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Quite possibly the most amazing hot chocolate I've ever had.

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Trailer Happiness, Notting Hill

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A couple of recent night-spots I've been to...

Home House is a private members club somewhere near Marylebone. I'd been out to the pub, and then to dinner, with a friend and his friends, and afterwards I thought we were headed towards one of their flats... Wasn't until we were inside and saw ceilings like the one in this dodgy iPhoto, and a large staircase, and a cosy library with a bar in it, and a big room with a dance floor, that I realised. We did a tour, and settled in to one of the lounge-rooms for some red wine. On the way out, popped onto the dance floor for a quick boogie. Fun. A little bit rah-rah. And kind-of surreal.

The Bathhouse is a restaurant/bar/club right next to Liverpool Street station, in a funny little historic building. It used to be a Turkish bathhouse (tiled), but the food isn't Turkish, it's English: I had Shepherd's pie. It's wonderfully quirky; it wasn't until after dinner that it really warmed up and the crowd piled in - it turned into a kind of burlesque, feathers and fur party, with a DJ in a bird-cage. The crowd was a mix of gay, straight, city, East-end hipsters... It was cool. Our fabulous hair-dresser took us, and it was a very funny night. When we asked the waiter what a 'Bakewell tart' was, he helpfully told us, giggling, that it's a tart that's been baked well. Haha.

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Saturday night, ventured to a tiki bar - which is a kind of cool, south pacific themed, retro, rum-cocktail, lounge bar - in Notting Hill. They have Team America wall-paper (love) and appropriately eclectic music. Glam and fun.

Trailer Happiness

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Veuve Cliquot bliss (+ bleary head)

Experimental

Cool little cocktail bar in rue saint saveur, Paris

(image via experimental)

East London Tapas

This place is cool. I just went for a drink, on a Monday night, but I'll definitely go back to eat. The food at the next table looked great, and it's got a nice vibe. It's near Old Street.

PINCHITOtapas

Crazy Bear

One of the things I love about London is going to places which you would never find on your own. A girlfriend at work has been giving me lots of great tips for little hidden gems. This one, which is in a side-street beside Tottenham Court Road, is quite fun. In the bar, there are booths/nooks padded with red leather which are quite fun to sit in. In the restaurant, you sit side-by-side rather than opposite each other, which I also quite like. It's very dark, and I've never seen such a huge menu, but it was fun. Excellent cocktails. Oh, and the food was good, but a little on the pricey side.

Crazy Bear, Fitzrovia

Pub Club

Some pubs I've been to recently:

The Windsor Castle. Great beer garden, low ceilings, proper English pub. Named because you used to be able to see Windsor Castle from the windows upstairs. It's in Notting Hill, near Holland Park.

The Angelic. High ceilings, long bar, tall glass windows, wooden benches. I went on a date here, and it was perfect... It's in Angel.

The Raven. Friendly, relaxed, good outdoor section. Good little local pub. At Stamford Brook.

BFI

There's a really great bar in the British Film Institute, at South Bank. It doesn't show up on the website for some reason, but it's cool: dark, low couches, cool crowd. At the back and around the corner there was a DJ playing, with a giant screen projecting a film. Everyone was just standing around watching, which was a bit odd, but I guess it was like performance art. I liked it a lot.

Zetter

On Clerkenwell Road, this place is quite a good one for meeting up for a proper chat. It lacks a little bit of buzz, but the drinks are good, it's nice and quiet, and the space is pretty cool.

I've been there for drinks a couple of times (quick vino before heading out elsewhere), and I had dinner in the restaurant once as well, which was good value and quite tasty, but again, the vibe was a bit muted.

The Zetter

BBB

Impossibly cool - mosaic walls, antique furniture, fireplace in the shape of a lion's head, fresh flowers, black-chains barricading the circular stairwell so you don't fall down, posh Englishmen in suits and girls in sky-high heels, chavvy types in sequin jackets and turquoise pointy shoes, and the most amazing martinis. Fun!

Beach Blanket Babylon.

Drinking at Sloane Square

This is a great place, on the corner at Sloane Square. Everyone spills out of the bar onto the street outside. It's very stylish, with a nice Sloaney crowd. Lovely.

The Botanist

Roof-top

Very cool roof-top bar, just near Bank.  Quite glam, despite being full of suits.  The web-site doesn't really have any pictures, but trust me, it's cool.  Good place for a cheeky champagne mid-week.

Coq d'Argent

Bar-hopping

We only went for one drink to this place, but I loved it -- great interior, moody, colourful, comfy, and a very cool crowd. Loved the walls covered in old cassettes.

It's in Shoreditch, right in the thick of it.

Callooh Callay