The Time Out London blog

If you're a new resident to SW16, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t always fancy coffee shops, craft fairs in pubs and yummy mummies on the common. For many of us, it was the cornerstone of our childhoods. Here are just some of the things we'll have fond memories of.  Having a Megabowl party... ...with your whole class there because it was your tenth birthday and that was basically being an adult and a really big deal.      Flickr/ dusashenka     Snogging on Barcombe Avenue next to that Megabowl as a teenager... ...in the car of the mum of the boy you fancied, mainly because he could drive. Making a regular beeline to the best Woolworths in the world... ...and the biggest Woolworths for like, five miles. You still hold the memory of trying to cheat the pic’n’mix scales close to your heart. Going to Dr Doolittle’s on Streatham Hill to stare at pets you could never have...  ...because your mum was a bit skint and it was way cheaper than going to the zoo.     flickr/ Jason_Cobb     Living near London's largest ice rink... ...but never being allowed to go because it was too dangerous/you were too little/that thing happened with the blade to that kid in Year 2. Dreaming of getting a Saturday job in Sainsbury’s by the Common... ...because everyone remotely fit worked in there. It was a hotbed of teenage talent. Getting caught smoking in The Rookery garden Smoking and other activities I can't divulge. Easy access to Calpol at all times of night thanks

There's more to feasting on Chinese New Year than checking into a fancy restaurant (although, that's always nice). Chinatown is full of weird and wonderful foods you can grab for a quick bite, so here are seven you might be tempted to try this weekend. Thousand year-old eggs from 'New Loon Moon' Supermarket, Gerrard St/©What Dad Cooked                       1. Thousand year-old eggs from the New Loon Moon Supermarket Well, they're not actually that old – but this style of preserving eggs has been around since the Ming Dynasty. Curing a duck egg in a mixture of salt, tea and other ingredients for up to 50 days transforms the eggs. The whites turn a beautiful dark amber with a fragrant and jelly-like texture, the yolks are rich and creamy (and green!). Pick up a dozen at New Loon Moon. 9A Gerrard Street, W1D 5PN Racks of duck at Canton, Newport Place / ©What Dad Cooked              2. Barbecue 'duck and offal' from Canton Hanging in the windows of most Chinatown restaurants is one the world’s greatest culinary treasures – roast duck. These bronzed beauties are created after a long, complex (and often secretive) cooking process. But those aren't the only heavenly things to eat on those racks. There's barbecued chicken, pork and cuttlefish, while piled on the lower trays are – as one restaurant puts it – ‘assorted pigs' organs’. One for the gastronomically adventurous. 11 Newport Place, WC2H 7JR  Traditional rice cake from Wonderful Patisserie / ©

We've all felt the pain. The pre-Christmas payday that the finance gods expect us to stretch out for six weeks. The January sale temptations that create an emotional breakdown between inner good cops and bad cops. The detox and feel-good supermarket aisles that don’t seem to comprehend those previous two points. But hey, being Londoners means that we're smart. Like any inhabitants of an uncontrollable climate, we've learned how to adapt to our surroundings. Here are five things Londoners are regularly guilty of in times of financial strife. The 'something-free' January   A photo posted by Amy (@amyparsnips) on Jan 23, 2017 at 5:19am PST Meat, alcohol, sugar – it all comes with a price tag. Expenditures that you can’t quite justify when you’re tempted to strategically distribute the toilet roll in your flat share. But rather than risk attaining a lavatory-enforced nickname, we turn such luxuries into a fad. Dry January. Veganuary. Sugar-free January. Inspired sacrifices that give the impression we’re walking into 2017 as selfless souls. But in reality, we’re trying in vain to keep our overdrafts on our side. The Borough Market sample binge   A photo posted by 식도락 여행 (@kebinkorea) on Jan 23, 2017 at 1:41am PST It’s the weekend. We want to be social. Honestly we do. But when all your fridge can offer is a questionable potato that’s sprouting limbs and a pot of yoghurt that’s put so much effort into breeding a furry fungi family, you’re actual

