A beautiful old school bookshop, floor to ceiling photo books. Heaven.

This may not be much of a secret but deserves a mention. I find it hard to go anywhere near this place without having to go there. Freshly baked Beigels hot salt beef and it never closes, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

SOAS university has a small gallery space dedicated to exhibitions about Asia, Africa and the Middle East. There's a small but beautiful Japanese zen garden on the rooftop (currently closed for refurbishment)

A fantastic fresh handmade pasta shop and restaurant in Shoreditch. If you are looking for authentic Italian cooking, look no further!

Inspired by Dave Eggers’ projects in the USA such as the Pirate Store in San Francisco and Superhero store in Brooklyn, The Monster Supplies Store in Hoxton is home to the Ministry of Stories: A volunteer run organization, founded by Nick Hornby, to help young people with creative writing of all kinds through workshops and free mentoring sessions. The store is the “Purveyor of quality goods for monsters of every kind” with fascinating bottles and tins containing everything from eyeballs to Zadie Smith’s short story Mortal Terror.