London food

London food

Koya is one of our fave Japanese restaurants in London; besides being one of the best places in town for udon, we keep coming back for its donburi, tempura and Japanese pickles. And now we're teaming up with Koya City to help you create your own Japanese pickles like a pro.

Any meeter greeter who says: "Please sit anywhere you like," rather than the oft herding of two women to a tiny table beside a toilet, kitchen or screaming baby, is on to a winner with me. And, as I keep on saying, a smile, a bit of charm (even smarm), adds a considerable sweetener to the pot. Happily, we were in receipt of both on our visit to La Vespa, a new Italian restaurant in Castle Market - an atmospheric almost plaza-like cut-through between South William and Drury Street, leading on to the Victorian George's Street Arcade and ultimately South Great George's Street.

The problem has appeared on the progress screen, which charts an order's progress from inception to greasy nirvana. Something is trying to escape the kitchen, but luckily, Windows Defender Firewall is there to save the day. Sadly, there's no way for the waiting customers to clear the message, but it's unlikely to interfere too much with the fryers or griddles. Instead, it's just something new on the screen (and arguably better than the maddening sight of a telephone order leapfrogging your place in the line).

My most exulted sighting came as I drove out of upper Dovedale when, from the corner of my eye, I caught a blanket of gold running over the slope. The flowers held the foreground before the eye travelled onwards to Sheen Hill in Staffordshire. We overuse the word carpet, but in this instance it was appropriate. Each bloom was about the same height as all its neighbours, and if you eliminated gaps in colour by getting down face to face with the flower heads, then the whole land was turned into a single glorious sunshine hue.

When Nancy's opens in London Bridge in June, a 'Lady Luck' negroni cart will be roaming the room, allowing anyone who puts their faith in fate to choose their drink with a roll of the dice. Fortunately, whether you roll a six or a one, there are no losers in this game (as long as you're a negroni lover, that is). Selected serves range from a classic negroni to one with a chocolate twist served with a Terry's Chocolate Orange slice, as well as 'The Rosé', made using mezcal, sloe gin and a touch of absinthe.

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, widely regarded as the most prestigious of Britain's flower shows, is now under way in London. Held in the grounds of Royal Hospital Chelsea, this year's event features cutting-edge garden design, large-scale floral displays and innovative planting schemes inspired by sustainability, wellbeing and climate resilience.

Rocco Mastrangelo Jr. is the co-owner of Cafe Diplomatico, which has been a Little Italy staple since 1968 and was founded by his father Rocco Mastrangelo Sr. Mastrangelo said his father also used to own the Royal back when it was called the Pylon and focused on Italian cinema. "He actually owned seven Italian cinemas in the city of Toronto between the late 1960's and the mid 1980's, and the Royal was one of his cinemas," he said.

A photo exhibition of portraits and landscapes has opened in one of the newly finished railway arches at the Bankside development near the Tate Modern. The works are all by Andy Earl, who mixes wide-angle landscapes with more commercial celebrity photography, mainly of musicians. So you've got a mix of photos of streets and architecture interspersed with photos of Annie Lennox, Prince and REM.

A Jewish man in his 20s is being treated in hospital for injuries to his face and back after being attacked by a number of men in north London. The Metropolitan Police said its officers arrived at the scene within six minutes and said they were treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime.

On a Wednesday night just three weeks after it opened, we snuck into Auguste at 6pm and the place was entirely mobbed. It was as if the old Papi crowd had simply carried on making pilgrimage here, like worker ants not quite realising that their queen's chamber had moved. That night, the arrosticini came in three varie

At the entrance, a shelf displays ceramics made by local craftspeople, each piece accompanied by an introduction to the creative who made it. It feels more like a crafts exhibition than a hotel front entrance-and that's precisely the point.

The newly appointed head chef at The Sea Rooms at Kelly's Resort in Rosslare believes that in his world, it is the farmers and fishmongers who do all the hard work before he merely presents the produce properly.

Pedn Vounder-roughly translating to 'end of the lane' from Cornish-is a hidden beach located on the rugged Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall near Porthcurno. Famous for its turquoise water, white sand, and dramatic granite cliffs, it's easy to see why it's often compared to the pristine beaches of Indonesia or the Caribbean.

The mystery-comedy features an all-star cast (Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bryan Cranston) and follows... a flock of sheep who investigate the murder of their shepherd. Set outside the small English village of Denbrook, shepherd George Hardy (Jackson) reads mystery thrillers to his flock every night. But suddenly, fiction becomes reality when the sheep find him dead with blue and green dye on his hands.

I am, I admit, late to the Chubbys party. It's not that I didn't want to visit at any point over the past 12 months, it's just that I could never manage to get a booking at Barry and Jen Stephens' Clontarf hotspot.

Public institutions, from hospitals to museums, are the most international communities, both in the workforce and in those who visit. It's something that became obvious to us when we were cooking our globally inspired meals for frontline workers at Kings College Hospital, London, during the pandemic.

The shutdown will affect both London Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations from Sunday 26th July to Sunday 16th August 2026, along with some additional weekend closures either side of the main works. During the closure, no trains will serve either station while engineers replace almost two kilometres of 36-year-old track, rebuild sections of platform at Charing Cross, upgrade drainage systems and carry out structural repairs to both the Waterloo East pedestrian bridge and the Hungerford railway bridge over the Thames.

110 Queen's Walk was London's City Hall until 2021, but for the last five years it has sat empty, and its famous glass windows have been removed, leaving behind a metal shell.

The brand is taking over vegan tattoo studio Flamin' Eight in Kentish Town for one-day only to create A Delicious Misteak Tattoo Parlour, where you can get a free cowboy-themed flash tattoo and a free plant-based steak sandwich in the same visit.

Magnolia Bakery is popping up at Café Ciel at The OWO. Found in The Grand Courtyard of Raffles London, it's heading here for three weeks to celebrate RHS Chelsea Flower Show. From May 19, an outdoor kiosk will be offering a takeaway menu for the sweet-toothed among us. The pop-up officially launches on Tuesday May 19 with the kiosk open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-7pm.