An obvious choice but no 'best of London' list is complete without the Barbican

I grew up in Brighton which is full of cheesy bars like this. If you can handle being surrounded by multiple screens playing Kylie at full volume, its pretty much the cheapest bar in central london. The cliental is so varied its great for people watching and completely un pretentious.

This painted of the shopping centre by my brother, Leo Verhoeven, shows a rather idyllic vision of the shopping centre we both share. Its pretty rough, full of budget shops and funny cafes and framed by a shanty town style open air market. I have a real soft spot for it as the classic under dog, thats so often slated and condemned but lives on.

Lovely, open space close to Highbury and Islington with tennis courts, netball courts, kids' playground and Parkrun on a Saturday morning at 9am!  

Appreciate the 'bar hidden away behind a bookcase' thing is pretty naff but the cocktails here are unreal (try the Hot and Cold), and it's inside Milroy's Soho, one of the most legendary spirits stores in the city