Despite the fact that Londonist’s favourite London tapas bar - Laxeiro - wasn’t vending, Tapas Fantasticas at the Old Truman Brewery presented a delicious opportunity to sample some of the best tapas in London as well as some especially gorgeous tapas from the Rioja region of Spain. To wash all those tasty tapas down, about 20 wineries from Rioja were kindly on hand with an impressive range of vino – from perky whites to......

As if you crazy kids required yet another reason to rub elbows on hipster row (aka Brick Lane), Tapas Fantasticas 2008 will be on this Saturday and Sunday at Ely’s Yard round the back of the Old Truman Brewery. Dubbed a celebration of Spanish food, wine and lifestyle, this free fiesta might be just the happening to get you in the mood for Sunday night’s Spain v Germany Euro final. From noon to six,......

Do you dread walking down Brick Lane because of the torrent of curry touters? Well fear not ASBOshave started being handed out to persistent touters! Who knew! As well as wasting time, facebook has proved it has it's worth by helping to catch a diamond thief in Ilford. If you were wondering why you were kicked offStreatham Common on Sunday, it's because a WWII grenade was being removed! Now we've nicked off with Boris,......

The reward for the extensive queuing outside of Rough Trade East last night was a set of deliciously dirty tunes by London-based duo the Kills. Their equipment wasn't on their side, and a finicky drum machine meant we didn't get to hear more than the first 30 seconds of "U.R.A. Fever," but there were still plenty of raucous riffs and electronic blips to satisfy. Rough Trade has never felt more eerie than it did......

You think you know it, a row of Indian restaurants, the Truman Brewery, hip boutiques and graffitti. But you don't know Brick Lane, fully until you've had a proper tour of this rich and fascinating part of east London. Enter the new Brick Lane walk by Soundmap, a high quality downloadable audio tour by the team who made the Sweeney Todd walk earlier this year. Narrated by novellist and former Brick Lane local Tarquin......

A series celebrating the talent of our friends over in the Londonist Flickr pool who make our site look pretty with their fabulous photographs. Here, they introduce themselves and share their favourite London shots. This picture was taken in July 2006, just over a year before the New Piccadilly café closed. I was hovering outside taking the picture, when the owner Lorenzo Marioni burst out of the door, and surveyed Denman Street as if he......

Lovvers at Stag and Dagger The inaugural Stag and Dagger took place last night around Shoreditch, bringing out artists, film makers, and tons of bands. Londonist took on the challenge of trying to determine just how much we could pack into a six hour space. We started our evening early at Black Rat Press to see, appropriately enough, the works of French street artist Blek le Rat (Londonist had the priveledge to see him in......

We've got to be honest with you, we're not particularly keen on The Guillemots; they make us kind of itchy and we want to reach into the television and give them a good shake. But if you are (and we recognise people do seem to like them quite a lot), then you're probably be very excited to find that they're playing a live club date this Saturday night at the relatively small 93 ft......

It’s a common myth that Londoners get the best of everything: we don’t. Only 65% of the capital’s parents are getting their first choice of school for their sprogs. As opposed to 87% elsewhere. Neasden’s glorious Hindu temple wins the inaugural Pride of Place award. Rada best look to its laurels as a new acting school is coming to town. A Bollywood academy is to open in Ealing. Padded lamp-posts are being trialed in......

It's officially Spring and by Pisces it's lovely out there in the sunshine. Crocuses have been spotted in Highbury Fields so our biggest recommendation for expenditure light trips this week is get to the parks and into the gardens and witness the miracles of the changing seasons. If you're in need of more artificial stimulation, however, and are squirrelling all your spare cash into your ISA before the end of the tax year then......

A night of beatboxing sponsored by Becks Vier is unfolding this Thursday at the Vibe Bar's new upstairs lounge. Human beatbox Shlomo will be performing with his awesome sounding Vocal Orchestra, in what should be the largest group of beatboxers ever assembled on one stage in Britain. This is an invite-only affair, but the organisers have kindly sorted us with a spare few tickets for Londonist readers. To get your hands on one of......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. M Manzes 87 Tower Bridge Road SE1 4TW 020 7407 2985 Nearest Tube: Borough Mon: 11am - 2pm Tue-Thurs: 10.30am - 2pm Fri: 10am - 2.30pm Sat: 10am - 2.45pm Expect to Pay: Between £2.70 and £4.90 for pie and mash, £3.20 for eels and mash. Rating: 9 out of 10 Ahh traditional London fare. Food born out of......

Even on its quietest weeks, London is something of a happy haven for bibliophiles such as ourselves, though we may be doing nothing more than perusing one of the city’s many lovely bookshops. This week, however, we’re in a veritable book geek heaven, as the London literary scene goes all glittery, playing host to some major names and fantastic events, leaving us tongue-tied and weak at the knees. Do we gush? Very well then,......

Is it just us or was January rubbish? Nice then that February, with its special extra day this year, commences with Brazilian Carnival, yummy pancakes and Chinese New Year... it's like a whole new start for 2008 and lots of it totally FREE! Monday: Get some Monday Love at the Inspiral Lounge, Camden Lock as UK Indymedia host their radical film, talk, and music night. Free entry for all those who still believe in......

