I Heart Soho Theatre - Comedy & Drinks : LOCAL LOVES

Hi everyone, happy Friday! TGIF indeed. I can never work out how four day weeks feel longer than five day weeks?? But thank the lord, Friday is here, the weekend is upon us and drinking shall be done! And as a London blogger I feel it is my duty to make some suggestions for your weekend festivities...

Soho has got to be one of my favourite places in London. Yes, Hampstead Heath is stunning and Buckingham Palace makes you proud to be British, but nothing is quite as exciting as Soho. Jam-packed full of little restaurants, bars, performance spaces, creative agencies and the odd naughty shop, it is a hive of constant activity and inspiration. It’s also where the wonderful Mojo was set which I blogged about back in November.

Neon on the ceiling of the Soho Theatre Bar

And nestled in these busy streets is the Soho Theatre. It’s only a few steps away from the West End but this theatre could not be more different to the ones you find along Shaftesbury Avenue. Sitting on Dean Street, this neon lit haven for London creatives hosts plays, comedy (lots of Edinburgh Fringe warm ups), music, cabaret, drag queen bingo....y’know, the usual. AND it has a brilliant bar.

It’s a favourite watering hole of mine so I often just pop in for a beverage even when I’m not seeing anything. The atmosphere is constantly changing as people head off to a show or come in excitedly chatting about what they've just seen. And if you’re an E4/BBC Three geek like me you may also spot the odd famous face amongst the pint swiggers....

But this week I was not there for the pints – I was there to see Nick Helm.....and then for pints. For those of you who don’t know of Nick, he is the ‘human car crash of light entertainment’. His words, not mine. He’s a singer-song-writer, actor, comedian type person thing. He’s blooming hilarious and I first came across him in Uncle which was on BBC Three recently. It’s a cracking combo of comedy and riotous rock songs. My friend Emma and I loved the show so when we saw that he was trying out material for his next BBC affair we grabbed tickets and popped it in the diary. 

However, it turns out that the Nick of Uncle is not the true Nick - he's much more scary when he does stand up! His act is very angry and shouty...and all done in a husky growl. Think sex line meets anger management meets comedy. That is Nick Helm. It was a hilarious hour but boy did we need a drink afterwards! So we happily skipped down to the bar for a medicinal gin and tonic or two.

We caught up on on life (Emma recently got married and is moving house and is working on an incredible new blog - busy lady!) and gossiped. We talked lots about our respective blogs and the various merits of Blogger versus WordPress. What do you guys think?

And then to walk off the gin we went for a wonder through the streets before heading home. Emma doesn't spend a lot of time in Soho so I pointed out a few of my faves and you might like them too....

FOR DRINKS

Dean Street Townhouse - a little on the pricey side but if you can snag a table outside under the heaters it's the most brilliant place to sit and watch the world go by.

Urban Tea Rooms - I'm a massive tea fan so anywhere that mixes earl grey with gin is a winner in my books.

El Camion - walk through the restaurant and down the stairs. You'll find a mexican drinking den with tequila done the proper way with spicy tomato chaser shots.

FOR FOOD

Rosa's - a no-frills thai restuarant that does a mean pad thai.

Pix - a tapas bar that does it the traditional way. A help-yourself bar of spanish delights with either short or long cocktail sticks in. Short costs £x, long costs £y. You pop them all into a pot on your table and count them up at the end to pay. 

Bob Bob Ricard - a swanky restaurant where each table has a 'champagne button' - just press it and champers arrives!

FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE

Barrio Central - for when 'a couple of drinks' morphs into 'going out-out'.

Let me know if you'd like blogs on any of these places! Soho is full of little treasures. 

xXx

Bedford & Strand, central London drinks with a difference : LOCAL LOVES

“I know this great little place...”

I don’t know about you but I feel ultra cool when I get to say that. “I know this great little place....”. Well gang, I do indeed know a great little place so I thought I’d share!

I went for a drink with some pals last week to gossip about discuss newly acquired jobs, job changes and our career aspirations. We wanted somewhere fun and buzzy, but quiet enough to conduct our very important chats.  I knew just the place.

Hidden just of the Strand, Bedford & Strand is a secret Central London treasure. When you find yourself bobbing around Zone 1, surrounded by chain restaurants and crowded cocktail bars this is the ideal place to steal away to. The Guardian hits the nail on the head, describing it as "A neighbourhood bar in an area without a neighbourhood." Just skip down these inconspicuous stairs and leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind. 

Ideal for a date or catching up with friends, this dark wood and hops-covered bar is a Londoner’s heaven. Full enough to show its popularity but spacious enough to always find a cosy table or bar stool, this has been a fave of mine since I moved to the Big Smoke many moons ago. Many an evening has been spent propping up the bar, putting the world to rights and laughing uproariously. 

It’s known primarily for it’s cracking wine selection (which you can buy by the glass, carafe or bottle) but for me it’s the cider. I’m a big cider fan – not in a ‘lads, lads, lads’ way, but in a country pub garden kind of way – and Bedford & Strand serve one of my absolute faves called Bolée d Armorique Cidre Brut. It is scrummy and slips down a little too easily....

