Over the last few years it has become popular to enjoy football matches in the pub, rather than at the stadiums themselves. This is even more true of the often far-flung international summer tournaments and increasingly people want to watch each match alongside supporters who have a vested interest in its outcome. Two years ago we were one of several sites offering tips on where to go around London to watch Iran, Argentina, Ghana......

If a few months from now you’re sipping a cocktail at one of London’s trendier cocktail bars and you notice a few squishy gold flecked bubbly pearls floating around in your glass, don’t be alarmed; that’s just Cointreau Caviar. Yes, Londonist has seen (and sipped) the future of booze, and it’s ridiculously over the top, rather tasty and derived from a scientific molecular mixology process. Last night saw Cointreau’s London launch of what it......

A man rolls into a bar. Sounds like the start of a dumb joke? It’s not. Wheelchair-enabled people like going out in the evening as much as anybody. What does appear to be a joke is how difficult it can be to find info about wheelchair accessible pubs et al in London. We did a bit of online snooping and were dismayed by the lack of resources out there. What material we did come......

Doesn't sunshine make everything seem better? Alright, it's been brass monkeys but nothing lifts the winter blues like bright skies, crisp air and early daffodils. It's half term for most kids this week so your commute might even be more pleasant. In which case, perhaps you'll be more inclined to get out after work and try something different that's light on your wallet and heavy on aceness. After all, we really can't afford good......

Every day this month the Londonist team will be pointing you in the direction of a Christmas present that (with a bit of luck) you won't already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we'll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings... For the friends and family members who seem to always be busy with art exhibitions, arthouse films, dance, theatre and music of a more......

Josh Rouse might not be a well-known name, but he fills the Shepherd’s Bush Empire with ease tonight. In fact everything seems to come naturally to him, from the relaxed shuffle onstage to his casually turned-out country-pop gems. Opening the bill is Sweden’s Jens Lekman, playing a solo set except for a girl who joins to play bongos and occasional piano. Lekman’s bittersweet tales of small-town romance sparkle with lo-fi pop hooks mixed with......

Ann Widdecombe MP was arrested outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday and taken to the Clink Prison where bail was set at £35,000. The fact that she was already wearing prison uniform when she got nicked hinted at the possibility that this was a charitable stunt rather than a tabloid-topping shocker, fall from grace thriller of a crime story. Widdecombe was participating in the Jailbreak campaign to raise cash for Guide Dogs for the......

London woman embezzles 4.3 million from her (patently rather stupid) employers, eventually gets caught and sentenced to 7 years in jail, gets out after 3, gets to keep her swanky ill-gottenly gained apartment and lands a plum job in the arts (albeit for a prison charity). Lord Luck clearly rides alongside this lady. Londonist is impressed by the scope for outrage here – the outrageous sum of money she stole, the surprisingly short sentence she......

Unless there were leaves on the line, not enough station staff, delays at Paris holding everything up or industrial action on either side of the Channel, the first Eurostar train should be pulling into its new station at St Pancras this morning. We've had a sneak preview of what it's like and have been terribly excited about it so far, and at last, today, we get to see it in its full glory. We......

Last Friday’s Halloween Party at Black Pearl Boutique was a spooky retro blast. Jack-o-Lantern orange cocktails were served by a dead cheerleader and (what Londonist reckons was) a zombie prom queen. And if you’ve never had Jack-o-Lantern orange cocktails served by a dead cheerleader and a zombie prom queen, you’ll be pleased to know that they are exceptionally potent with booze. The party was also a frighteningly clever excuse for a bit of shopping:......

Yup, they go back tonight. Londonist is ridiculously cheered by this thought. A whole extra hour, magically injected into the weekend (OK, so officially it’s at 2am, but who cares). Londonist actually likes the idea so much that we think that things should go back an hour every weekend. Anyway, it’s Saturday evening, and those sixty minutes are still dangling before you. So what to do with it, eh? What to do? What can you......

Black Pearl Boutique, Carnaby Street’s “haven of rockabilly jewellery, vintage 1950’s clothing, burlesque corsets, and accessories”, is having a free Halloween party this Friday from 6.30 to 10pm. With its ‘Polynesian tiki style’ décor, the shop evokes the spirit of 1950s tiki bars and is a happening place to visit, party or not. So, the fact that complimentary Black Pearl cocktails created especially for the party will be served means this Halloween shin dig......

Postal strike continues. Maybe. Possibly. Best stick to email and reading Londonist. Skinheads with a difference in Kensington. Claridge's charge £50 for a bottle of water. Bargain. Chocolate week starts here! Celebrate by eating a Wispa bar. We like Wispa bars. Image courtesy of windscreen fly via the Londonist flickr group.......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Doughmasters 20 Charlotte Street W1T 2NA Nearest Tube: Goodge Street 020 7637 1158 10am-4.30pm (Monday – Friday) Map Expect to Pay: £3.50-£4.00 Rating: 7 out of 10 Self-described “creators of the popular rolled sandwiches,” Doughmasters differentiates itself from the multitude of London’s sandwich bars by preparing fresh dough daily on its premises. This dough is tasty stuff; we particularly......

