THE place for birthday presents and bookcases (mine was 50p).

Escape the Eurocentric vortex here.

I love the Brixton markets, they are about as far from the food aisle of any multi national supermarket as you can imagine. One minute you can be in Thailand, then Jamaica via Turkey the next. Franco Manco is pretty busy, but it’s very special to me.

Fortitude Bakehouse, a craft bakery, hidden away on a quiet mews in Bloomsbury. 

Key community arts centre, near to Shoreditch High St station. The cinema is handy and the music programming is solid, but they also host a variety of other interesting nights, most notably Jawdance, London’s (arguably) best spoken word night