101 Star Bars: The Exhibit, London SW12
Published: 13 October 2007
Very old south Londoners remember a time when London's trendy Balham was merely "the Gateway to the South" and the best pub this far south of the river was the Bedford Arms. Oh, how things have changed. Now Balham is Chelsea South and a new bar opens there every three seconds. Any locals who haven't legged it down the Northern line to Colliers Wood are left exclaiming, "My bank/ hairdresser/fruit and veg stall/living room is now a trendy boozer" and taking out a second mortgage to buy a round of raspberry beer.
Kenza, 10 Devonshire Square, London
Published: 07 October 2007
101 Star Bars (#29): The Canny Man's, Edinburgh
Published: 06 October 2007
Ever since Norman Balon hung up his bar towel after 62 years at the helm of Soho's Coach and Horses, would-be Jeffrey Bernards have been looking for a new "rudest landlord in Britain". I don't know about landlords, but The Canny Man's is a sure contender for the title of Unfriendliest Pub. But the frosty reception and the air of menace are all part of the theatre of this unique little boozer.
Angelus, 4 Bathurst Street, London
Published: 30 September 2007
By definition, a signature dish is something unique, indelibly linked with a particular chef or restaurant. Sometimes it is an inadvertent icon, becoming a "signature" through the sheer number of times it is written on the order pad.
101 Star Bars (#28): Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem
Published: 29 September 2007
Of the many pubs that claim to be the oldest in England, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem has to be at least the nicest. Built into the rock under Nottingham Castle, the original building was a brewhouse for William the Conqueror's descendants, who hauled up the beer through a huge chimney in the rock. It was named, it is said, for Richard the Lionheart's Crusaders, who stopped there in 1189 for "necessary refreshments" on their way to the Promised Land. Well, you'd need a pint of Abbot and a cheese ploughman's if you were off to fight the forces of Saladin.
Bombay Brasserie, Courtfield Close, London
Published: 23 September 2007
101 Star Bars (#28): Albannach, London
Published: 22 September 2007
If your idea of Scottish-themed is an Angus Steakhouse-meets-Braveheart reunion, this understated bar is not for you. American tourists bluster in, find no tartan and drift out again. But if you find yourself in central London, missing the Edinburgh Festival and with a serious thirst for single malt, this is as good a place as any.
Great Queen Street, Great Queen Street, London
Published: 16 September 2007
101 Star Bars (#27): Malmaison, Oxford
Published: 15 September 2007
All those people who say that prisons are too luxurious will be breaking into this Oxford establishment to prove their point. Until 1996 this imposing castle was a working prison, where Porridge and The Italian Job were filmed and felons were incarcerated, two to a room. Now those rooms have been knocked together and poshed up and the castle has become the massive Malmaison hotel.
Haozhan, 8 Gerrard Street, London W1
Published: 09 September 2007
101 Star Bars (#26): Artesian, London
Published: 08 September 2007
There are other David Collins-designed bars in London. There are others with a Homeric choice of rums. There may even be other bars that offer to teach you dominoes. But any place that boasts that "even our ice is special" has got to be something else.
Purnell's, 55 Cornwall Street, Birmingham
Published: 02 September 2007
The Rosendale, West Dulwich, London
Published: 01 September 2007
If I lived in Notting Hill or Islington or Limehouse, I’d probably groan at the prospect of voyaging to darkest south London to a gastropub dinner.
101 Star Bars (#25): Shunt Lounge, London
Published: 01 September 2007
Going home will never be the same again. Just as your reserve is hardening and you have heeded last orders and caught the late tube – just when you're running through London Bridge station having said No! to one more drink and coming home with the milk – just when you have so nearly made it to Platform 12 and the train home to sanity – that's where it is.
One-O-One, Sheraton Tower Hotel, 101 Knightsbridge
Published: 26 August 2007
101 Star Bars (#24): Oloroso, Edinburgh
Published: 25 August 2007
There are only three reasons why you would find Oloroso, Edinburgh's finest and most secret rooftop bar: 1) if you were wearing a neck brace and walking down Castle Street with your head jammed upwards, 2) if you had fallen over drunk beside its little hidden door, 3) if you were very local, very trendy and totally in the know. If the last, you wouldn't be letting the crowds of festival-going tourists in on the secret. Oops, I just have.
Pinchito Tapas, 322 Featherstone Street, London EC1
Published: 19 August 2007
L'Ail Heure, Place Raimond VII, Beaucaire 30300, France
Published: 18 August 2007
In medieval times Beaucaire was the fairground of the Rhône delta, drawing 300,000 people every summer to buy textiles and spices, drink and party their evenings away, entertained by acrobats, giants and performing elephants. Today's tourists head for the canal-side bars – but those in the know tell you to try L'Ail Heure, the coolest eaterie in town.
