If, for some reason, you’re up for breakfast at around 5:00 a.m., head to Billingsgate Cafe, situated within London’s fabled fish market. I know that including scallops in full English is not the done thing, but it somehow works perfectly (if unconvinced, you can also go for the scallop and bacon roll, which comes with tea or coffee).
The earlier you get to Billingsgate Cafe, the less chance you have of encountering someone filming themselves eating there, which has become annoyingly popular in recent years. So if you’re ever in Canary Wharf, set your alarm.
Look, it’s nearly Summer. This isn’t the time for the strange or the difficult — instead, it’s the season for a touch of reasonably priced glamour and a nice boozy lunch. To that end, go and get the set deal at perennial favourite Brasserie Zedel, all art deco opulence and French-lite menu, and imagine you’re in an episode of Poirot (the Suchet version, de rigueur).
Situated on Blackstock Road, just down the road from the old Arsenal stadium, BookBar is, as the name suggests, a bookshop and wine bar. What could’ve easily ended up as a slightly twee affair is instead a lovely, community-spirited space — and a genuinely great place to drink.
Don’t be fooled by the (baffling) stock photos of burgers on their website: Brockley’s Chaska Maska is one of London’s best Indian restaurants. Inspired by food in the north of the country, the menu focuses on light, fresh takes on staples like palak paneer and dal makhani alongside street food snacks—my top recommendations are the vada pav and the rajma masala.
If you’re ever invited to an event at the Bethnal Green ‘countercultural space’ Pelican House, you should go. The bar is cheap and there’s a large courtyard for smoking and chatting. It’s not just parties either, there’s a weekly all-abilities Muay Thai class, a trans-led legal practice and the occasional union fundraiser bbq. Places like Pelican House demonstrate that venues and community don’t have to be separate, but have simply been made to feel that way.
