views of the Thames) pub dating back to 1520, though out-of-the-way. Originally frequented by those involved in life on the river and sea, the pub was a notorious haunt for smugglers, thieves and pirates. Other notable customers included Charles Dickens, Samuel Pepys, and artists Whistler and Turner. Especially memorable: on the water side of the pub is the gallows, where unfortunates were hung and gradually drowned as the Thames rose!
COCKTAILS at Nice Hotels
- Claridge’s–Claridge’s has two bars. Go to the smaller one with its own, separate entrance from the street. The bartender opens a bottle of champagne every six minutes. Elegant & full of life!

Claridge’s bar: Shake that thing!
- The Langham–very pretty bar w/chinoiserie decorative theme
- The Connaught–buzzy and sophisticated
SHOP IT!
St. James
- Fortnum & Mason (181 Piccadilly)–SUCH a nice store! You will simply have to visit. Several floors, over 300 years old and stylish, F&M sells food, home goods & some fashion. WAY better store than Harrod’s!

This recent window at Fortnum & Mason will give you an idea of its style.

another Fortnum & Mason window

This photo of Fortnum & Mason’s ground floor does not do the store justice. Go up to its other floors for the best eye candy…clothes, gifts, a sweet tea salon. Go down for a small, refined, ladies-who-lunch restaurant.
- Jermyn Street–See the beautiful men’s shirts, suits, and socks shops, plus George F. Trumpers for elegant, old-fashioned shaving products; shop the arcades off Jermyn, as well as Lock & Co. Hatters around the corner; above Lock, see Rachel Trevor-Morgan’s millinery (she has designed over 65 hats for Queen Elizabeth over the past decade) at 18 Crown Passage, one of the oldest pedestrian streets in central London
Knightsbridge
- Walton Street–short, quiet street w/some lovely, little boutiques, including Departures (2015) fav, Alex Engle (91 Walton), which is “laid out like the home of an impossibly chic friend.” Sounds great!
- Beauchamp Place–Check out the pretty dress shops, as well as the Map House, which sells charming prints.
Chelsea
- John Sandoe (10 Blacklands Terrace, just off the Kings Rd.)–perfectly wonderful small store, with knowledgeable staff…just what a bookstore should be!
- Sauntering down the King’s Road: lots of good boutiques
- Sloane Square–tempting stores on and off the square, including on Ellis Street, West Halkin and Sloane Streets, as well as Lower Sloane
- Oliver Brown (75 Lower Sloane St.)–very British: OB rents and sells top hats and waistcoats (in gorgeous colors and patterns) & also sells some ladies’ clothes, including hunting skirts (long, of course), as well as other traditional English attire, of the finest quality

Oliver Brown–Lady Mary and Matthew would have bought their hunting clothes here.
- Pimlico Road (between Lower Sloane & Ebury St., which runs into Elizabeth St.)–sophisticated, small decorating shops with living-large style. For example, Linley (as in, nephew of QE) is a beautiful store with especially intriguing furniture (the look=sleek, masculine, updated-deco) and everything stylish to accompany it, including stunningly-crafted wooden boxes for cigars, jewelry, and must-have “vice boxes” (all yours for the low, low price of 7,000+ pounds!)
Between Victoria & Belgravia
- Elizabeth Street (between Ebury Mews & Chester Row)–lovely, elegant boutiques, including Philip Treacy, the “king of royal wedding hats,” per the Irish Independent (2011); click through to read his fascinating bio

stunning Philip Treacy creation

and yet another PT stunner
Mayfair
- Maggs Bros. Ltd. (46 Curzon St.)–has one of the largest collections of antiquarian books in the world. Departures magazine dedicated a whole article to Maggs in its 2015 issue focused on the joys of London.
- G. Heywood Hill (10 Curzon St.)–Wonderful bookshop with an interesting past: “Nancy, eldest of the famous Mitford sisters, worked here during the second half of World War Two. Her gregarious character and witty repartee helped establish Heywood Hill’s shop as a centre of English social and literary life during the 1940s,” (from GHH website). QE awarded GHH the Royal Warrant in 2011.
- S. J. Phillips (139 New Bond St.)–stunning, stunning jewelry
Soho
- Liberty (Regent St.)–In addition to its famed small flower-patterned scarves, this beautiful store sells cutting edge fashion, as well as housewares, notions and even books.
Notting Hill
- Portobello Flea Market–really crowded but lots of interesting things; go to nearby Geale’s (2 Farmer St.), circa 1939, afterwards for a nice lunch/dinn post-shopping
- Independent bookshops (per Departures 2015)–
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- Notting Hill Bookshop (13 Blenheim Crescent)–click through and you will probably recognize this as the bookshop owned by Hugh Grant in “Notting Hill”
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- Books for Cooks (4 Blenheim Crescent)
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- Lutyens & Rubinstein (21 Kensington Park Rd.)
For HOTELS & SIGHTS to See, go to my London (part 1/2) post.
-posted May 2016
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