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 This section is still being developed but we hope to soon have a database of recommended bars, nightclubs and restaurants from around the world. In the meantime if you would like to add a recommendation please email info@funkytraveller.com and we will add your recommendation. Please include your rating, value for money, ambience, address (if known) and anything else you would like to add!
England
London
93 Feet East Bar (Brick Lane) - Chilled bar opposite the Vibe Bar
ZOE WALES
Bar Soho (Old Compton Street) - Nice bar in the centre of Soho
JOHN MUNRO
Blue Anchor (13 Lower Mall, Hammersmith, London, W6 9DJ) - Small, cosy traditional pub on the riverfront
ANDY WEBB
Bradley's Spanish Wine Bar (Hanley Street) - Spanish Bar serving up a good selection of drinks with live music in the downstairs bar
ANDY WEBB
Bricklayers Arms (Charlotte Street) - Bustling friendly pub popular with artists, thai food restaurant upstairs
ANDY WEBB
Cantaloupe (35-42 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch) - Bar/restaurant. Interesting range of tapas and excellent Bloody Mary's. Gets considerably rammed in the evening, but is a good place to start off from. European feel.
RACHEL EMSON
Churchill Arms ( 119 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 7LN ) - As British as it can be, and then you move to the back and there is a room full of plants like the jungle. Unique place where they also serve traditional pub food and Excellent Thai Food. The food is excellent, quite cheap (around £6 for a main course) and good atmosphere.
MARIA LENCE
Devonshire Arms (37 Marloes Road, London, W8 6LA ) - Beautiful Pub, good live music, nice food.
MARIA LENCE
EDT (East Dulwich Tavern) - Wonderful atmosphere. Not an old style pub, but not in the style of a soulless chain, such as Wetherspoons. Has a tiled floor and open fires, with vases of flowers everywhere, which is a great touch. Jo Brand is a co-owner and they have an excellent comedy club upstairs.
RACHEL EMSON
Fluid (40 Charterhouse St, Farringdon) - Japanese influnced bar with Asahi and Kirin on tap, DJs play cool tunes in relaxing bar upstairs, more raucous club down some spiral steps.
ANDY WEBB
Freedom (near Covent Garden) - A bar with some cool authentic american beers - ranging from modern day pils to olde recipe prehobition red beers. Good jukebox and always showing the cartoon network on the big screen! ..and you can watch the beer brewing in the background!
MATT BROWN
The Falcon (near Clapham North UND) - Laid back vibe with good seating in the front and out the back in the garden. Non-evasive music and scrumptious Thai food, reasonably priced.
RACHEL EMSON
The Foundry (Great Eastern Street) - Arts bar with gallery putting on regular shows. Regular live DJs and everchanging installed artworks
ANDY WEBB
Garlic and Shots (Soho) - Interesting little pokey gothic bar with normal looking old style pub upstairs, with the vodka downstairs, there are over a hundred different variations of the Vodka drink to try, probably not advisable to try them all in one night, or you'll end up in the coffin in the crypt alcove! (Go there to see what I mean!)
ANDY WEBB
The Good Mixer (30 Inverness Street, Camden) - One of the best pubs in Camden to enjoy a lazy Sunday, playing pool, listening to music and chatting with the locals.
ANDY WEBB
Golden Hart (Commercial Street, E1) - Typical East End pub popular with the contemporary art community including Tracy Emin and the Chapman brothers.
ANDY WEBB
Gossips (69 Dean Street, W1) - Downstairs bar/cavern with live music/club and 50p for pool last time I was there
ANDY WEBB
The Gun (Brushfield St, E1) - 1930s style pub decorated with, yes you've guessed it, guns and tankards! Pool table and honest meat fayre, just a stones throw from Spitalfields Market.
ANDY WEBB
Halfway House (2 Kentish Town Rd, Camden) - Situated right in the middle of the road opposite the tube station, this pub is a great place to wait for people, watch the drug dealers outside or keep up to date with the football scores
ANDY WEBB
Hawley Arms (2 Castlehaven Rd, Camden) - A nice little pub to enjoy a few drinks with large sofas, food menu is limited.
