Sample gourmet fast food, New York-Taiwanese-Japanese style. Flesh & Buns specialises in hirata buns, a US take on Taiwanese street food popularised by New York’s über-cool Momofuku Noodle Bar and now wildly popular in Japan. Folded Chinese-style fluffy buns are brought to the table for diners to stuff with their choice of succulent meaty fillings. With funky waiting staff and loud music rocking out, this is much more than just a pit stop for a refuel.
Go south for Balkan delights – south London, that is. Peckham already has some of the best-rated bars in London and a thriving art scene, and now there’s another reason to head down to SE15 – this great pop-up caff. The menu is simple and full of well-priced treats prepared using Turkish, Greek, Albanian and Iranian recipes. Your tastebuds will transport you to another world.
Dine on great Japanese food that no one else knows about. Blink and you’d miss Kirazu – it doesn’t even have a sign over the door – but those in the know come here for the kind of food you rarely get outside Japan. Communal tables and bare lighting give the place a hip canteen feel, while chef Yuya Kikuchi serves up small plates themed around obanzai – simple, delicious Kyoto home cooking – plus ramen and daily specials like the Osaka street food takoyaki, griddle-fried battered octopus balls.
Ever tried authentic Peruvian home cooking? Now’s your chance! One of Time Out’s best-rated recent reviews, Emanuel takes up a cosy basement space in the unlikely setting of Walworth, south London. There’s an emphasis on fresh ingredients and authentic preparation, with a friendly family welcome. Oh, and the lively atmosphere is made even more jolly by the fact that the tasty three-course lunch only costs £7.
Ever fancied living the life of a Victorian gentleman? Well you can experience it, for a little while at least, at this quirky bar on Upper Street, decked out as if it were the cosy, elegant sitting room of a 19th-century explorer. Just opened this autumn and already garnering stylish regulars, H&P shakes a great cocktail, too.
Raise a glass to the finest mixology that’ll warm you through the winter in this Peruvian pop-up, serving lovingly prepared pisco sours on Thursday nights up to Christmas. Promising ‘fun, food and cocktails’, Señor Ceviche transforms Dukebox on the Fulham Road into a palace of Peruvian pleasure, with four-course feasts for £25 and live bands and DJs until 2.30am.
For those of us who believe a cocktail should be enjoyed in a setting that matches the care, attention to ingredients and sense of pure fun in the drink itself, Callooh Callay is the perfect destination. Choose from an imaginative cocktail menu while enjoying the curious modern-east-London-goes-Victoriana of the front bar, the quieter discretion of the lounge (marvellously, accessed through the wardrobe doors) and the pop-up curiosities in the Upstairs Bar.
Hit the best basement bar in town. Dabbous is one of the hottest and most innovative dining addresses right now, but don’t let that distract you from Oskar's Bar downstairs – a must-visit destination in its own right. Cocktails are mixed with great imagination, premium spirits and gorgeous natural ingredients like birch tree sap. Yes, really!
Dress smart, think smart. Causing a big buzz in the autumn exhibition season, this major retrospective of the work of British fashion legend Paul Smith at the Design Museum reveals the inspirations and creative process of one of our greatest style exports. Funny, exciting and insightful, the exhibition even includes a faithful recreation of his mad, crammed little office. Nov 15-Dec 31.
Send flowers to someone special – by pedal power. Tapping into the current trend for getting around town on two wheels, Petalon is an exciting new, eco-friendly service based in east London, delivering as far west as Hyde Park. There are two seasonal bouquets every week, each priced at £20 including delivery by hand to your chosen recipient. Far more exciting than a van drop-off, plus £2 from each sale goes the charity Capital Bee. All month.
Enjoy a lie-in and still get the best of hip east London. Columbia Road flower market and its neighbouring independent shops are usually only to be enjoyed by those who can get up super-early on Sunday. But now, for trendy shoppers who are a little more nocturnal, the shops and stalls are open until 9pm on the last four Wednesdays before Christmas. Browse for funky one-offs from art to fashion and take in some seasonal cheer with food from local restaurants, mulled wine and live music. Nov 27, Dec 4, 11 & 18.
Get something truly original from local London craftspeople and upcoming artists and designer-makers, whether it’s for yourself or for Christmas presents, at this popular seasonal pop-up at Craft Central. They run courses and workshops all year round at their studios off Clerkenwell Green, but in summer and winter there are brief opportunities to buy works direct from the people who made them. Open late on Thursday November 28 and Friday November 29. Nov 28-Dec 1.
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