-
Menier Chocolate Factory
Theatre and chocolate, two of life's major passions, have never been as gloriously paired up as they have here - a theatre inside a gorgeous conversion of a 19th-century chocolate factory. To make matters better, the theatre's superb restaurant makes for great combination deals (around £20 per person for a two-course dinner and a ticket).
-
Milk & Honey
Milk & Honey's number one 'House Rule' reads: 'No name-dropping, no star fucking', so prepare for a tight-lipped, but glamorous clientele at London's most renowned cocktail bar. It's a members' club that lets nonmembers in on week nights (though it's preferred if the plebeians stick to the beginning of the week), and you have to phone in advance to reserve your own private booth for a two-hour slot. Once you're there, you have to ring the bell and whisper your name into the buzzer, the speakeasy way. This practice is heavenly if you like privacy and great drinks, and hellish if you prefer a more down-to-earth atmosphere, but it's worth sampling the vast and exquisite cocktail list.
-
Ministry of Sound
This legendary club-cum-enormous global brand suffered from a loss of 'edge' among clubbers in the early naughties but is now rejoining the top club ranks. Recommended Friday's Ministry Presents... is all drum'n'bass, garage, funky house, hip hop and R&B, across the four areas - Box, Bar, Baby Box and Lounge - with top DJs and live acts performing, while Saturday Sessions gives the crème de la crème of house, electro and techno DJs.
-
Mitre
A beautiful, light-filled and airy pub with a large semicircular bar and walled courtyard at the back, the award-winning Mitre gets very crowded in the evenings and at the weekends, especially at lunch.
-
Moose Bar
We bet you never thought you'd find a sky lodge in the Canadian Rockies in the middle of the West End? This wood-lined space on two floors has a simple ground-floor bar and a downstairs lounge/DJ'n'dance space with antlers for lampshades and cowhide on the seating. The cocktails are reasonable (around £7 to around £9 ), you can have a bite (of pies and nibbles) to eat and there's dancing until late on weekend nights.
-
Mother Bar
Where can you go dancing till late on a Sunday night, you may wonder? Come to Mother. Still one of the best bars in town, it's above Shoreditch's original hipster club, 333. Though it's mobbed at weekends, don't be put off - there's a lounge, a dance floor and a fun, up-for-it crowd.
-
Museum Tavern
This is where Karl Marx used to retire for a well-earned pint after a hard day's inventing communism in the British Museum Reading Room, and where George Orwell boozed after his literary musings. A lovely traditional pub set around a long bar, it has friendly staff and is popular with academics and students alike, and while tourists check-in for the atmosphere, the place retains its loyal regulars.
-
Nag's Head
Located in a serene mews not far from bustling Knightsbridge, this gorgeously genteel early-19th-century drinking den has eccentric décor, a sunken bar and no mobile phones. A dreamy delight; don't bother if you're not pure of pub heart.
-
National Theatre
England's flagship theatre showcases a mix of classic and contemporary plays performed by excellent casts. Its outstanding artistic director, Nicholas Hytner, is not only using exciting stagings and plays to attract new audiences but has also slashed ticket prices. Look forward to Ralph Fiennes in Oedipus in 2008 and a new play by David Hare, commissioned by the NT.
-
Neighbourhood
Cherry Jam and Notting Hill Arts Club supremo Ben Watt's (another) excellent venue, Neighbourhood has a capacity of 500 and a mixed programme from author readings to house, electro and R'n'B nights, and there's even an occasional burlesque bonanza; so check what's on when you're around.
-
Advertisement
-
North Pole
Still going strong after almost a decade, this quirky Greenwich bar/restaurant/club on three levels attracts a party crowd. Upstairs is the Piano restaurant, downstairs a club called South Pole. On the ground level it's more relaxed, with the DJ playing R&B and low sofas for chatting etc.
-
Notting Hill Arts Club
London simply wouldn't be what it is without places like NHAC. There's a night for everyone in this small basement club, from knitting societies to country folk, house nights and Eastern European punk. The famous Thursday night monthly Yo-Yo night, where singer Lily Allen and producer Mark Ronson met, is one of the best nights for R&B, '80s boogies, hip hop, ragga and diverse live sets. Wednesday's über-popular Death Disco is still going strong.