ANDY WEBB
Indi (Whitechapel High Street, E1) - Continental style arts bar where you relax into sofas or sit on a church pew and drink the hours by
ANDY WEBB
Living (443 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton) - Chilled bar set up as, you've guessed it, a living room, DJs play at night, watch your step outside though
ANDY WEBB
Lupo (Dean Street, Soho) - Cool bar halfway down Dean Street with a small bar downstairs with little alcoves.
ANDY WEBB
Market Porter (9 Stoney St, Southwark) Old style homely market pub with walls covered in bizarre and unusual beer mats like Bear's Ass! They also serve good Sunday dinners.
ANDY WEBB
Monkey Chews (Queens Terrace, Chalk Farm) - Situated just 5 mins walk from Chalk Farm UND, Monkey Chews is a little oasis in the middle of suburbia. A blend of oriental design and traditional pub with dimly lit lights giving a homely feel. The restaurant at the back serves up some of the best food I have ever sampled in a pub before. Oh and should you like Jack Daniels there is a whole wall of the stuff!
ANDY WEBB
Medicine Bar (Upper Street, Islington) - Trendy dimly lit bar with DJs and outside drinking area ideal for summer
ANDY WEBB
Montunos Jazz Club (Shoreditch High Street, corner of Rivington St) - Newly opened Montunos has an elegant upstairs bar with a jazz venue downstairs. Its probably best to phone to find out whats on as they also host private parties. Expect this place to develop into a great place to see up and coming jazz acts.
ANDY WEBB
Nelly Dean (Dean Street, Soho) - Small, homely pub in the heart of Soho that seems out of place with all the overpriced trendy joints nearby. Pool room upstairs that is open occasionally.
ANDY WEBB
New Inn (New Inn Yard, Hackney) - Busy pub/bar with a downstairs rooms, offers board games and DJs at night
ANDY WEBB
N20 (Wardour Street) - Modern late night bar with DJs that is not as pricey as some of the other late night bars in the area.
ANDY WEBB
O2 (Bethal Green Road) - European Brasserie syle bar with waitress service, watch the world go by reclining on one of the large couches and enjoy complimentary nuts!
DOMINIC CLASBY
The Owl and the Pussy Cat (Redchurch Street) - Traditional pub with bar billiards and restaurant upstairs
ANDY WEBB
Pop! (Soho Street) - Large, open trendy bar, open late but very expensive
JOHN MUNRO
Queen Mary (Embankment) - A boat bar on the Thames with spectacular views of the river. Sit outside and sun yourself before adjourning to the late night disco. Free entry to the disco if your already in.
ANDY WEBB
Rockett (Off New Bond Street) - Very chilled, quiet up market bar off the beaten track which never seems to get over busy. Relax back on the comfortable sofas, enjoy a beer and sample the food. Recommended are the large bowls of prawn crackers and the delicious potato wedges.
ANDY WEBB
Ten Bells (Commercial Street, E1) - Jack the Ripper's last victims local popular with American tourists who will descend in hoardes every hour or two, nevertheless its a nice trendy chilled pub.
ANDY WEBB
The Beerodrome (Islington) - Massive selections of, er, beer amongst other things
JOHN MUNRO
The Couch (Dean St, Soho) - Trendy bar playing the latest grooves, get there early to get a seat, be warned the bar staff like to keep your change!
ANDY WEBB
The Dove (London Fields) - Belgian Pub serving up a large selection of beers and loads of nooks and crannies to hide away in
DOMINIC CLASBY
The George Inn (Borough High St) Located just off the High St, the George Inn is London's only galleried pub and is broken up into a restaurant and pub section. The building dates back to the 16th Century and you can really truly escape from the reminders of the modern age here. In winter time they sell mulled wine
ANDY WEBB
The Intrepid Fox (Soho) - Old pub popular with the rock/metal crowd, with loads of music memorabilia scattered everywhere, has an upstairs bar with pool table.
ANDY WEBB
The Lounge (Bedford Hill, Balham) - A funky little bar with great tunes, djs on the weekend and food served from 6-10. Occasional bands and other acts and they have great drinks including various interesting vodkas from around the world.
