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2010 Book & iPhone Launch: November 13

Maybe your girlfriend's just dumped you for some sexual predator with a gym membership card and a bank balance in the black. Maybe your fiancé has left you at the altar while he's dangling from the ceiling in some medieval bondage device with a ping pong ball in his mouth. Or maybe you're just skint and thirsty. Whatever your malaise, us samaratins at NFT are here to pick you up, dust you off and snog you senseless. Yes, to celebrate our 2010 NFT LONDON GUIDE we'll be ensconced at BAR KICK on the 13th of November from 5-8 and we'll be giving away FREE BEER, FREE BOOKS and FREE CHAT. Like the office party of your wildest dreams we'll be on hand to bitch, laugh and listen but mostly to give out FREE STUFF. Just bring an invite!  BE THERE or be somewhere else. Sign up and get more details here.

Download the PDF invite here.

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Nightlife • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

True Love

Lounge Lover, my one true love. Eclectically designed, with each individual table charmingly mismatched, every time I go there, I yearn to take something home with me. Last time it was a slightly decrepit but beautiful grandfather clock in the nook opposite the bar. The time before a bookcase that would have been perfect to house my pretentious collection of cloth bound classics and kids books. But what of the drinks? They. Are. Absolutely. Fantastic. The bar staff knows the menu inside and out and can recommend delights such as the wasabi spiced Zatoichi and the Loungelover, with fig liqueur and Prosecco combining in a moutherwateringly addictive way. There's also a healthy wine list and snacks for those with less cocktail-based needs. The bad bit? It's a busy place and on weekends it's difficult to get in without a reservation. It's also not cheap and it's proximity to the City attracts besuited types convinced they are "roughing it" in big bad East London (it's hardly Hackney Central). But while they bray about credit crunches and their new diamond shoes, turn your back to them, sip your cocktail and enjoy one of the finest cocktail bars in London.

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Nightlife • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Keeping It Real

It's location--just off bustling Brick Lane--would purport to it's regulars to be the crazy clothes wearing, Nathan Barley types that frequent the local coffee shops, tap-tapping on their iMacs. But no! This is a proper East End boozer--there are no pretensions here. A slightly formidable but friendly landlady rules the bar and will take no stick at chucking out time. Pie, mash and liquor is served for Sunday lunch, real ales (ESB, London Pride, Sharp's Doom Bar and Crouch Vale Brewer's Gold) are pumped out and shandies are only served to the ladies. On sunny days and warm evenings, drinkers pile out onto the cobbled side street in front of the pub, mixing and chatting. The area in and around Brick Lane has always harboured many different cultures over the centuries--from French Huguenots to Jewish immigrants to the recent wave of Bengalis whose culture now dominates the area. Yet still, Shoreditch and neighbouring Whitechapel have always had a strong white working class community many of which are regulars at this pub. Some of the best chats can be had in the often-long toilet queue, discovering the lowdown on the lucky couple whose engagement is being celebrated with a cold buffet spread. Now there's a proper English way of celebrating--ham sarnies, pineapple and cheese on sticks, mini sausages. A dollop of salad cream on the side.

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Nightlife • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Happy in Hanoi

The Shoreditch end of Kingsland Road is a mini escape to the chilli-tinged delights of Vietnam. Song Que is famous for its pho--sensory delights of stock and spices; Tay Do squeezes them in for a full on experience of salty, sweet and sour and Hanoi Café has a reputation for honest, comforting food. To start things off at Hanoi, an enormous platter of mixed starters (£6.50) arrived groaning with crisp vegetable tempura, spring rolls, deep-fried tofu and prawn crackers. Dipped into the obligatory chilli and soy sauces, the flavours came alive. Mains we tried included excellent prawns, chicken and fresh veg but an unsatisfying and cloying coconut gravy. We sipped lychee juice and aptly named Hanoi beer. Their speciality are the so-called "sidewalk dishes" of the Vietnam capital including pho noodle soups and bun dishes--grilled meat with vermicelli, fresh herbs and tangy sauce. Roll your own summer rolls are a fun novelty--paper thin rice pancakes to stuff with fresh mint and coriander, feathery noodles and your choice of protein and veg. The restaurant's decor is trashy--cliched picture postcard black and white photography, paper lanterns and goldfish--but the family run element makes it somewhat enchanting.

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Restaurants • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Death, Chocolate, Poison

Comfort Station is the beautiful creation of Amy Anderson. Situated on Cheshire Street off Brick Lane, this little shop of curiosities is an absolute pleasure to the senses from the innovative displays (reworked wooden display cases made from apothecary cabinets and intriguingly, a piano as well as big ole books with their insides cut out to reveal a necklace) to the intricately designed jewellery which is inspired by amongst other things; "death by chocolate" and "poison in an English country garden." A delightful way with words and an interest in text means that you will find hidden messages engraved in silver, wood and printed on ceramics, and there is something of the Victorian keepsake to Comfort Station's designs. On a visit to the shop I was treated to a glimpse of the downstairs studio which is something akin to a laboratory where Amy comes up with the "recipes." Attracting customers and stockists from around the world, this is a very English artistic project with all the quirk and wit one would expect. How very comforting.