There’s no getting away from it, 2016 was dire. But hopefully, things might just look up in 2017. If not, thankfully there’s a place you can head to whenever life’s rough and you’re in need of some quiet reflection: Battersea Park’s Peace Pagoda. Here’s everything you need to know about it.  Robert Lordan It was a special gift The Peace Pagoda was presented to Londoners by the Venerable Nichidatsu Fuji (affectionately nicknamed ‘Guruji’ by his close friend Mahatma Gandhi) in 1984. Founder of the Japanese Buddhist movement, Nipponzan Myohoji, Guruji stated that 'Civilisation is not to kill human beings, not to destroy things, nor make war; civilisation is to hold mutual affection and to respect one another'. Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he pledged to build pagodas worldwide as shrines to peace. The Battersea pagoda was constructed by nuns, monks and other followers of the Nipponzan Myohoji sect and was completed in 1985 just weeks after Guruji died at the grand old age of 100.  Robert Lordan It tells a story The pagoda features a series of gilt-bronze statues which represent the most significant stages of Buddha’s life; birth, contemplation leading to enlightenment, teaching and death. Although the pagoda is open to all, these statues are considered sacred (so no climbing!).  Robert Lordan It's got terrific views The pagoda is located right beside the Thames offering a panoramic view of Chelsea Embankment. The perfect place to re

Hungry and in an insane rush? Hot-foot it over to iFalafal in Petticoat Lane market on Goulston Street where this falafel wizard will you whip you up a tasty Middle Eastern snack in just 17 seconds. The street food vendor is taking fast food to new speedy heights and is getting a reputation as London’s 'falafel wrap master'. The £3 wraps come with a lightning speed addition of falafels, houmous, pickles, cucumber, lettuce, chilli sauce and tahini. They're getting such a reputation that there's even a Reddit thread called 'The Fastest Falafel Wrapper in London'. Don't believe us? Prepare to be amazed:   Still not impressed? Check this:      Hungry? Here are some more places to get some damn good falafel in London.

Andy Parsons   Evi Peroulaki 38, market stall owner and co-founder of Souvlaki Street What the hell is souvlaki? ‘It’s a Greek wrap. We use Greek pita, tzatziki, salad and either pork, chicken or halloumi.’ Why set up a street food stall? ‘Pure greed! Both Conor (my partner) and I love souvlaki, but we couldn’t find good souvlaki in London. So we turned up at our local market in Clapton one day with a disposable barbecue from Sainsbury’s to see how it went. We brought enough to make 20 wraps and they all went within an hour.’ Can anyone turn up and do it? ‘No, we had an audition with the guy who runs the market. It was a bit like “MasterChef”. After that, we started turning up every other Sunday and it got really popular.’ What's an average day for you now? ‘Early morning starts to get to the market by 8am. If I can get up at 6.30am, it’s a lie-in! Then we set up and start serving. I don’t get to sit down again until 9pm. By 10pm, I’m dead.’ How do you fit in a social life? ‘What’s a social life? We don’t have any friends any more! It’s very hard, especially in the summer because we do so many festivals. It’s like having a child: it takes every single moment of spare time you have.’ It sounds awful... ‘It’s our baby! The fact that it’s ours and we can take it in any direction we want is definitely the best thing about it. No matter how tiring it is or how much it sucks the life out of you, it’s your thing. We watch it grow every day and it makes us proud.’ Do

Theme parks: nightmare places of interminable queues, huge crowds of mardy teenagers, and £15 burgers filled with mystery meat. But take a moment to imagine this, if you will: the interminable queues have been replaced by row upon row of bottles of pinot noir. There are no rowdy youngsters, just glasses full of the finest cabernet sauvignon. And instead of dodgy food, there are gallons of delicious chenin blanc. This oenophile's wet dream is a reality, because the world's first wine theme park has just opened in the French city of Bordeaux. La Cité du Vin offers ten floors of adults-only fun, with experiences ranging from wine-tasting sessions to exhibitions on the history of wine and even a wine-merchant- themed boat ride. There are no rollercoasters, but the resulting hangovers should be able to recreate some of their effects. Want more great things in other cities? You can now get a pizza in a box made of pizza (!) in New York And there's an IMAX spin studio in New York