MATT BROWN
The Pool (104-108 Curtain Road, EC2) - Luxurious lounge bar with cool tunes and free pool on Sundays
ANDY WEBB
The Ring (72 Blackfriars Road, Southwark) - Airy and friendly little pub suitable for whiling away the hours, also serves great Thai food.
ANDY WEBB
The Riverside Inn (Bankside) - Roomy pub on the Thames with tables on the terrace and just down the road from Tate Modern and The Globe Theatre.
ANDY WEBB
The Salmon and Compasses (58 Penton St, Islington) - Small but packed bar with pool and DJs spinning local sounds.
ANDY WEBB
The Ship (High Street, Croydon) - Possibly the only reason to warrant a visit to Croydon, but one of the oldest pubs in the area, is popular with the rock/metal crowd with DJs playing classic rock/metal fri/sat, sundays the DJs plays jazz,soul and funk while the resident magician dazzles the punters with an array of tricks. Pop quiz on Mondays and drinks are very cheaped compared to all the other pubs in the area
ANDY WEBB
The Vibe Bar (Brick Lane) - Chilled bar with an arty crowd, with DJs and Internet. Has seating outside, can be quite expensive.
ANDY WEBB
Two Floors (Back of Liberty's, Regent St) - Great candlelit atmosphere, nice food and big, comfy, beaten-up, leather sofas. Great in the week - avoid the 'IT' crowd at the weekend at all costs!! Fairly pricey.
RACHEL EMSON
The Union (56 Royal Hill, Greenwich) - Home of the meantime brewing company, this laid back cool bar serves a wonderful range of affordable organic beers including raspeberry flavour and chocolate flavour.
ANDY WEBB
Walkabout (Shaftesbury Avenue, near Charing X Rd junction) - Extremely noisy aussie themed bar with a multitude of screens showing sport. You'll be hard pressed to have a conversation here, as most of the sound disappears up into the domed roof.
ANDY WEBB
Waxy's Little Sister (20 Wardour St, Soho, London) - Beautifully presented old style pub with seating upstairs looking down on the bar. If you ask the bar staff nicely they may send your beer up in the food lift!
ANDY WEBB
London Clubs/Music Venues
12 Bar Club (Denmark Street, Leicester Sq UND) - Small, pokey music venue in London's 'music' street. The stage seems strangely split between two floors, they also serve food and are open till 1.30am.
ANDY WEBB
Brixton Academy - Famous venue featuring big acts and club nights, excellent acoustically.
www.brixton-academy.co.uk
ANDY WEBB
The Electric Ballroom (Next to Camden Town UND) - Features Indie/Goth/techno/Industrial with The Electric Ballroom on Saturday and the heavier Full Tilt on the Friday. Quite cheap, friendly and an interesting mix of people. The World's End Pub nearby (opp tube) is a good starting point.
ANDY WEBB
Cargo (Under the railway bridge on Old Street) - Live music every night ranging from Jazz through to Drum'n'Bass and hip hop. Cost varies from free to £10 depending on the act. Very chilled and trendy and not too expensive on the drinks front. www.cargo-london.com
MATT BROWN
Club 333 (333 Old Street) - Small but cool club offering up a mixture of live acts and DJs, small basement bar with a larger bar upstairs
ANDY WEBB
Oliver's Wine Bar (9 Nevada Street, Greenwich) - Great little basement jazz bar that feels more Prague than London, cover depends on whose playing.
ANDY WEBB
The Fridge (Brixton) - Cool club spinning trance/techno most Fridays.
www.fridge.co.uk
ANDY WEBB
The 100 Club (Oxford Street) - Very friendly jazz/music venue with cheap drinks compared to other places in the centre. Check listings for whats on, but they feature a lot of old style Jazz which must be experienced if you're a fan. There is also a nice mixture of age groups. Entrance fee usually about £10.
www.the100club.co.uk
ANDY WEBB
The Bedford (77 Bedford Hill, Balham) - Popular comedy club (Banana Cabaret) with excellent acts, food and drink. Recently won the Evening Standard Pub of the Year.