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Shopping • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Crabs For Crabs

Don't come to this Szechuan sizzler on the Bethnal Green Road if you're squeamish. Or if you're after sanitised sweet-and-sour-pork-balls-egg-fried-rice fare. This is food with balls; one chicken dish looked like a pile of fleshy knuckles trying to hide in a rustling pile of dried chillies: salty, fatty, fiery heaven. It isn't a first date eatery either as by the end your greasy face will shine bright as you slurp the fragrant meat out of numerous crabs' legs and your brow will bead with sweat from a thousand Szechuan peppers. Authentic? Hell yes. Chinese first, English second on the menu, moody waitresses (even my friend ordering in Chinese didn't thaw the frost), more Chinese customers than anyone else despite the recent Observer review and rabbit saddle on the menu.

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Restaurants • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Whole New Spin on Same Old Thing

"Introducing a completely new concept to East London nightlife," is how the people behind Camden's Be at Proud describe their latest endeavor. Really? What they mean is turning the pretty mediocre Ditch Bar, on Shoreditch High Street, into a place called The Last Days of Decadence, which, from what we can tell from our recent visit, is just as mediocre. "We've tried to bring a taste of the exotic." Do they mean the food (burgers, steaks and salmon)? Or the stage (as small and dingy as in any East London basement)? There are two floors and two bars, with prices reassuringly Shoreditch and a decor as sterile as in Ditch times. But hey, they only just opened (and have just sent in the builders again) and if they manage to get together decent line-ups (like the pretty rocking Twisted Licks night we attended), we might still be convinced. They also promise not to close before 2.30 am. If they stick to that on days like Sundays: now that's "a completely new concept."

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Nightlife • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

NFT 2009 London Release Party

What ho! As proud new parents of a brand new NFT title, we're throwing a huge bash in celebration of our most foreign family addition: The Not For Tourists Guide to London. On Friday, November 21 from 6-9 pm, join us at Bar Kick (127 Shoreditch High St) to roister, rejoice and love without international borders. We'll be handing out FREE copies of NFT London and a FREE pint to anyone with an invite (while supplies last). So, come on down, canoodle with the creators, walk with the writers and be a part of the greatest achievement of Anglo-American solidarity since before 1776 (and disregarding 1812).

Click here to download and print the PDF invite.

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Nightlife • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

It's A Miracle

This is the kind of restaurant you don't think exists. Or, at least not in this bit of Shoreditch, where it's either overpriced joints milking their trendy tag, or greasy ones milking your drunkenness. Tucked away off Shoreditch High Street (on Calvert Ave, leading to the pretty Victorian council houses of Arnold Circus), this is more of a living room than a restaurant (it's a caff during the day). Mama Irene herself cooks the Thai food in front of your eyes and, if it's not too busy, sits down next to you afterwards. The meat-fish-veggie menu is short, but varied and, crucially, inexpensive; the fun starts at a fiver. They don't sell alcohol, but allow you to bring your own (the off-license is across the road). My stir-fry vegetables were hot enough to make me sweat, but, in a way, that's what you want from a place like this, isn't it?

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Restaurants • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Say Yeah

The nights are drawing in, the days getting shorter and colder--there's no better time to take up those knitting needles and get working on a woolly project. Heck, you'd even be saving money in these credit crunchie times. Getting crafty is the way to be, something Rachel Matthews and Louise Harries have known since their studied at St Martin's. Yes, knitting has had a bit of a renaissance with models, actresses and the like whipping out their balls and needles at every given opportunity. But forget Kelley Deal and her Bags That Rock (that gal will dabble in anything) this is the real deal--born of the love of textiles and handmade, nice-looking thingamajigs. Based on Globe Road in Bethnal Green, Prick Your Finger hosts classes in knitting and crochet for beginners and pros in small groups of three to five, and the shop sells yarns, kits and patterns. There are also exhibitions held in the shop displaying innovative ways with wool. It's a darn good yarn...

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Shopping • Shoreditch / Brick Lane / Spitalfields

Frizzante

"Mu-um, can we go and see the pig again, pleee-ase? Muu-uum!" Okay, don't come here if you don't like kids, but if you do (or even have them), Hackney's popular inner-city farm is a great place for breakfast. Where else can you claim that the eggs on your plate come courtesy of the hens hopping around in front of the door? The fry-ups are fresh and not too fatty (even though mine wasn't quite as hot as it could have been) and the self-styled "family cafe" also serves some interesting pasta, prepared by its three Italian chefs (hence the name). It's easy to linger (for waffles or ice cream), but you can also explore the actual farm; surely one of this area's prettiest spots. And, yes, go and see that pig again.

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Community Gardens , Restaurants • Haggerston / Queensbridge Rd

A Scheol for our Time

I noticed a new shop on Great Eastern Street some weeks ago, mainly because the name--A Child of The Jago--was so deliciously otherworldly yet perfectly matched to this part of the city. I found time to visit it recently and was richly rewarded. The shop is a "project" of Joseph Corre. I say project because the progeny of Queen Viv and McLaren can afford to do a little experiment to see how the shop evolves and establishes itself without web presence or PR; subversion's is in his blood. This was explained to me by the Deborah Harry-esque Sarah Jane, the hospitable shopkeeper. She gestured to the downstairs, a room of "artefacts" accessed by rickety Dickensian stairs. It is a museum of wonder where history has no boundaries--Teddy Boy jackets from Corre's Terrorist label (designed by Barnzley) vye with original Luftwaffe jackets (this is what Bryan Ferry meant when he perhaps unwisely said of Nazi aesthetics "just amazing. Really beautiful"). There are old copies of Penguin Classics by Kafka and Tennessee Williams, Jimmy Cliff and Jerry Lee Lewis records, vintage barber switchblade knives and trinkets. Counter-culture with intelligence; go now before everyone else does.

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Shopping • Hoxton