London Nightlife Tips by KennetRose

Nightlife Spot: Holland Park Opera

Show me somebody who doesn't like opera, and I'll show you somebody who's never been to see one!

Holland Park is one of the world's more offbeat opera houses. Performances are held in the open, under a high-tech canopy to keep the weather out and against a backdrop of the ruins of Holland House. The season runs from mid-June to mid-August.

In recent years it's become a place to see and be seen, but it still retains an atmosphere of informality. Take a picnic and a bottle of wine to enjoy on the lawns in the interval.

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Theme: Theater
Dress Code: Informal.
Address: Holland House, Holland Park.
Directions: Holland Park tube
Website: http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/HollandPark/general/

Nightlife Spot: The Churchill Arms

Classic, traditional London pub of a type which is becoming all too uncommon as bright young accountants from brewery conglomerates try to turn everything into identical 'Cockroach and Artichoke' emporia.

Serves the full range of Fullers products (always a good sign) including the classic London beers London Pride and ESB. Lots of random paraphernalia hanging from the ceiling, and a theme of UK prime ministers and US presidents is much in evidence, as well as the Irish guv'nor's passion for his home county of Clare (see my Ireland travelogues).

Notice the snob screens at the bar - swivelling panels of etched glass that once served to insulate drinkers from the bar staff!

At the back is a conservatory, where you can eat good value basic Thai noodles, rice and curries amongst the lush foliage!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: Kensington Casual
Address: 119 Kensington Church Street, W8
Directions: Notting Hill Gate tube. Across the road from Clarke's restaurant (qv)

Nightlife Spot: The Dove

A tourist-trap pub, but a superb traditional one that's still worth the visit. Beautiful setting down an alley which backs onto the Thames near the elegant Hammersmith Bridge - a place where the river is open and has a semi-rural feel.

Nearby gardens are a great place to picnic. You wouldn't know you were so close to the Hell that is the Talgarth Road! Fullers beer, natch!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: Smart casual
Address: Lower Mall, Hammersmith, W6
Directions: Ravenscourt Park (closed Sundays) or Hammersmith tubes.

Nightlife Spot: Gordon's Wine Bar

Superb oasis right in the thick of the tourist-ridden centre. An unprepossessing entrance leads to a dark stairway that leads in turn to a network of dark underground tunnels - feels like descending into Hell (Richard Branson's famous gay nightclub, Heaven, is just across the road). Sit and drink house wine (or a selection from the extensive cellar) by candlelight in the dark tunnels, or make use of the garden outside! Wonderful salads too.

The walls in the better-lit parts are covered with old newspapers commemorating momentous events. On a hot day, it's genuinely refreshing down here. Better than it sounds, or looks from the outside, anyway.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: As you wish, it's so dark nobody will notice.
Address: 47 Villiers Street, WC2
Directions: Embankment tube

NB The streets round here were once named in acrostic form after the landowner, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. George Street is now buried under Charing

Nightlife Spot: The Bulls Head

As a pub it's OK, by the river in a quiet and attractive corner remote from anywhere the tube goes. It serves Youngs beers from London's other independent brewery - not as good as Fullers in my humble opinion. But the real reason for coming here is the jazz. It's one of the UK's top jazz venues, and anybody who is anybody in the world of jazz has played here. If they've been to the UK at all, that is.

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Theme: Live Music
Phone: 0 20 8876 5241
Address: 373 Lonsdale Road, Barnes, SW13
Directions: Train from Waterloo to Barnes Bridge, or no 9 bus from Knightsbridge / Kensington High Street / Hammersmith

Nightlife Spot: The Hillgate

Genuine street-corner local's pub, a rarity this close to central London. Nooks and crannies to read your newspaper, outdoor seating on a quiet corner, good beer (including London Pride!) and genuine local people from a very mixed area. Takes a pride in its floral decor.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Address: 24 Hillgate Street, W8
Directions: Notting Hill Gate tube.

Nightlife Spot: Westminster Arms

Old-fashioned and comfortable pub close to the Houses of Parliament. Look around and you'll probably see some of the UK's legislators sitting around you at leisure. And watch the fun when the division bell rings for a House of Commons vote!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Address: Storeys Gate, SW1
Directions: St James's Park tube.

Nightlife Spot: The Gate Theatre

Tiny theatrical space over a pub (you have to walk across the stage to get to your seat!).

Specialises in non-English plays in translation. There are also other events which have included enjoyable impro sessions in the past. GBP 12.00 admission, GBP 6.00 concessions, and on Monday nights just pay what you can afford.

Stephen Daldry was Artistic Director here ten years ago, I met him over a drink while I was trying to sort out a local authority grant for extra rehearsal space ten years ago. Since then he's gone to Hollywood via the Royal Court theatre.

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Theme: Theater
Dress Code: Casual. So dark you won't notice anyway!
Phone: 0 20 7229 0706
Address: 11 Pembridge Road W11 - over the Prince Alfred pub
Directions: Notting Hill Gate tube
Website: http://www.mynottinghill.co.uk/nottinghilltv/theat

Nightlife Spot: The Grapes

Gentrification has caught up with the old dockland district of Limehouse - once London's Chinatown but no more - but gentrification has changed the Grapes but little. You are more likely to be rubbing elbows with a City trader or a politician than a real gawblimey cockney, but you can still sit at the back of one of London's most traditional pubs and watch the river go by.

The boats are pleasure craft now, and the warehouses are now replaced by the glittering skyscrapers of Canary Wharf.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Address: 76 Narrow Street, E14
Directions: Limehouse or Westferry stations on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)

Nightlife Spot: The Jazz Café

A classy jazz venue which boasts the choice of either dining (in the gallery) or standing (but not just sitting for some reason). Quite expensive food for what it is, but the acts are of the best. The music is often with a Latin-American flavour.

Run by Mean Fiddler, who also promote many of the major UK music festivals.

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Theme: Live Music
Phone: 0 20 7916 6060
Address: 5 Parkway NW1
Directions: Camden Town tube
Website: http://www.meanfiddler.com/mf/mf_html/pages/jazz_c