An excellent bookshop by Brick Lane, the interior design is incredible and the selection unexpected. A good place to get lost in!

Excellent breads & pastries, including their famous sourdough & doughnuts!

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.

J+A is a hidden and unpretentious café/ bar just off busy Clerkenwell Road - with outdoor seating!