O perfil de NW3liberal

my favourite place in Hampstead. the coffee is stellar. i like the communal table idea and lots of free papers. food is good - particularly the boiled eggs but also sandwiches (ask for the home ketchup sauce). can be overrun with yummy mums and kids...

The Apollo is a reasonably intimate venue - the almost baroque interior seems recently restored, and the furniture and paintwork has been touched up. The bar, the American Airlines Bar, is pretty crammed - stuck downstairs in a stale-smelling basement. And the sponsorship by AA( the Easyjet of transatlantic flying) is not exactly glamorous: better get a drink elsewhere.

The seating is not particularly comfortable but there is at least some leg room (in the Stalls seats). A welcome innovation is a central aisle which makes access to seats in the middle of a row much easier.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is a fantastic restaurant - it fully deserves five Qype stars plus the Michelin star it has been awarded. The decor is sexy and exciting - lots of red leather and dark woods, with an Asian-influenced feel. It's dark, atmospheric space and there's quiet, unobtrusive music playing. The service (I disagree with the previous reviewer) was excellent - they staff were attentive, polite and helpful. We sat at the bar on the ground floor and enjoyed the delicious pre-theatre menu (we had 3 wonderful courses in about an hour). The set price (chose between 2 or 3 courses) includes a half bottle of mineral water and your choice of tea or coffee: this was a nice touch. With a glass of fine wine each we paid a shade over 50 pounds each. The seats at the bar let you enjoy the 'pre-theatre' of watching the mise en place of the various dishes currently under preparation. Waiters were unobtrusive but happy to explain what was going on and describe whatever we could see being cooked. We are certainly going to return for the seven course tastings menu.

The food, even for the pre-theatre menu, was exquisite and innovative. The portions small but not mean. Try it - you wont be disappointed.

Sikelia is a great place for a quick, tasty snack meal in Southfields or to pick up a few Italian goodies for dinner (great range of pastas, cheeses, cold cuts, breads and sauces). Their coffee is superb and the staff are friendly and fun. In the summer you can sit outside on the street under an awning. It's seconds from Southfields tube and it you're driving you can normally find somewhere to park nearby.

SOAS is one of London's top universities - famous for its specialization in the Orient (despite Edward Said's infamous critique) and Africa, and for its politicized student body. SOAS Language Centre accepts independent students and teaches everything from Arabic to Zulu with classes in the evenings and at weekends. The bookshop (just inside the Brunei Gallery) is a great place to pick up a copy of the Ibn Khaldun or to browse the latest post-modern histories of Chinese society. Most of the university is closed to tourists or visitors but you can wonder through and get a feel for the place.

Andrews sells a huge selection of kitchen equipment, cleaning stuff, gardening tools and products, candles, and much more. It's a good place to find odds and ends that you might need for a spot of gardening or DIY and saves a trip to Homebase. Staff are friendly and helpful. Prices are fair and sometimes undercut Tesco's across the street. Anyway, it's important to support independent shops - use them or lose them!

The BFI Southbank (the rebranded name for the old National Film Theatre) shows classic and art house films, British and foreign, on its three popcorn-free cinema theatres. The BFI is part of the Southbank Centre and is housed in a concrete monster on the edge of the Thames. The BFI runs both the London Film Festival and the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Within the BFI Southbank is a bar and cafe (food isn't great but it's a fun place, and is pretty cheap, to meet for a snack before or after a film). There's a great second hand book stall on the banks of the Thames by the BFI, under the arches of Waterloo Bridge.

The Hayward Gallery - newly rebranded as The Hayward - is part of the Southbank Centre which includes the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal National Theatre and the British Film Institute. The 'brutalist' concrete architecture of the centre still divides critics - and its certainly not very welcoming on a gray, rainy British day. Still, the gallery space is very large and hosts several rotating exhibits a year. Well worth a visit.

Nearest tubes are Waterloo or Embankment.

London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts is housed in the beautiful Nash House on the Mall, opposite St James Park and minutes walk from Trafalgar Square. There’s a couple of cinema screens, a theatre, and a small but funky bar area (expect trendy arty types but it’s a relaxed, casual place). Some evenings there are club nights. The gallery space hosts rotating exhibits and in the foyer is a bookstall stocking a range of art and arty publications. Admission is required (for non-members) even to visit the bar but it’s 2 quid mid-week and 3 pounds at weekends (with discounts for the usual concessions).

East Dulwich Deli aka EDD is not cheap but their range is exciting, fresh and tasty. They stock great organic breads, salads, cold cuts and cheeses, as well as everything you need for a picnic. Staff can be surly but perhaps that's because they're often rushed off their feet with long queues. Very popular around Christmas with people buying organic turkey. Apparently they now have a concession in Harrods.