ANDY WEBB
The Kashmir Klub (Basement, 6 Nottingham Place, London W1, Baker St UND) - Excellent live music venue in a cosy basment with alcoves. They serve up great food as well as great acoustic acts, the audience are expected to keep quiet during performances though as the all the gigs go out live on the internet. www.kashmirklub.com
ANDY WEBB
The Venue (2A Clifton Rise, New Cross) - Live music and a club with three floors of music, student discounts and cheap prices
ANDY WEBB
Turnmills (Farringdon) - Chilled club with class acts www.turnmills.co.uk/turnmills/clubs/
ANDY WEBB
Brecon
The Bulls Head - Famous old pub/guest house near the cathedral serving up homely food and two bars for you to choose from
The Puzzle Tree - Modern two levelled bar open till late Thu-Sat also serving pub food, not a traditional pub experience but something for the younger generation.
The Wellington Hotel - Big popular pub/restaurant serving really nice affordable pub food.
Brighton
Basket Weaver's Arms (Cheltenham Place) - Popular local pub with walls covered in cigarette cards and tobacco tins. try opening the tins to see what people have left in them!
Earth and Stars (Windsor Street) - Homely bar selling organic drinks and food playing chilled out tunes, shouldnt be too hard too miss as the building is painted bright turquoise!
Heart in Hand (North Street) - Small friendly local pub serving the delicious Leffe beer.
The Coach House (59 Middle Street) - Beautifully laid out restaurant bar with outside seating and nice food
The Dorset (Corner of Gardner Street) - Victorian style cafe bar and restaurant in the North Laine area
The Font and Firkin (Union Street, The Lanes) - Large Firkin Pub in a large converted church serving good food and a large selection of ales
The Hop Poles (13 Middle Street) - Great bistro food at reasonable prices and a large selection of wines, also has a courtyard bar.
The Sussex (33-34 East Street) - Friendly town centre pub with home-cooked pub food.
Western Front (11 Cranbourne Street) - Close to the shopping centre this place is a pleasant place to enjoy some food and a drink in the summer with outside seating, the interior is decked out with big wooden tables ideal for a more cosy environement in the colder months
Cornwall
Penzance
Admiral Benbow - One of the oldest pubs in Penzance, it also has a fantastic restaurant in the shape of a ship's Galley.
Turk's Head (Chapel St) - Cosy Old Style pub serving up food
The Yacht - Popular pub with live music
The Boathouse - More modern pub with a small outside seating area, pool tables
Watergate Bay
Beach Hut - Surfers beach hut offering great views of the bay, be warned drink prices go up to over £3 a pint in the summer months and they are not open on Sundays or bank holidays. Also do food.
The Pheonix - Best bit for cheaper eating and drinking in the Bay with live music and a friendly atmosphere.
Croydon
Bar R (South End) - Spacious bar playing loud dance music that never seems to get too busy, but has nice reclining couches, Budweiser on tap and excellent Thai food. Quiz night on Thursday.
Beer Circus (Brighton Road) - Possibly the best bar in Croydon with over 500 beers from around Europe and cheap bar snacks, this is a place for serious beer connousseurs.
Black Sheep Bar (High St) - Popular bar that has just undergone a refurbishment, stays open till 2 am on weekends, free before 10.30pm, wide selection of drinks with good music, clientele is rather young. Offers live music on Wednesday and Saturday nights with DJ's occupying the rest of the slots, rather loud jazz on Sundays if your hangover can take it.
Crown and Pepper (242 High Street) - Spacious pub serving excellent Peri Peri themed food and boasting an extensive range of bottled beer from around the world.
The Cricketers Arms (23 Southbridge Place, South Croydon) - Traditional old style 'cricket' lovers pub. If you want an authentic english pub experience this is the place to come. Tankards and trophies adorn the walls admist while the regulars get on with the serious drinking. It also offers darts and possible the cheapest pool in Croydon (only 70p)
The Dog and Bull (Surrey Street) - One of Croydon's oldest pubs, popular with the market traders, has a large beer garden with barbeques from Thu-Sun
The Dukes Head (South End) - Pool Bar with nice decor and food, has a nice beer garden in summer. Also shows all major England football games.
The Edge (South End, corner of Coombe Road) - Formerly the Blacksmith's Arms/O'Neills/Cornerhouse although the sign is still displayed, this is a nice cleanly furbished pub with a large beer garden out the back.
The E Bar (South End) - Small relaxed bar open till 12 on the weekends, with DJs playing varying sets.
