Good things to do in London - part 1

1. Walk from hampsted heath to primrose hill. take in the view, then go for sunday lunch here. Drink Adnams or Deuchars if they have it on draught. Alternatively walk along the south bank, the bar beside the Hayward Gallery is quirky and does a wide selection of pickles if you like this type of thing.

2. Watch obscure films. The curzon soho is an obvious choice but it's sibling the curzon mayfair is quieter and it's less hassle to get a ticket, but admittedly less choice than it's bigger brasher relation. For a touch of glamour go to the Electric on portobello road, which isn't so expensive but does have exceptional seating to sink into. And a good local cinema? I'm a fan of the ritzy in Brixton, it has a decent bar and avoids the mega-chain feel of it's West end rivals. I saw 'Happy go Lucky' here which incidentally is a very good (london) film.

3. eat Asian food - Cheng's at the bottom of Wardour street does a mighty fine selection of dim sum, Green Papaya in Hackney does melt in the mouth belly pork and half way along brick lane is a yellow fronted Bangladeshi restaurant. This has proved to be a superb place to soak up beer, unfortunately I can't seem to remember the name. The best I can do is approximate that it's between Hanbury and Princelet street. Screw your eyes up, stagger around a bit and you should find it. For a decent and authentic and surprisingly cheap Thai meal try Charlie Wright's International Bar in old street. A bit intimidating and sometimes has a few characters in but that is part of it's charm.

4. drink beer. lots of it.
Here are some good locations
Clerkenwell: The 3 Kings*, Sekforde Arms
Islington: The Crown, Island Queen, The kings head

For cocktails go to Freuds which considering is in the west end is actually quite nice generally because of the euro-boho-arty crowd that congregate there (thanks i think because of the proximity to Central St Martins?)

* The 3 kings demonstrates why London is rocking in the summer - that glorious friday evening sight of throngs of people spilling out on to the pavement drinking away as dusk descends in the balmy air.

5. After beer comes a kebab and the best kebab in london comes from here. Bodrum wins because of the quality of it's bread, the turkish bread is thick enough to soak up meat juice and chilli sauce before it dribbles down one's front. I eat a lot kebabs and am disapointed by the number of establishments that insist on sticking to flaky pita bread - shameful.

Enjoy!