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What do Pavilion Café, magCulture, Kangnam Pocha and the Old Nun’s Head have in common? They’re places that help to make London the varied, vibrant city it is. They’re places that we, at Time Out, love. And they’re places we’ll continue to shout about, whether you like it or not.
Time Out has been putting stickers up in the windows of venues we love for decades. In the last weeks of 2024, we’ve decided to bring it back: sending out 500 stickers onto the streets of London, to celebrate the pubs, bars, museums, shops, cafés, restaurants, music venues, nightclubs and other spots making the city so great. By the end of the year, 500 excellent London venues will have been sent our seal of approval.
How did we decide what venues get that oh-so-special sticker? Well, our expert editors spend their days exploring the city (it’s literally their job), so they certainly know a thing or two about what sets places apart: quality service, a certain vibe and an experience you can’t get anywhere else.
We trawled through 2024’s newly curated lists and selected venues that stood out this year. This includes all of our new best restaurant lists – including Japanese, Thai, South Asian and Indian, Turkish, Lebanese, Caribbean, Chinese, Korean and West African – as well as our updated lists of best pubs, shops, bars, cafés, nightclubs, museums, gastropubs and music venues. We also picked out a few places from specific area guides (like Peckham, Bayswater, Hackney and Leyton), as well as a few ad hoc places which we can’t get enough of.
‘Everywhere that has a sticker is somewhere we can hand-on-heart promise is one of London’s best places to eat or drink,’ said Leonie Cooper, our food and drink editor. ‘If you see one out in the wild, immediately ditch all other plans and go directly inside. You won’t regret it.’
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‘It’s always a thrill, whenever I’m walking around an unfamiliar part of London, to spy a faded Time Out sticker from years gone by in the window of a local shop, pub or restaurant (the oldest one I’ve ever come across is from 1991, on the door of a still excellent Indian restaurant round the corner from where I now live),’ said Rosie Hewitson, things to do editor.
‘It’s a reminder that Londoners have been looking to this publication to signpost them to the finest venues that this brilliant city has to offer for longer than I’ve been alive. It is, quite simply, our whole reason for existing. This latest batch of Recommended stickers continues a great tradition, and I’m excited to spot them slowly peeling away from the windows of my favourite spots several decades from now.’
From the French House in Soho to the Castle Climbing Centre in Stoke Newington, check out the map below for a complete list of 2024 Time Out London Recommended venues. Oh, and if you see a 2024 sticker out in the wild? Do us a favour and show London’s local businesses some love by tagging us @timeoutlondon on Instagram.
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