Lots of traditional charming country pubs around the area, but it can a bit hit and miss. A really friendly one with amazing food (and a unusually large veggie selection…) is the Beehive in Epping Green; close to the Great Wood. It's friendly enough you dare going there by yourself with the paper and are not at the mercy of local rubbernecks ("the rubberneck" = person who stares at strangers without any sign of guilt)

Award-winning restaurant and creative hub. Introducing great chefs from a variety of countries and cuisines.

Hotter than hell, but always a good night had. It can be whatever you want it to be - restaurant, pub, or club, has good outside space and rentable rooms, and plays an interesting mix of music to an interesting mix of people. The building is actually kinda beautiful too.

The gallery was extended into a neighbouring Victorian House space about a year and a half ago, with a real skill in judging the meeting point between the contemporary and the conserved. The architects — 6a — were also responsible for Raven Row near Spitalfields (another favourite place). I'm lucky enough to work part of the week next door, at Camberwell College of Arts. This is about great food and good books. The café — a real haven at breakfast time before work — is run by the nicest team of people, with intertwined relationships to Camberwell. This book, designed by James Langdon, represents the kind of find possible in the bookshop and also the quality of conversation content had, over the best coffee.

6a converted a vacant mews warehouse in Bloomsbury into a set of spaces for the storage and display of art for a young art collector. The warehouse is situated in a cobbled mews, adjacent to artist studios, houses, a piano shop and a pub. Book a tour!