Here is your 48 Hour Guide to London, England from your local Charlie Higgins. You can follow Charlie by clicking on his name or any names of his recommendations below.
Cafés
Monmouth Coffee, Seven Dials
All carnage here, tiny shop, no space, but the best coffee around. A couple of tiny tables on the mezzanine if you can call it that. There’s one tiny bench outside all the patrons fight over, which always gets the sun coming through the high rises. A very sweet, innocent, but incredible café.
Hoxton Holborn Hotel
Not a cafe, but great for early morning coffee/breakfast meetings at the Hoxton Holborn Hotel. I love this place, Danish furniture, loads of copies of National Geo in case you get board waiting for your meeting to kick off. Food’s pretty decent too. Very rarely spend less than 4 hours here, it’s very easy to get settled in.
All Press, Dalston
Similar roots to Monmouth, starting very innocent, and now through the pure quality of coffee, they’ve moved their tiny roastary from Shoreditch a big boy, a little further out to Dalston. The new café is beautiful, a huge conservatory, visuals of the roasters out back as you order, and there’s always a load of dogs in the café which is a bonus point.
Restaurants
Hawksmoor, Seven Dials ££
I think you’ll struggle to find a better recipe for a restaurant. The waiters are so cool, you wish you were them. The drinks are so good, you’re washing them down like water. The food is insane, you order too much to physically fit on the table, and then because you simply cannot not order a dessert after quaffing down 1kg of tomahawk.Take my money. And they do way too often.
The Shed, Notting Hill ££
One brother’s the GM, one’s the chef and ones the farmer. Their wines are from their parents vineyard in Sussex, the furniture is all made from broken equipment from their farm, or trees that have naturally fallen. Herbs are foraged from a few London parks. English tapas meets fine dining, but very relaxed. Fantastic concept and food is outstanding.
Homeslice, Seven Dials £
20 inch pizzas to share, the best I’ve ever had. Wines by the magnum, great beer. Super slick service, blaring hip hop at all times of the day. Up to a 2 hour wait on a Monday which says it all.
Bars
Happiness Forgets, Hoxton ££
Consistently winning awards, previously top 5 in best bar in the world. Opened around 8 years ago and most of the same team are still there, hence the reason why they’re so good. Fantastic innovation with their cocktails, incredibly consistent too.
Ain’t Nothing But The Blues, Soho
A shoebox blues bar tucked between Carnaby and Regent St. They always have at least 3 great live bands every day so no matter what time you rock up, you’ll always catch something. Drinks are pretty average but the atmosphere always makes it worthwhile.
Beaufort Bar, The Savoy £££
This place is mint. Completely flawless every time. But get ready to re-mortgage that rented shoebox flat you have. However, it’s worth it for a special occasion. Try to catch the bartender out with an obscure cocktail that hasn’t been made in a decade and he’ll deliver it better than you’ve ever had.
Hotels
Hoxton Hotel – Shoreditch ££
Incredibly good value considering it’s a great all rounder bang in the middle of Shoreditch. The Café/restaurant/bar downstairs is a great meet up point with friends before you go and and try the many things the East End has to offer.
The Ned/Soho House – CBD £££
Soho House’s latest venture in Bank. It’s the Bank of England old building, so it’s got a load of different rooms/lounges/restaurants to suit all. The downstairs lounge is my personal favourite as it’s slightly quieter. Certainly enough in this venue to keep you staying for a while.
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