Urban Junkies London
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Tue 19 August, 2014
 
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RESTAURANT SUPPLEMENT
 
For those suffering a case of “too many restaurants, too little time”, good news, we’ve got you covered. From the new sweet treats, healthy trends, and favourite restaurants to new areas to discover and rediscover, our latest UJ Restaurant Supplement will have you eating your way through London. Enjoy!
 
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New Trend: Sweet Party
 
 
 
Remember when puddings were once strictly after-dinner ‘guilty pleasures’? Well, that’s no more. London’s sugar high has been increasing, and it’s not just as a finale to the night. Now, it seems that dessert has been added to our double Ds (drinking and dancing). We noticed it first when our cocktails took a sweet turn – from the Coco Pop Old Fashioned at Duck & Waffle to the serious liquid desserts at BOBO Social (think rhubarb & custard tipples, death by chocolate martinis and apple crumbles in a glass). And now the idea has gone bricks and mortar with The Pudding Bar, a candlelit Soho sweet spot with a dessert-only menu. Taking it up another notch in early September is Basement Sate, a sexy late-night dessert lair by the owners of the trendy Paris bar Sherry Butt. Drinking and dancing fueled by DJs and desserts, yes please!
 
BOBO Social. Now open. 95 Charlotte Street, W1T 4PZ
The Pudding Bar. Now open. 26 Greek Street, W1D 5DE
Basement Sate. Opens September 4. 8 Broadwick Street, W1F 8HN
 
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Healthy living: Raw food
 
 
 
And, flip reverse. On the other side of the cocktails and calories trend comes the raw food movement. It’s no real surprise, we’ve watched the health evolution for sometime now: fresh juice followed by cold-pressed everything to activated nuts, and now we’ve entered the raw phase. And it’s stylish. Start with Notting Hill’s vegan raw food restaurant Nama, serving courgette and walnut-based pizzas, followed by the newly opened Raw Press over on Dover Street – championed, no less, by the poster girl of the health-volution, Deliciously Ella. Want to snack? The new Juice Well (owned by the cool daddy of La Bodega Negra, Will Ricker) has sweet, healthy snacks: think candied cashews, peanut butter cups, and chia and coconut pudding. And don’t even get us started on Hemsley+Hemsley’s raw avocado and lime cheesecake…
 
Nama. Now open.110 Talbot Road, W11 1JR
The Juice Well. Now open. 4 Peter Street, W1F 0DN
 
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On the up: Bethnal Green
 
 
 
It’s not news that Bethnal Green has been building a reputation as a cocktail and foodie ‘hood since the days of Viajante. Case in point: its replacement, Typing Room,with its big bill chefs (backed by Jason Atherton and headed by his right hand man, Lee Westcott), the bar opposite, Peg + Patriot, also with credentials (including owner Matt Whiley of Purl, Worship Street Whistling Shop and Talented Mr Fox), and Satan’s Whiskers down the road, run by the expert mixers and shakers of The Hunter S and Hemingway Bar. Adding to the reputation? Mission by Sager + Wilde. Set to open in the railway arches of Bethnal Green, the new digs – unlike its Hackney counterpart – comes with cocktails and a sit-down American/Italian menu thanks to James de Jong (previously at Islington's The Drapers Arms). And that's just over the last eight months. Bethnal Green, what will you throw at us next?
 
Typing Room. Now open. Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, E2 9NF
Peg+Patriot. Now open. Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, E2 9NF
Satan's Whiskers. Now open. 343 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9RA
Mission. Opens early September. 250 Paradise Row, E2 9LE
 
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Rediscover: Covent Garden
 
 
 
Covent Garden may once have been a tourist-filled wasteland but we’ve seen some interesting developments. We first saw things changing with Opera Tavern, Mishkin’s, Ape & Bird, Polpo and Balthazar, and now, it’s a bono-fide foodie crawl with the latest addition of favourites Barrafina and Lima Floral. The two big-gun openings of the summer means the once no-go zone of lower Covent Garden (behind St Martin’s Lane) is now on the radar. We say, head to Barrafina before the rush hour dinner queues and have a pick at the special boards before grabbing a booth at Lima Floral’s piqueos bar for a late dinner and a pisco or few.
 
Barrafina. Now open. 10 Adelaide Street, WC2N 4HZ
Lima Flora. Now open. 4 Garrick Street, WC2E 9BJ
 
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And the winner is: The Palomar
 
 
 
The Palomar: our pick of the restaurant opening for 2014 (so far). Without even talking about the food, The Palomar has ticked most of the boxes: great tunes, reservations and walk-ins, friendly staff, up-tempo vibes, and they’ve even crept in a pink neon sign (#UJLoves). Flavour wise, from the raw bar to the creative Levantine menu and fresh and boozy spritzers, it all feels very now.
 
To read our full review click here
 
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LINK TO THIS FEATURE: Eat & Drink by CS
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BELVEDERE: Legends of the Martini
 
Sponsored listing
 
 
 
 
Elizabeth Taylor, Kate Moss, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Hemingway … What do these legends have in common? Martinis and their love for them. For a game of match the celebrity to the martini, head to the Legends of the Martini exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and, well, play the game. And after you've become a martini expert, pop to the outdoor bar and do as the legends do! Salut!
 
Legends of the Martini Experience
Royal Academy Senate Rooms, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1J 0BD
Free exhibition open every day throughout August
Book tickets for the Martini Experience
 
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INSTA-HITS
 
Haute doughnuts, alcoholic slushies and OTT toasties: a taste of what has been feeding our feeds.
 
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