-
Notting Hill Coronet
This fin-de-siècle stunner is one of London's most atmospheric places to watch a film. Indeed, a lovesick Hugh Grant munches popcorn here while watching Julia Roberts on the big screen in Notting Hill . The wonderful Edwardian interior, including a gorgeous balcony and even boxes, recalls the glory days of cinema, when filling a 400-seat house for every showing was easy.
-
O2
Formerly the doomed Millennium Dome, this pricey fiasco has now reinvented itself as one of the city's major concert venues, hosting all the biggies - the Rolling Stones, Prince, Elton John, Scissor Sisters and many others, inside the 20,000-capacity stadium. Ticket prices start at around £23 .
-
Old Blue Last
You walk into this inconspicuous pub and expect to find old geezers sitting at the bar, watching the snooker on the telly in the corner, but you find a massively trendy teenage-and-up crowd of Hoxtonites wearing hooded tops, fluorescent T-shirts and nylon caps. It hosts some of the best Shoreditch parties, has a rocking juke box and does a mean square pie to boot.
-
Old Ship
This restful towpath pub is the prime stop-off for families and couples on their walks by the Thames. It looks south across the lazy bend of the river towards Putney, and is popular during the rest of the week, especially on spring and summer days, thanks to its outdoor dining area, terrace and 1st-floor balcony.
-
Old Vic
Never has there been a London theatre with a more world-famous artistic director - Kevin Spacey looks after this glorious theatre's programme, which although not meeting with the best reviews all the time, bowled the public and the critics over with the Howard Davies 2006 production of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten , with Spacey as Jim Tyrone. The production moved to Broadway and left the Old Vic with a deserving confidence boost.
-
Opera Holland Park
This is England Jane Austen-style, with picnics on the grass, opera and frightfully posh surroundings. Sit under the 800-seat canopy, temporarily erected every summer for a nine-week season in the middle of Holland Park, and enjoy the fabulous setting and good performances. The programme mixes crowd pleasers such as Tosca and Fidelio with rare works such as L'Arlesiana and attracts a wide range of guests.
-
Pacha
The London outpost of the seminal 'Aybeefa' club is one of the city's most sumptuous venues, eschewing the 'industrial' look that dominates London clubland for the oak-wood panelling, upholstered booths and stunning stained-glass ceiling of a 1920s gentleman's club. The crowd is glitzy and showy, so dress up sexy to fit in.
-
Peacock Theatre
The Peacock is a small venue in the West End, part of the Sadler's Wells complex, hosting dance and music performances, including things like parodies of modern dance or performances from less-established companies.
-
Advertisement
-
Perseverance
Perseverance is a charming Victorian boozer downstairs with a very pleasant upstairs dining room. It's always busy with office workers during the week, but it also does a brisk trade with locals over the weekend, when you can be guaranteed a seat.
-
Pizza Express Jazz Club
Believe it or not, this is one of the most consistently popular and excellent jazz venues in London. It's a bit of a strange arrangement, having a small basement venue beneath the main chain restaurant, but it seems to work well. Patrons listen attentively to modern jazz, and lots of big names perform here.
-
Place
One of the most exciting modern dance venues, the Place was the birthplace of modern British dance. It concentrates on challenging, contemporary and experimental choreography. Behind the late-Victorian façade you'll find a 300-seat theatre, an arty, creative café atmosphere and six training studios. The Place sponsors an annual dance award, 'Place Prize', which strives to seek out and award new and outstanding dance talent.
-
Plan B
It doesn't have to be plan B - it could be an evening's plan A if you're looking for a friendly, low-key DJ bar any night from Thursday to Sunday. Even on Tuesday and Wednesday nights the decent cocktails are enough to woo you to this large room, decorated in an urban minimalist style - all concrete, exposed brick and benches with frosted-glass side panels.
-
Plastic People
This is a tiny club with just a dance floor and bar and a booming sound system that experts say easily kicks the butt of bigger clubs. It also features the most progressive club nights, without fear of introducing new or controversial music. Head here on Fridays for And Did We Mention Our Disco with Rory Phillips (of ex-Trash, current Durrr DJ), Saturdays for Balance with a healthy mix of Latin, jazz, hip hop, house and techno.
