It's Friday night on Chalk Farm Road and my quest for a fun few drinks with friends has flopped. The music at The Lock Tavern is getting louder by the second and my throat is beginning to ache from shouting over everyone.

A change of scenery towards Camden brings us to The Hawley Arms, recently most famous for homing many of Amy Winehouse's drunken punch-ups. The Towers of London, in all their over-styled glory, are queuing outside the pub's doors, laboriously challenging its one-in-one-out policy. A glance through the steamed-up windows and my friend utters the inevitable "Is that Peaches Geldof at the bar?" Back on our steps we go.

I was once told to try the 'dodgy kebab shop' at the top of Chalk Farm Road, which I dismissed as an obvious joke, but feeling desperate, tired and hungry meant that no dive was too divey. Fronted by sweaty cones of meat and twitching neon lights, Marathon Kebab/Bar makes a shoddy first impression, but don't let that put you off.