The Folly (Selsdon Rd, South Croydon) - Recently refurbished spacious pub with seating outside, pool table and selling nice food. Extended happy hour on Fridays with 2 for 1 beers.
The George (George St) - Weatherspoons pub, very cheap prices, no music, gets very busy in evenings.
The Goose (Surrey St) - Cheap 'weatherspoonesque' pub, very cheap drinks and food, beware of doormen and staff with attitude
The Gun Tavern (83 Church St) - Real ale pub, recently refurbished into an open plan layout, boasts live music at the weekend and extremely loud sky sports the rest of the time!
The Hogs Head (58-60 High Street) - Another pub converted from a bank selling decent food in nice surroundings. Now has 2 pool tables and screens for Sky Sports
The Oval (Oval Road, East Croydon) - Friendly pub tucked away just past East Croydon station, has a pool table and a porbably one of the nicest beer gardens in Croydon. Featured in Channel Four's Peep Show 1 & 2.
The Wheelwrights' Arms (Southbridge Road) - Recently under new management, they have smartened up the interior. It has a beer garden out the back with a pool table under cover.
The Porter and Sorter (East Croydon station) - Situated just down from the taxi rank at East Croydon BR, this pub has been refurbished and is a lot bigger than it used to be.
The Rectory (Brighton Road, Purley) - New all-purpose Barrucuda Chain pub, food varies on delicious and ropey, but its the best place to go in Purley at the moment. Be warned it gets very busy on Friday nights.
The Ship (High St) - Popular pub for rockers, playing heavy metal and alternative on weekends, serves reasonable food. One of the oldest pubs in the area, note though they have had to impose a 100 person limit due to fire safety restrictions, this means that its a hard pub to get into at the weekends, shame.
The Skylark (South End) - Same chain as the George
The Spread Eagle (39 High Street) - Converted from a bank, this is an interesting place to have lunch if you go upstairs into one of the 'dining rooms', shows Sky Sports and is the perfect venue for a pre-film beer before going to the David Lean Cinema next door.
The Star (Southbridge Road) - Small family run pub that has a pool table out back that is only 50p per game
The Waddon (Stafford Rd) - Pool bar
The Highlands
Fort Augustus
The Lock Inn (Canalside) - Probably the best pub in Fort Augustus, this cosy pub has a wide selection of whiskies as well as a great restaurant upstairs. Make sure you try the haggis/black pudding starter. They also have live music on some nights which as a result means the pub stays open a bit later
Poachers - Pub with Sky Sports popular with younger locals
The Neuk Internet Café & Restaurant - Pricey internet but has a licensed restaurant.
The Bothy Bite - Very popular restaurant on the canalside worth booking in advance, also has a small bar.
Dunvegan
Dunvegan Hotel - Large pub/restuarant with pool and snooker tables. Offers live music on some nights. The restaurant upstairs serves up average but homely food.
Applecross
Applecross Inn - The only pub/restaurant in Applecross which can get very busy, its advisable to arrive early if you want a seat for the evening although it does clear after all the families go to bed. The food served is pricey but delicious and they also have live music on some nights.
Aviemore
The Winking Owl (Grampian Rd) - Popular pub serving good bar meals is a lively après-ski haunt
MacKenzies (Grampian Rd) - Large chain pub with cheap pub food and drinks, also has Sky Sports and is child friendly unlike a lot of the pubs in Aviemore.
York
The Bootham Tavern (Bootham) - Average Sky Sports Pub, no food
Black Swan (Peasholme Green) - One of the oldest 16th Century pubs in York, with individual rooms and music nights upstairs
Golden Fleece (Pavement) - Ancient Pub with crooked corridors and a ghost aswell!
Golden Slipper (Goodramgate) - Another ancient pub divided into lots of little rooms
Evil Eye Lounge (Stonewalk) - Cool, cultural 3 level bar/lounge serving cocktails and playing modern music. There are Lhasa style chillout booths on the first floor and internet on the 2nd floor, a welcome diversion from York's history more popular with York's younger clientelle.
Russells (Pavement) - One of 2 chains in York serving tasty help yourself Roasts.
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For more bar recommendations please visit the individual city/country guide pages
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