Beth's reviews
Review of Tickled Pink
15 Apr 08, 18:07
Gifts, wrapped. 
If you, like me, are a) lazy and b) disorganised, you love shops like this as they make you seem a) thoughtful and b) prepared.
It’s crammed full of lovely bits and bobs that will thrill even the most demanding of pressie recipients and it’s impossible not to get something special, even when it’s later than last minute. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve been heading into town to some sort of birthday jamboree from nearby Wandsworth Common station, popped in there for a few minutes and managed to get my paws on some right gifty goodies. Phew.
Specially catered for are girly girls and small children who want something cool and unique (for men folk, there’s The Inside Man a couple of doors down). Even better, Tickled Pink is open latish and will even wrap your swag. A friendship saver.
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Review of The Bedford
15 Apr 08, 16:49
Good in Bedford
On first glance, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. You’ll walk through the rickety doors and note that the walls could do with a good lick of paint and the furniture with a good sheep-dip. But you’ll soon succumb to its wily charms and come to revel in its comfortable, unpretentious potential for lazy boozing.
And The Bedford has a lot up its shabby sleeve. In its maze of back and upstairs rooms it hosts classes ranging from salsa for new mums to lindy-hopping, has artist showcases which are incredibly well respected by the music industry and holds regular and popular comedy nights, under the Banana Cabaret moniker.
I have it on good authority that it’s a great venue for watching big footy internationals, but my attentions are usually directed elsewhere, at the food, which is border-line gastro, but without the fanfair and price tags.
There is a downside though: its weekend club nights in one of its back rooms are notoriously dreadful, bringing local South African, Australian and British meatheads out of the woodwork.
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Review of Bombay Bicycle Club
15 Apr 08, 10:19
Spice World
One of three Bombay Bicycle Club sit-in restaurants, the Nightingale Lane branch was actually the first to open, some 20-odd years ago. It’s a favourite of many of London’s top chefs and restaurant critics (with celebs ranging from Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and Keira Knightley ordering take-out from the chain – which boasts 15 delivery-only kitchens in London and Surrey), and it’s easy to see why.
It’s delicious food in sophisticated surroundings, with lovely staff and non-annoying fellow eaters. It’s curry for the connoisseur, curry for couples on a date, curry for a special family occasion. The only downside is this – after eating a BBC curry, every other one will be a disappointment. NB Don’t go here without visiting The Nightingale pub, which is next door. It’s a lovely, cosy real ale boozer, full of character and local eccentrics.
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Review of Nightingale
15 Apr 08, 10:07
Pubby brilliant
A brilliant, good old fashioned pub, dedicated to real ale, log fires, charitable causes and character. Crammed full of eccentrics and the sort of punter who looks like he/she has booze for blood, you’ll be the odd one out if you haven’t got a dog or a red nose which looks like it’s hung over several thousand pints. It’s ridiculously cosy and shockingly friendly – you’d never believe you were in London.
Food is, as one would expect, typical pub fare (non of that gastro malarkey here), although if this isn’t your bag (shame on you), there’s the original Bombay Bicycle Club, which serves up the sort of curry which makes grown men weep, about ten steps away over the pretty cobbled street.
What else? In the summer, there’s a lovely walled garden to enjoy, in the winter, there are delicious Christmassy drinks to get stuck into, and if you’ve just had a baby, get yourself to The Nightingale quick: when we took our three-day old in, he was showered with locals’ ‘lucky quids’. Oh, and one tip; if you’re thinking of spending a lazy, sozzled Sunday there, get in early in order to bag a table – Nightingalites tend to bed in for the day as soon as doors open.
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