We really didn't know what to expect. An invitation from one of the participating students brought us here, but since Fine Art shows have been the most disappointing part of months of degree shows on Brick Lane over the last couple of years, our hopes weren't high. Some of it was disappointing with works that were either lacking in visual merit, or others which showed promise with their presentation of clever ideas but were......

Artist Phil Corbett's 'Erotic Terrors of the Deep' opens next week at Brick Lane's Bodhi Gallery. Yes, get excited but not in that kind of way. According to Phil, "the show isn't really that erotic, I was just being provocative to get people in, because, as we all know, sex sells." The exhibition will document "the extremely sexy denizens of the deep that live out their naughty lives deep under the sea, away from......

Right, this sounds like it's going to be very messy in an attempt to get in, but Radiohead fans - listen up! The band have just announced a mini gig tonight at Rough Trade East. Here are the details direct from their site: So, we've got a small gig tonight. It's in London at the Rough Trade East shop on Brick Lane, and we're planning to play a short set of in rainbows material.......

Right, so you're either saving up to blow the last of the December salary on one helluva NYE out or you're just stony broke after Christmas/sales shopping. Either way, unless you're happy to simply hibernate for the week here are some ideas for New Year jollity on a budget. New Year's Eve: Follow our top tips and gird your loins for the massive fireworks display along the Thames, focusing on the London Eye and......

To be honest the rain and coldness is kind of making us not want to go to gigs at the moment, preferring instead to wrap ourselves up warmly at home. But if we did, this is what we'd be bouncing at. Monday: The biggie tomorrow is of course Led Zep at the O2, but you've more chance of meeting Santa than getting tickets for that. So instead, forget the dinosaurs and try something new......

After an extended holiday, Saturday Cinema Summary is back, courtesy of James Bryan... This week Ridley Scott makes a bid to join the hallowed greats of gangster films with American Gangster, the naked pixelated form of Angelina Jolie drips in gold in Beowulf and Brick Lane gets the film treatment. American Gangster seems to have all the ingredients of an instant classic, even the title smacks of definitive greatness. Throw in the setting of......

Barry George launches second appeal against his conviction as Dando killer. Remember that plane at Heathrow, which lost its wing tip in a collision? Well, it flew 24 hours later with the wing tip still missing. Perfectly safe, though, apparently. 'Brick Lane' premiers in London amid controversy. Rubbish charging is...rubbish, thinks Mayor. Wandsworth prison starts a homework club for children of inmates. "OK son, remember to bring your chisel and metal file next week,......

As reported last week, Monday should see you going crazy to hear that one good song (are there others) by Peter Bjorn and John at the forum. More importantly make sure you get there in time to see support act Those Dancing Days. We caught them at Water Rats on Saturday and are pleased to report they combine cuteness and moodiness with alarming grace. The much loved Beirut play an instore at Rough Trade......

Andre the Giant has a posse, or so the story goes. Hip to our lingo? Then you may already know that "arch manipulator, scoundrel, chief propagandist, provocateur" and global phenom artist Shepard Fairey's NINETEENEIGHTYFOURIA is opening this Friday at the Old Truman Brewery. This show, the largest ever solo exhibition of Fairey's art, is the handy work of StolenSpace gallery. Haven't a clue what a dead professional wrestler of gigantic proportion has to do......

Just in time for Halloween, global dark art peddlers, Strychnin Gallery, opened its East London doors Friday night with the “Kings and Queens and Childhood Dreams” exhibition. The show, which still runs for at least a few more weeks, features the works of dozens of artists from throughout the world. Much of the exhibition’s subject matter has a creepy and somewhat sinister edge. By “childhood dreams,” we assume they mean nightmares, creatures under the......

Meet Language. Based in East London (but not defined by it!), they've chosen their myspace category to be "melodramatic popular song", are obsessed with falafel, like dressing in black, have a song called "Theme for a Porno", record on Hornsey Road and were screwed out of a producer by Kate Nash. They're not bitter mind. We were going to tell you our favourite song but having just listened to them all again on myspace......

If you happened to stroll into Room 420 of the Trafalgar Hotel during the recent Bridge Art Fair, then your eyes were treated to some excellent art exhibited by the ‘low brow to high brow’ cool kids from Strychnin Gallery. With locations in New York and Berlin, it was probably only a matter of time before Strychnin set up more a permanent camp here. Luckily for us, that time is now. Strychnin is opening......

The breathlessly international Bicycle Film Festival is seven years old this year and it is rolling into London with a string of cool films and even cooler parties and exhibitions, from Wednesday 17 October to Sunday 21 October. Films about two-wheel transport range from modern-day radicalism in Canada to gruelling fundraising cycle hikes over the Alps, from the factory floor in America to changing lives in Ghana, a helmet-camera tour of several international cities......

London Street Art 2 is the sequel to, well, erm, London Street Art. The pocket sized book chronicles some of the more interesting graffiti from the past year. We asked photographer Alex MacNaughton about his latest collection of images - many, like the shot above, show street art that has since vanished. Warning: Some readers may find his comments about Flickr disturbing. There's no 'about the author' on the book, so tell us a......

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......

For a publisher based on Broadway, New York, The Little Bookroom seems obsessed with the pockets of oddness that permeate our city. A few years back, they published City Secrets London, a bumper book of anecdotes about the capital. Their latest guide The Traditional Shops and Restaurants of London does exactly what it says on the tin. Literally, given the vintage canister that forms the jacket design. The 300-page book is about the size......