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Penny Blood's Black Book - My Independent Guide to London
www.pennybloodsblackbook.com
5
Penny Blood's eclectic collection of favourite places in London to drink coffee, eat cake, have tea, eat out, buy clothes, watch movies, kill time, read Voltaire, quote Baudelaire and write this blog.
#248479 in All

Coffee@Bricklane

Coffee@Bricklane was one of the first of this type of cafe, I mean the homey, cluttered type which encourages people to read magazines and stay for hours. A home away from home so to speak, an idea w...

17 may 12

Market Cafe

I like everything about Market Cafe except for the type of food. It’s not bad, in fact the asparagus risotto I had was delicious. It’s just that I find it over-complicated, every option seemed well, ...

16 may 12

Chase & Sorensen

Chase & Sorensen is as stylish a cafe as you’ll find anywhere. It’s my friend Jane’s favourite which made it a must visit for me and I was suitable impressed. I absolutely love...

15 may 12

Arcola Theatre Bar

So since it was a nice sunny Saturday we thought that we would go for a drink in Dalston or De Beauvoir Town then maybe get some dinner. Could we hell. These days don’t even bother going out on...

13 may 12

The Hemingway

I think it would be hard to find a better pub than the Hemingway. First and foremost they totally understand the concept of background music. They generally play 1920′s jazz – it’s perfect, tot...

12 may 12

Zealand Road Coffee

I discovered Zealand Road Coffee when I was looking through a magazine sticking post-it notes on all the pages of articles I must read later when I came across something on Zealand Road Coffee. ̵...

11 may 12

Dalston Superstore

There is one thing that London lacks and that’s dive bars. That’s the only thing I would say New York has over London, dive bars. Dalston Superstore is dive-bar-esque in style at least, with exposed ...

09 may 12

Coffee @ Gos

So my friend was telling me that when he was looking to move house he found a place on Goswell Road that was pretty good yet not perfect. So he went across the road to Coffee @ Gos to think about it....

09 may 12

Blitz Cafe

Blitz Cafe is slightly off the main thoroughfare of Brick Lane and is definitely my favourite cafe in the area. Part of a vintage department store (as it calls itself) they don’t serve food jus...

08 may 12

Coffee Circus

Coffee Circus is definitely a favourite of Crouch End locals. These photos were taken about 5 minutes after it opened and I still didn’t manage to get a people free shot but it’s probably...

02 may 12

Borough Market

So as you can see I had trouble ‘editing’ my photo selection here, so I just thought ‘to hell with it I’ll put them all up’, although I definitely couldn’t be both...

01 may 12

Gossip Cafe

Gossip is a cute little cafe selling a variety of tea and vegan cakes which if you’re not into eating dairy are pretty damn good, especially their Bakewell tarts. I would come here more often i...

30 apr 12

Hurwundeki Café

Ever since it first opened, Hurwundeki has been one of my favourite cafes. I had been a big fan of their boutiques which sold a great selection of vintage and their own label (unfortunately they only...

27 apr 12

Word on the Water – The London Bookbarge

When it comes to buying a new book I’m afraid that I generally buy it on Amazon. I know it’s bad as Amazon will just take over, put everyone else out of business and then hike their price...

26 apr 12

The Fox

Despite the fact that Shoreditch is a haven of restaurants I still always struggle to find somewhere to have dinner. There are great places for breakfast and lunch and lots of cheap places for vietna...

25 apr 12

A.Gold

A.Gold is straight out of a Victorian picture book. With large jars of old fashioned sweets, Eccles cakes, fruit cake, Battenberg cake and toffee in beautiful tins it’s heaven for any tourist v...

23 apr 12

Mouse & de Lotz

Hell today was an early one. The only way to get half decent photos is to get up really early and be there when a place opens, even then it’s likely some nut is up drinking their coffee at 8.30...

22 apr 12

Canton Arms

Ok so I’m slightly bias towards the Canton Arms as one of my favorite people works here but I can still honestly say that it’s absolutely great. Being the best place in the area by a long...

21 apr 12

Riding House Cafe

Riding House Cafe is gorgeous. It’s very civilised for central London and reminds me a lot of Pastis in New York without the nauseating British ex-pat vibe they have there. You know they say th...

20 apr 12

Maison d’etre

I hate public transport at rush hour so I always cycle whatever the weather. I discovered Maison d’etre as I used to park my bike outside on my way to work and would look in the window wishing ...

18 apr 12

e5 Bakehouse

I love the fact that I live somewhere where I can go and get fresh bread in the morning and yes I do occasionally do this, it makes me feel very continental. The e5 Bakehouse make the most delicious ...

17 apr 12

The Bones of My Hand – A Show about Skeletons

I don’t remember seeing a show I liked as much as this one. I’m hard to please when it comes to art, at best I find most of what I see mediocre, I cringe every time I overhear someone say...

16 apr 12

Dalston Lane Cafe

Dalston Lane Cafe is a caff in the proper sense of the word. Greasy spoon style ( I say style as it’s definitely up there with the best of the caffs), with nice little wooden tables, chequered ...

15 apr 12

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs keep it nice and simple. The cafe itself is spacious with plenty of tables, exposed brick and a counter full of pastries and filled croissants. I discovered it...

14 apr 12

Toff’s

Toff’s is what Muswell Hill is famous for. They serve the kind of fish and chips which even though I rarely eat fish and chips, well not since I was fifteen anyway, I crave unbelievably when I&...

13 apr 12

Arch 389

This is such a good retro furniture shop. I was in need of an ergonomic chair for my desk as the one I have is one of those little french cafe style chairs which frankly are damn uncomfortable over a...

12 apr 12

Happy Kitchen

I love the area where I live, it has a little bit of everything and the choice is brilliant. I still have my favourites though and the Happy Kitchen is one of them and definitely my favourite place t...

11 apr 12

The Cake Hole

Hidden at the back of Vintage Heaven, a vintage china shop on Columbia Road, is the perfect English tearoom. Then again that is the look they’re going for; a perfect English tea room. This was in fac...

10 apr 12

A Little Of What You Fancy

A Little Of What You Fancy is a gem of a place. It has no signage (other than a sandwich board) and a very unassuming entrance, it’s definitely gained popularity through word of mouth rather th...

09 apr 12

Prufrock Cafe

You could say that Prufrock Cafe is the ultimate coffee shop. The reason being that it is owned by Gwilym Davies, officially the world champion barista. Now I’m no expert on coffee but I can te...

08 apr 12

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