London: the best of

matt

the Grapes, shepherd market- any time except Friday night

the cafe in the crypt of St Martin in the Fields

the Victorian busts in the National Portrait Gallery

The S&M cafe, Islington

The long bar of the In and Out

Lord's

The Princess of Wales by Charing Cross station

Crystal Palace Park

The Stoop

The Wallace Collection

Talia

why nothing about Ray Lewis?

KB

Why not a street guide to London's ubiquitous floral tributes?

Trumpeter Lanfried

Simpsons in the Strand
The Globe Theatre
Covent Garden Market
The Shoe Lane Library
Lincoln's Inn
The gardens of Regent's Park
Pollock's Theatrical Warehouse
Cecil Court (off Charing X Rd)
Liverpool Street Railway Station
Burlington Arcade

Alex

When will the ghost of Ken Livingstone disappear? The left wing media (esp, BBC, Guardian, Indy)are still very keen to him him in the spotlight.

Frank Pulley

St Paul's cathedral: the most awe-inspiring edifice in London - both outside and in - by a City square mile.

The worst: the glass wally; a symbol of wanton & ridiculous excess - the old 'numero uno' of derision given to London's ratepayers by the newt lover aided and abetted by, first NuLab, and now its Tory occupants and Livingstone's leftovers. May it one day shatter and bury its incumbents in broken shards to preserve them forever, 'pour encourager les autres'.

The second worst: The meretricious London Eye, designed to dwarf the PoW (which is indeed currently filled with political dwarfs).

The Lure of London

What unseen magnet draws us to this mystic, murky town:
The focus of this island race?
The familiar, yet changing, face?
The myth of gold paved streets; the chance of wide renown?
Surely not its cruel history, redolent of blood-soaked mystery.

For some, the need for quick escape to anonymity;
For most a lusty craving for the thronging city street.
The means to sate each need in close proximity;
The music and movement of its syncopating beat.

Bright white stone, heraldic facias; in my youth obscured
By the residue of northern subterranean seams,
Revealed by miracle detergent. What agony was once endured
By men who shaped the face of London in their toiling teams?

Now cranes and moulded concrete tower above this ancient scene;
Grey edifices shout the message of the god excess
And craven insects scuttle through the avenues between,
As seductive billboard sirens lure them on to sour success.

Peter

Marylebone High Street (esp. Daunt's and the cheese shop);
Queens Square on a nice day with a pint from the Larder and being taught to count your blessings by the number of hospital patients out enjoying the sunshine;
The bar of Vic Naylors restaurant on St John Street (just don't eat there);
Jermyn Street;
The view from the Terrace on Richmond Hill (again, on a nice day, with a pint);
The walk home from Holy Communion at St Michael's Cornhill through the Sunday-empty City with the wonderful music still in your head;
A pleasure-boat pootling down the Thames at sunset;
The Wigmore Hall (best behaved audience in London);
Waltons Music Hall (they try so hard);
Smithfield Market.

Now can we do the ten worst?

Trumpeter Lanfried

Walton's Music Hall: Should that be Wilton's?

Verity

You should invite all the expats to name one thing in their new country that they would recommend visitors to see. Lists in foreign countries would be boring, but just one outstanding man-made might be interesting.

Peter

Trumpeter - yes, sorry. I spotted the typo after I'd sent it, but hoped I'd get away with it. Wrong again!

Peter

Just to be perverse, five from Manchester:
Portico Library;
Sam's Chop House;
"B" stand, Old Trafford, for a Roses match;
The RNCM;
Royal Exchange Theatre.

Jonathan T

The Cricketers, Richmond Green;

The National Portrait Gallery;

top floor of Smiths of Smithfield in the summer with the doors open;

The Prince of Wales, Cleaver Square, Kennington;

Somerset House summer gigs;

Hyde Park;

The Light Bar;

The Dark Horse, Camberwell;

Burlington Arcade;

Shampan, Brick Lane

molesworth 1

My partner & I have a long weekend booked in London in mid-August - I haven't been for years & she never has, so all these suggestions are fantastic! Keep 'em coming. Could posters please indicate with, say, an asterisk those destinations which are free? I know, what a cheap-skate...

Alf Tupper

Mmm yeah let's big up London - three daylight stab deaths in one week but the theatre, the music, the......

London's best feature? Mill Hill roundabout exit north.

Chris

Oval - more welcoming and better views than Lord's
Battersea Park - best park in London
Covent Garden - for a wander and a meal
Barbican - just to walk around
South Bank Centre
Brunswick Centre - not the same since the refurbishment, I'm a sucker for Brutalism
British Museum
National Potrait Gallery
Natural History Museum - best galleries/museums
Paxton & Whitfield - Jermyn Street's best shop

Play

The Wigmore Hall

St John restaurant

The Lamb, Lamb's Conduit st WC1

St Paul's

The Oval

The Globe

Chelsea Physick Garden

National Army Museum

John Soane museum

British Museum

Algy

A few from ex-MOD warriors now resident in Afghanistan:

St Clement Danes: rather gives away our Service but a delightful church with a unique charm.

Somerset House: A witty blend of the enduring and ephemeral. The best example of London's resurgence?

Gordon's Wine Bar, Villiers St: downstairs with the troglodytes in winter or outside with the summer crowd.

A superb Italian family run cafe in the East End whose name escapes me: fellow readers please help.

Lunchtime lectures in the National Gallery: refreshemnt for the soul when Whitehall gets ridiculous.

'The Belgrano': not its proper name but none of us can remember that.

The Rogue Trader: a Canary Wharf 'curry-pub', truly British multi-culturism at its best.

The Royal Academy. Sometimes a bit dull, other times a treat.

Imperial War Museum: surely the most under-rated museum in London; a clash of sense and sensibility?

The Henry VIII Wine Bar: Buried within the foundations of the MOD this is included partially for reasons of snobbish exclusivity.

canon alberic

Best:
Sir John Soane Museum
Canary Wharf Tube Station
I Camisa
The Colony
The National Gallery
Vyner Street
Libertys
The High Court
St Bartholemew the Great
The River at Night

Worst:
No 1 Poultry
Leicester Square
Berwick Street Market
Harrods
Gastropubs
Primrose Hill
The New Court at the British Musuem
The ICA
Tate Modern
Broadway Market

Craig

West End Theatres, ROH, NT, ICA, Globe Theatre, Quinto's Book Shop,
St Martins Lane, Earls Court, Barbican, Carnaby street, Camden Market, Shoreditch/Brick Lane, Greenwich Park, Royal Academy, National Gallery...Soho

Paul B

Portobello Road Market
Smithfields
Barclay Bank Park Lane-Adjacent to Hilton Hotel
Stamford Bridge
London Museum
St Pauls
Palace of Westminster
Gerkin
Westminster Underground Station
All the parks and squares

Guy Incognito

- 11 am Mass at Farm St
- Spencer House
- The Jerusalem Tavern
- Jakob's
- Sir John Soane's Musuem
- The Anglsea Arms (from October until the first sign of summer)
- Emma Willis
- Bourne and Hollingsworth
- St James's and Bond St during the Old Masters sales (this week)
- St Pancras, especially the Undercroft, but not the vile statuary

Mess Standards Officer

The Henry VIII wine cellars don't have a bar (cash or otherwise). That is a bigger giveaway of your Service than a reference to St Clement Danes.

Dirk Blade

Algy: 'The Belgrano' - Tattersall Castle?