Pub Quiz Winner! (Qype does London)

Pub Quiz Winner!
Chris Osburn
Qype does London
January 7th 2009



To be honest, this was my first pub quiz, something I’ve always associated with London. Maybe they used to have them back when I lived here, but I don’t remember ever hearing about pub quizzes then or on any past visits. Anyway, our team won ...

Read the complete Pub Quiz Winner! post at Qype does London.

Hat and Tun Pub Opens in Clerkenwell (Londonist)

Hat and Tun Pub Opens in Clerkenwell
Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor
Londonist
November 19, 2008



As if Clerkenwell needed another fantastic pub! Londonist wandered over to last night’s grand opening of Hatton Wall’s Hat and Tun.

Read the complete Hat and Tun Pub Opens in Clerkenwell post at Londonist.

London Daily Photo: Pub Detail

London Daily Photo: Pub Detail
Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Yummy Free Food at a Nice Pub? (Londonist)

Yummy Free Food at a Nice Pub?
Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor
Londonist
November 2, 2008



Here’s a tip: get yourself signed up to The Edinburgh Cellars email list. We’re on it and were chuffed last week to open an email from the Cellars in our inbox inviting us to a FREE tasting session at this Newington Green Road pub.

Read the complete Yummy Free Food at a Nice Pub? at Londonist.

Review: Tipped Chilli Cook-Off (Londonist)

Review: Tipped Chilli Cook-Off
Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor
Londonist
October 28, 2008



Londonist happily attended Tipped’s Chilli Cook-Off at the Mucky Pup on Saturday, where in addition to sampling a range of mostly excellent chillies (there were eight in the competition; Londonist loved all but two of them), we (as in food and drink editor, Chris Osburn) also participated. We didn’t win but felt our chilli held its own against the competition. Of course, with the likes of cook-off winner and food blogger phenomenon, Helen Graves, we were honoured just to have been invited to participate.

Read the complete Tipped Chilli Cook-Off review at Londonist.

Fancyapint.com Best London Pub Awards 2008 (Londonist)

Fancyapint.com Best London Pub Awards 2008
Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor
Londonist
October 23, 2008











Each year round the middle of October, where-to-imbibe experts, Fancyapint.com, get together to celebrate the anniversary of their site by presenting awards to the best pubs visited over the past year. The awards are broken down into two categories: the reviewers’ awards and the visitors’ awards, with overall winners in each. The reviewers' awards are decided by the Fancyapint.com review team, based on the pubs they reviewed during the previous twelve months. There are also a number of special awards made by FAP reviewers, for the pubs they feel have performed particularly well in the categories of best newcomer, best refurbishment and most improved. And this year, to mark the fifth anniversary of Fancyapint.com, the reviewers are awarding their top London pub of the last five years. Visitors' awards are based upon the site's listed pubs (they’ve got over 3000 in their database) that have had the most visits arranged to them through the site.

Read the complete Fancyapint.com Pub Awards post at Londonist.

Beyond the Rabbit Hole (Qype does London)

Beyond the Rabbit Hole
Chris Osburn
Qype does London
October 5th 2008










As Qyper/blogger Julie so aptly describes in her recent Qype Goes Down the Rabbit Hole post, half an hour spent “wandering ’round the rabbit hole” is indeed an incredibly surreal experience, one which requires significant and immediate time afterwards to unwind and process thoughts induced while being subjected to Down the Rabbit Hole’s “Lynch-esque scenes involving hybrid rabbit-humans.”

Read the complete Beyond the Rabbit Hole post (and its food/drink suggestions) at Qype does London.

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... And check out my Down the Rabbit Hole pics on my Flickr photostream!

Partying with Qype at The PlumTree (Qype does London)

Partying with Qype at The PlumTree
by Chris Osburn
Qype does London
August 8th 2008










... Qypers swingin’ at The PlumTree on Farringdon Road. Good times. The PlumTree’s a lovely pub that, despite its impressive three levels, is a cozy place for a drink. With its location near the Holborn Viaduct, it’s conveniently close to a number of Tube and rail stations and super easy for City workers to meet up and unwind.

Read the complete Qype at The PlumTree post.

Two for One Glasses of Cava (Londonist)

Two for One Glasses of Cava
by Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor
Londonist
May 15, 2008

... running until 15 June, a rather impressive list of London gastropubs (along with some help from Spain’s Institut del Cava) will offer buy one/get one free glasses of Cava. Sounds like a brilliant opportunity to give this Spanish bubbly a try or to indulge in an extra glass or three if you’re already a fan ...

Click here for complete post.

Londonist: Accessing Wheelchair Accessible London?

A recent convo with London Blogger Meetup organizer Andy Bargery led to me writing the following post for Londonist. If you have any ideas, please join in the discussion!

Accessing Wheelchair Accessible London?
by Chris Osburn

Londonist

March 6, 2008

A man rolls into a bar. Sounds like the start of a dumb joke? It’s not. Wheelchair-enabled people like going out in the evening as much as anybody. What does appear to be a joke is how difficult it can be to find info about wheelchair accessible pubs et al in London. We did a bit of online snooping and were dismayed by the lack of resources out there.

Click here for complete post.

London Short Film: Putting Blogs to Faces

Folks talking about their blogs at the February London Bloggers Meetup at The Camel & Artichoke on Lower Marsh Street in London. Click here for info about the next London Blogger Meetup.

London Bloggers Meetup: The Movie

Earlier this week, I attended the London Bloggers Meetup, aptly organized by Andy Bargery. The event was a lot of fun, especially with the kind folks from Qype buying the first couple of rounds of drinks. Those same quirky Qypers posted London Bloggers Meetup: The movie, which along with some shaky footage of everybody's friendly faces lists many of the bloggers in attendence along with links to their blogs. Cool.


London Bloggers Meetup, January 2008 from Qype UK on Vimeo.

London Daily Photo: At The Shakespeare

London Daily Photo: At The Shakespeare
Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Londonist Turns Three - You're Invited

I've been writing for Londonist since May. I love it. Before that, I was a real fan of the site. I still find it an invaluable London resource. Well, this invaluable resource will be celebrating its third birthday party and are throwing a "massive party" to celebrate.

The party starts this Thursday (the 25th) at 6.30pm at ...

Grafton Arms (upstairs bar and beer terrace)
72 Grafton Way
Fitzrovia W1T 5DU









As with other Londonist events, there's no need to RSVP. More details here.

No More Smoky Pubs in the New Smoke-Free London

As insidious as smoking is, it has added to the ambiance of pubs in London for a few centuries. It will be interesting to see how things go with the new smoking ban that takes effect today. If the bans in Scotland and New York serve as examples, then the new law should achieve its intended result - less people dying due to cigarettes. However, an increase in home fires is a feared possibility, and an unfortunate consequence is the closing of London's shisha bars. All in all, the ban's probably a net positive. Still, the following quote by one well known smoker might be worth considering:

I think non-smokers should be barred from buying anything a smoker has created.
- Joe Strummer

Photography by Pint Champion © 2007

Need more info about the ban? Here's a Q&A from the Times Online offering Everything You Need to Know about the new smoke-free London.