Bloomsbury is something of an unknown quantity. It’s hidden away, tucked among and behind all sorts of places that everyone already knows. But head to its back streets, past the busy roads and you’ll discover one of central London’s greatest treasures. Neither crazy-busy like Oxford Street, nor aggy like the City, not touristy like Covent Garden, it has all the history of Soho but, brilliantly, none of the crowds. Despite being near London’s busiest bits, Marchmont Street is one of Zone 1’s most chilled-out places to wander around and it has an amazingly rich heritage. It’s got all bases covered: art, cinema, architecture, museums, green spaces, shopping, fine food, nice pubs and cheap eats. And if you turn up on a Sunday morning you basically get it all to yourself. That rich history I alluded to earlier? The street’s full of stories: from the LGBT powerhouse Gay’s the Word (recognise it from Pride?) to Percy and Mary Shelley’s old house and the gossip-worthy goings-on of Jane Austen-era Brunswick Square, it’s basically a living museum of London. So as all the tourists head straight to the British Museum, go a little bit east and give yourself the whole day to have a proper exploration of the road that London historians call Bloomsbury’s ‘original high street’. Drink this   A photo posted by nicolondon1985 (@nicolondon1985) on Jun 21, 2013 at 4:17am PDT The Norfolk Arms runs a mean bar and also serves pata negra and soutzouki as well as modern British food a

© Nathan James Page       1. The exact-bill- divider-upper You and your work chums head out for dim sum, and eventually the bill arrives. Andy from Finance pipes up: ‘I only had one glass of pinot, and I didn’t touch the noodles.’ Dividing up the steamed dumplings, tofu skin rolls and lotus leaf rice parcels among you and seven of your colleagues is like thrusting a fully-grown Arizonian cactus up ya derrière. All because Andy foresees a personal economic meltdown if he spends a few extra pence on Donna from HR’s sticky rice. 2. The pots-of-cash-TK Maxx-weekender Kathy lives in a four-bed, three-bath, fifteenth-floor Thames-side apartment, has no comprehension of what the Jubilee line is and executes her weekly shop at Borough Market, but she’ll take up your whole Saturday dragging you round the aisles of TK’s in the hunt for a cost-effective kaftan. She’ll barter her way out of service charges, bully waiting staff for complimentary booze and wangle her way out of cancellation fees. You can take the girl out of the north-west, but not out of a 60 percent-less-than-the-RRP discount department store. © Nathan James Page   3. The daily saver, holiday splurger With Sam, it’s all voucher deals, Groupon bargains and TopTable offers; she’ll never start with an apéritif at a hyper-cool hotel or contemporary cocktail bar: ‘You can buy a whole bottle of plonk for the price of one cosmo in that gaff.’ She’ll happily bang on about P&O’s ocean-fresh lobster, the tasty p

Click for the full-sized map Everyone knows that if you ever want to get on the property ladder in London, you're going to need a helluva lot of cash. To quantify just how money we're talking about, the folks at TotallyMoney.com have put together this handy (if depressing) map, which shows the average house price, per square foot, within 0.3 miles of every London tube station. To put it into context, the average one-bedroom flat in London is about 500 square feet, so you don't need to be a mathematician to work out that Zone 1 is pretty much off-limits unless you're secretly sitting on a pile of gold. The research shows that the Hammersmith and City line is the most expensive at £1,125 per square foot, while the Metropolitan line has the cheapest average property price, at £504 per square foot. Although, it's worth bearing in mind that the Metropolitan line stretches all the way out to Zone 9, so you might save on property but you'll have a seriously long (and expensive) commute. Want more depressing property maps? This one show how unaffordable renting in London is. Here are 25 things you didn't know about the tube.