Go check out this very untypical gallery in the underground. You don't need a ticket and it does only take you a second to soak in the art displayed.

Great little neighbourhood hangout. Delicious food, good coffee and open evenings Thursday-Saturday. Next to the Sylvanian Family shop! 

Quiet outdoor garden with bar and pizza meters away from the busy and vibrant Dalston main roads.

The Nightingale is the antithesis of the hundreds of soulless gastropubs that a lot of decent pubs have recently become and remains everything a proper pub should be. Britain's pubs haven't had it easy lately. The smoking ban and the general effects of the recession have hammered the industry hard. The Nightingale continues to be what it has always been, a proper pub at the heart of the local community. Its annual charity walk has raised nearly £500,000 for good causes in over 30 years and it seems determined to do the things a pub should do and do them properly. Once inside you feel like you could be in a country pub instead of in the middle of South London. There's no jukebox and the TV is hardly ever on, but there’s a great atmosphere with a good set of locals and good drink and food. Bliss.

Every year I take my 25 year old mini on the London to Brighton run. The views from the start line are always worth the 4AM wake-up.