Regarding "The Moon on The Water" on Charing Cross Road:
Trust me guys, that pub is a piece of shi*e. It's a Weatherspoons outlet ffs!! It has no character, no history (that shows today), crap drinks, appalling bar staff and the clientelle are well, less than interesting. They also charge over the odds for all this stuff, being located on Charing Cross Road.
Oh and trust feline too
.....
feline_dacat said:
Is Ram still around on CFC? He's quite good about this sort of thing. Perhaps Ram has some suggestions too
I second this idea of yours below...
feline_dacat said:
Hows about some exploration of the Brick Lane area? I don't actually know it but the times I've visited, it was just amazing. So much to take in! And of course, there's plenty of restaurants, bars and pubs in the area as well as galleries/exhibitions apparently. Its generally quite pretty, and I personally am always on the look out for Banksy graffiti.
Here are some thing of note in that area:
~ "The Ten Bells" on Commercial Street: This pub is cosy in size, with wooden floors and tall windows. It serves good drinks, contains all kinds of interesting and weird folk coming from the city to the west and the artistic communities to the east. Historically, it's where many of Jack The Ripper's victims used to drink (it was the favoured watering hole of prositutes in Victorian times). It's also not far from Liverpool St and Aldgate East tube stations.
~ Spitalfields Market: Right opposite is this old Victorian market, which has recently undergone something of a gentrified make over. Yet one can still see the old Victorian green painted wrought iron girdles that make it stand. All sorts of quiant (and now fancy) shops are contained within it.
~ Brick Lane Curry Houses: Now know as 'Banglatown', this street is *packed* with curry houses. And it seems folk like eating that food. NB! The vast majority of these outlets serve FAKE Indian food for gullible English folk. I can take you guys to some choice, delicious, authentic and cheap places that serve the real deal.
~ Brick Lane Bagel Shops: Famous to locals in the area, these two shops are some of the few remaining Jewish outlets in the area (most of the Jewish immigrant families have moved up in the world and moved out of the area). These places serve top knotch bagels. Trust me, I've scoffed my face at them more times than I can remember. You can also watch them making them if you come at the right time of day.
~ Brick Lane History: (a) Plenty of immigrant history here, as indicated directly above. On Princlet Street stands a mosque, which was once a synagogue, which was once a Hugenot chapel, etc etc... (b) Jack the Ripper again. Many of the side streets are where he commited many of his murders. It doesn't take long to stroll around them and imagine him slashing their guts out. (c) The Old Truman's brewery is still there, but operates no longer. Instead are the clubs/bars 93 Feet East and The Vibe Bar, if you fancy something funkier and swankier that is. (d) Plenty more I can't quite remember now.
~ Christ Church: Nicholas Hawksmore, the protege of Christopher Wren (who designed St Paul's Cathedral), designed this place and it's quite an unusual church. It stands right next to The Ten Bells. Worth casting your eye over.
~ Banksy street art: Yes Feline, there's loads of it everywhere, especially on Brick Lane.
blah blah blah.
You're still sore about that, aren't you ? 