Londonist appears to have spent all of our money on excellent but expensive gigs and over priced taxi fares this weekend. So once again, we've got no money. No, before you ask, we haven't ever heard of budgeting. We don't need to budget when there's all this exciting free stuff to be done this week: Monday: With so many other cool kid bars around in East London, the Rhythm Factory doesn't get written about......

Finding venues for Friday and Saturday's fixtures was a piece of cake compared to this! But no nation should be left out - what with the world being in union and all that. Fiji v Canada Sunday 16, 13.00 UK time from the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Canadians! Seek the Maple Leaf. Drink Molson. Forget hockey. Fijians - listen up. We have important news for you and your Polynesian rivals below. Meet us one paragraph down.........

Londonist was awfully tickled to learn of the launch of London’s very own ‘Starmap’. From this day forward, for the price of £5.95, eager tourists and starry-eyed Londoners will be able to follow in the footsteps of their fave ‘A’ list celebrities. Not only can they stalk them at home, but they can hang out, paparazzi style at the right bars and restaurants to star spot, and even re-enact bestest bits from London movies on......

It's not too late to enjoy London's outdoor events but it really has become a case of pouncing on any bit of fun going when the sun shines and hoping the rain stays away until the music stops. We've previously brought to your attention the Watch This Space festival which has been faithfully providing free outdoor performances outside the National Theatre since the beginning of July, but were frankly a bit lukewarm about it,......

Head East out of London, about as far East as you can go without falling in the water, and you will hit the sprawling conurbation known mostly as Southend-on-Sea. Most of us have been there at some stage. Whether it’s to feed the slot machines and dig holes in the beach, or to go a-cruisin’ and a-clubbin’, it has for nearly two centuries been a playground for East Londoners. And it is furthermore one......

The second of our interviews with the Tory candidates for London Mayor. Previously, Andrew Boff. Victoria Borwick is a born and bred London lass whose Mayoral campaign carries the tagline 'A red head not Red Ken'. She has 25 years of management experience and is currently a councillor for Kensington and Chelsea. She has four children, doesn't like tinny techno and knows a thing or two about Cleopatra's Needle. But does she have the......

Regular readers will know that we're fond of using photos from the Londonist Flickr pool to illustrate our posts. One of our favourite photographers is Chutney Bannister (possibly a pseudonym). His images often capture the weirder side of London Life, such as the prancing Elvi, or the Baby Messiah. Well, he's only gone and got himself a photography exhibition. Get yourself down to the frevd cafe-bar at 198 Shaftesbury Avenue tonight if you'd like......

Londonist arrived at work a few days ago to hear some distressing news: AMT, which only serves 100% Fairtrade coffee to its punters, appears to have lost the contract from Network Rail for their outlets at ten of London’s major railway stations. The company that has won the franchise in AMT’s place does not, we are told, offer any Fairtrade products. Our distress stems from the fact that not only will we be losing......

Sometimes it feels a bit like London is our very own playground. This is never more true than when Street Wars comes to town. Grab a water pistol, don a rather cool disguise and let's play! Allow us to explain. Street Wars is a three week event/game/festival of assassination silliness that you can get involved in too. It's already taken over New York and Paris and it's about to hit London. The concept is......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

We mentioned the Watch This Space festival at the National Theatre just before it started but wasn't as enthusiastic as we were last year when the summer weather was hot enough to require dispensers full of free sunscreen. With all the rain and thick grey cloud that heralded the opening of this annual outdoor performance festival, we anticipated distribution of free umbrellas and cancelled performances... But look! At the time of writing, it isn't......

It's practically a childhood rite of passage - you're playing innocently in a playground and get stuck in a swing. It doesn't have to be a swing, of course. It could be a slide, or the monkey bars or a merry-go-round. But for a 12 year old boy in Watford on Saturday, it was a swing. He was standing on a nursery swing, slipped and got stuck. How embarrassing. We're sure he was even......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 9th July 1968: The Hayward art gallery on the South Bank is opened by the Queen. Tuesday – 10th July 1958: Britain’s first parking meters are installed in Mayfair. Soon there would be 625 of them in the district, charging 6 pence per hour. Wednesday – 11th July 1848: Waterloo Station is opened. The original station would survive just 52 years until 1900, when it would be......

We like helping you pick what's for lunch. We like sharing with you what we know is going on in the world of drinking, dining, cooking and food shopping in London. But, though we try, we cannot know it all and we trust you to know your onions, know what you like and know where to get it. That element of trust has been developed, nurtured and turned into something quite special by our friends......

“We’re proud to be able to play in one of Tony Blair’s legacies to the UK” David Kay of Tiny Dancers said of their chance to be one of the first bands to play the indigo2 at the former Millennium Dome. One of the most state of the art venues in the UK Indigo2 is the smaller of two venues at the new O2 complex which comprises shops, bars and cinema as well as the......

With gay pride hitting London this weekend for its annual raunchfest of protesting, parading and partying, we thought it the right time to approach Megan Jones, promoter of Vauxhall house music mega-club FiRE, to find out what they will be getting up to. What are your plans for Pride? We've got loads on for Pride this year. Firstly we'll be participating in the parade on Oxford Street, and afterwards we'll be hosting the sound......