Arlo Parks Romanticises London With Her Top Places to Fall in Love

Farringdon spot Space Talk is a listening bar that’s all about creating a community around music discovery, so if you like stumbling across artists and songs you’ve not heard before, this is the bar for you. Expect to hear a variety of genres being played through bespoke sound system, which you can enjoy with Japanese small plates and fruit-forward cocktails. It’s a place for real connection, not a scene, so be prepared to put your phones down and live in the moment.

Consisting of a 40-seat theatre, a library that runs to over 26,000 titles, and a cafe-bar where you can access the collection of films and books, Close-Up is the most comprehensive independent film resource in London. The programming showcases films that helped shape the art of cinema and there are regular events featuring filmmakers presenting their works. The extensive library includes early cinema, classics, world cinema, documentaries, experimental films and rare films exclusive to Close-Up. The book collection is just as impressive, covering film theory, criticism, history, biography and periodicals, with film journal Vertigo available on the online archive.

Want tacos and mezcal in East London? Head to Lucia’s. This Hackney Wick spot is small but mighty, and is always a vibe – it’s not a secret spot but the fact that restaurant is barely online (there’s a perfunctory website and an IG channel with no posts) makes it feel that way. It’s hard to order badly here but the cochinita pibil and beef barbacoa tacos are winners, and the rice pudding is worth saving room for. Wash it all down with several Palomas.

Photo credit: @charlottealicia1

Little Duck The Picklery opened on Dalston Lane towards the end of 2017, run by the team behind Ducksoup and Rawduck (RIP). Like Ducksoup, the menu is chalked up on the blackboard daily and follows a similar seasonal, pared-back approach. A small team of chefs operate in the centre of the kitchen, while the walls are packed full of delicious looking pickled things in jars – the huge range of pickles and ferments that are all made in-house are used in a few of the dishes but are also available to buy and take home. Obviously the menus change quite a bit but we can defo recommend starting with a plate of those pickles and ferments and, if you see them, the sardines with wild onions and beef short rib ragu on fresh pasta. There’s a good list of approachable and affordable natural wines too.

Part of the new V&A East in Stratford, the V&A East Storehouse is a 16,000 sq. m space that’s been purpose-built to house over 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books and 1,000 archives. It’s also home to the David Bowie Centre, where you’ll find 90,000+ archive pieces – from rare photographs and handwritten lyrics to self-portraits, stage costumes and design sketches – revealing the artistry behind Bowie’s legendary career. Museums typically have just 3% of their collections on display at any one time, so the Storehouse seeks to change this, allowing everyone to discover thousands of pieces of history and culture that would otherwise have been hidden away. That means you can view hundreds of years of treasures for free, seven days a week.

Run by Alex Loveless and Clara Solis, La Camionera (Spanish for ‘female truck driver’, a euphemism for butch lesbians) is the second lesbian bar and the first FLINTA (female, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender) owned one in London. After a wildly successful pop-up in the basement of Off Broadway and popular crowdfunding campaign, La Camionera moved into a permanent site on Well Street. Taking inspo from Spanish bars, there’s hand-painted tiles, terracotta colours and stained-glass lampshades inside and a little garden out back. Pop by for coffee during the day, natural wine in the evening or one of the regular events, like singles nights and poetry readings.

Taro is affordable Japanese spot that originally opened on Brewer Street in 1999 and now boasts locations all over London. We still love the OG though for its menu of ramen, udon noodles, bento boxes, sushi, miso soup, rice dishes and gyoza. As for drinks, choose from the list of hot and cold sake, Japanese whiskey and shochu, wines, Japanese beer and soft drinks.

If you’re into discovering new music and stumbling across something you’d likely not find any other way, Cafe OTO is the venue for you. A cafe by day, where you can pick up coffee, pastries, books and records, by night Cafe OTO plays host to creative and adventurous music that’s decidedly outside the mainstream. Dalston has built up a cool collection of jazz bars and this remains one of the best.

Next time you go buying plants at the Camden Garden Centre, factor in time for a pit-stop at Pritchard & Ure. The cafe on the mezzanine does a simple menu of slow food-inspired dishes made with natural, ethical ingredients and products from small producers. We’re talking dishes like burrata and caponata, eggs verde, Greek salad, panzanella, and wild mushrooms on house focaccia, plus a changing selection of desserts and cakes. Pritchard & Ure is also home to a small but well curated book selection, with co-owner Vicki also curating a collection of art, antiques and furniture in the space too.

Kingsland Road isn’t short of good cocktails but 392 is one of the best. The menu is all killer, no filler, with serves like the Bell Gibson (tequila, sweet pepper shrub and chartreuse) and the Morning Drift (white rum, hojicha, coconut and honey), and they’ll shake up a classic cocktail if you ask. It’s worth staying for food too as they always have some interesting residents in the kitchen, and the bar also hosts regular jazz nights.