And with cider you must of course have cheese. You can choose your own selection if you like but I left it up to the handsome barman to choose and he didn’t disappoint. Within minutes all that was left was de-brie....haha!

So there you have it folks - a blooming lovely bar in central London that takes you away from the madness for a little while...and into the comforting arms of cider and cheese! We had such a lovely evening and I know I'll be back again soon.

Have any of you ever been? How did you discover it? Do you have any similar places that you would recommend?

And, most importantly, please share any cheese jokes. Cheese jokes are ALWAYS funny.


xXx

London Strikes Again, All Star Lanes : LOCAL LOVES

Oh gang, I’m sorry. I’ve been gone for yonks! Life just got a bit hectic and I’ve not sat down for long enough to write. I have of course sat down at times, I haven’t been standing for weeks on end, that would be bonkers.

BUT, I’m back and while I was away I continued to photograph all the fun London things I did so have lots to tell you about – hurrah!

Shall we start with bowling? Yes, let’s start with bowling. Hands down the best spot in London Town is All Star Lanes – a 1950s throw back of underground delight. Varnished lanes, scrummy cocktails, classic diner food and retro tunes. What more could you want? Well, you could want Prince Harry to have been there:

I went with some pals of mine to the Bayswater venue, but you can also find them in Brick Lane, Holborn and Westfield Stratford too. Depending on when you go, bowling costs £6.95 to £8.95. They’re open until 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The best way to make the most of the night though is to eat there too and they often have deals that combine a meal and a game. The food is classic diner grub and doesn’t break the bank. There’s burgers, hot dogs and macaroni cheese – YUM. 

We kind of went to town with dinner.....

But obviously it's the cocktails we all go for and we couldn't resist 'The Ball' because it comes served IN A BOWLING BALL!

 

And after getting our fill we hit the lanes. Feeling cocky we opted for no bumpers. Pah, we're not kids anymore, we don't need bumpers!! Oh but Abbie, when you've had cocktails you do.... Chaos ensued. It turns out we'd all completely forgotten how to bowl. Even getting the ball to roll smoothly on the lane was proving hard but we persevered and looked pretty dapper as we did so in our bowling shoes.

 

It was very thirsty work so I got another cocktail. To ease the game along and bring out my inner-sportsman you see. I plumped for a Gin & Elderflower Julep Jar - Bombay Sapphire, elderflower, mint and apple juice. Much better than lucozade.

And by some weird twist of fate I won! I was mighty chuffed and skipped off into the night waving the score sheet aloft. Cracking stuff. All Star Lanes really is shed loads of nostalgic fun so get yourself booked in.

Seeing the King, Southwark Playhouse : LOCAL LOVES

I went to see gorgeous Max Irons in Farragut North at the Southwark Playhouse recently and it was a really brill evening.

Max, son of Jeremy Irons and Sinéad Cusack, shot into the public eye this summer in the BBC's dramatisation of Phillipa Gregory's The White Queen. I loved it and watched it religiously in that holy Sunday evening television slot.

I thought his portrayal of King Edward was very powerful (and very sexy of course!) so when I saw that he was in a play in London I snapped up some tickets with the girls straight away. Now, as you'll see from my Twitter I am a major theatre fiend and see several shows a week, for work and for pleasure, but ashamedly I had never been to Southwark Playhouse! This was the perfect opportunity and I was really excited to see the space.

The bar is really lively. I was with 9 noisy girls so we commandeered a corner to have a quick catch up before the show. The theatre is in Elephant and Castle and I would actually recommend going there even just for a drink. They're also happy to provide a home for production meetings and will reserve an area free of charge.

Now the play itself was about American politics...not really my cup of tea to be honest, but it was the casting that attracted me. Yummy Max of course, Rachel Tucker (West End star of Wicked) and Shaun Williamson (yes, Barry from Eastenders!). I was seriously impressed with Shaun, he performed with great strength and status. 

I think Max really suffered from nerves but hopefully as the run goes on he'll gain confidence and match the swagger of his character. However, the stand out performance for me was from Josh O'Connor who, after a quick glance at the programme, I realised has recently been part of the film version of Laura Wade's Posh. Posh, the play, started life at the Royal Court Theatre then transferred to the West End and had a brilliant run at the Duke of York's Theatre. I saw it twice and was gutted when it ended. But never fear - the movie will be out in 2014! But yes, Josh was brilliant. He had great comic timing and just seemed so utterly capable.

I really enjoyed my evening at the theatre - there's no frills or faff to the Southwark Playhouse, just quality theatre and a fun place to be. I'm going to go back soon as I'd love to see the space used in another way. The auditorium itself is very bare, almost industrial, and it feel like many worlds can be created in there. 

So my advice?

-  Don't be scared to go to a show that only has one element that interests you - go and see something because you fancy the lead actor, go and see something because you're intrigued by the theatre, go and see something because it's cheap!

-  Make use of theatre discounts. Lots of theatres do great deals for Under-26s - The National, The Young Vic, The Old Vic, The Royal Court. I've paid as little as £5 in the past to see some of what became my favourite shows of all time. And for those of you who are over 26 I'd recommend going during previews - previews are the public performances of a show before it's been officially reviewed by the critics. Tickets are often cheaper and you're one of the first to see the show - you're ahead of the game, kid!