Paradise Garage - Shotgun - Black Axe Mangal - Hoppers

Photos and the odd word on four of London's finest new arrivals today. Don't say I don't spoil you.

Scroll down for Soho's Shotgun, Highbury's Black Axe Mangal and the Sethis' Sri Lankan Hoppers

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First up is the wonderful Paradise Garage in Bethnal Green from the team that brought us The Dairy and The Manor.

I've told many a Londoner about Robin Gill's superb restaurants in Clapham Common, but several (including the Michelin judges) seem to think it's too far out of their way. More fool them. Now that he's set up shop in a trendy East London railway arch, next door to Mission and Mother Kelly's, and down the road from Typing Room and Peg & Patriot, Clapham-abstainers might take notice.

As at the aforementioned sister restaurants, there is an outstanding tasting menu available at all times for £45, tempting a la carte options split up in to Snacks, Garden, Sea, Land and Dessert, and a ludicrous lunch deal of four courses for £25 every Wed-Fri from 12-3pm. One exciting new development is the "Picnic" option:

A whole rabbit for the table - roast saddle, confit leg, turnover, offal and rabbit bacon with sauteed chicory, capers, radish & artichoke piccalilli for £48.00.

We stick to the lunch deal, but may return for this as Fay Maschler did.

Whenever you eat at one of their restaurants, whether you are on a tasting menu or not, you get treated as such with little extras finding their way to your table. We are gifted parcels of Sweet Potato, Sultanas & Chestnuts and a filling basket of Sourdough Bread & Smoked Whiskey Butter. Two mocktails expertly made by GM Claire Wright keep the parentals happy, whilst I sip on an Oaked Negroni featuring whiskey barrel-aged bitters.

Sweet Potato, Sultanas & Chestnuts

Sourdough Bread & Smoked Whiskey Butter // Oaked Negroni & Mocktails

Snacks soon follow which are of a decent size. Dad opts for Venison, Juniper & Beetroot Salumi, one of a trio of Chef Simon Woodrow's salumi showstoppers that arrives on a charming tile. Mum meanwhile enjoys a plate of Cornish Crab, Clementine, Red Meat Radish & Bitter Leaves. It must be clementine season as they are turning up everywhere.

I wolf down a bowl of Grilled Leek, Federia Mousse & Toasted Buckwheat after Google tells me that Federia was one of 5 new cheeses to watch out for in 2012. One down, four to go.

Venison, Juniper & Beetroot Salumi

Grilled Leek, Federia Mousse & Toasted Buckwheat

Time for some gardening. Between us we cover the whole section:

- Tilley's Farm Egg, Roscoff Onions, Spinach & Lardo
- Heritage Beetroot, Fermented Apple & Pine
- Salsify, Smoked Curd, Pickled Quince & Walnuts

It's all delicious, though I still long for The Dairy's Rooftop carrots, goats cheese, oat granola & buttermilk from June 2014.

On Tilley's Farm Egg (pictured below), Jay Rayner says "A whole slow-cooked egg, wobbly beneath an overcoat of salty lardo, with a couple of charred onions, and raw mature spinach leaves sprinkled with oily fried breadcrumbs, is one of those textural experiences you either like or run screaming from." - I stay seated.

Tilley's Farm Egg, Roscoff Onions, Spinach & Lardo

Out of nowhere, a chef arrives with a blowtorch and some mackerel (caught the previous day), and promptly gets to work with no risk assessment form or health and safety officer in sight. This soon becomes Willy's Charred Mackerel, Cod Rose, Pickles & Rice Crackers, a dish from the tasting menu that they thought we might enjoy as an extra - they were right. It's probably the standout dish of the lunch - perhaps it should be on the A La Carte menu?

Willy's Mackerel being charred at the table

Willy's Charred Mackerel, Cod Rose, Pickles & Rice Crackers

For our "third" course, we pick our desired dish from the Land and Sea sections:

- Applewood Smoked Eel, Norfolk Peer Potatoes, Seaweed & Pied de Mouton

- Scottish Partridge, Toasted Barley, Chervil Root, Trompettes & Bread Sauce

- Lady Hamilton's Cod, Cauliflower, Chestnuts & Brown Crab

More thumbs up from the parents.  As for Lady Hamilton's Cod - it's not Lady Hamilton's, it's mine. And it's bloody delicious. Brown crab jus poured at the table is a nice touch. Don't miss this one.

Lady Hamilton's Cod, Cauliflower, Chestnuts & Brown Crab

Another bonus arrives in the form of Green Apple Sorbet, Eucalyptus & Tapioca - a pre-dessert palate cleanser of sorts. It's not really my thing, but it does the job, and the spoons are adorable. If you hadn't already noticed, all of the crockery is magnificent.

Time for dessert. While Mum (the sensible one) is away from the table, we order an extra plate of pastry-chef extraordinaire Kira Ghidoni's Spiced Pumpkin Tart with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream & Pecans so that we don't have to share. It's a wise decision. Elsewhere we enjoy Dark Chocolate Brulée, Stem Ginger Ice Cream, Rum & Pears and Innis & Gunn Beer Ice Cream, Quince & Malt. 

Finally, we succumb to coffees which come with a drawer of punchy Clementine & Star Anise Marshmallows. A fine way to finish off a fantastic meal.

Green Apple Sorbet, Eucalyptus & Tapioca

Green Apple Sorbet, Eucalyptus & Tapioca

Innis & Gunn Beer Ice Cream, Quince & Malt

Clementine & Star Anise Marshmallows

Four courses for £25 inevitably gets closer to £40 with drinks, coffee and service, but you could keep costs down if you are well behaved. It's another smash hit for Robin Gill & co., and another coup for Paradise Row. Book in advance!

Paradise Garage - www.paradise254.com

254 Paradise Row, Bethnal Green, E2 9LE

Lunch: Wed-Sun 12-3pm // Dinner: Tue-Sat 6-10pm

N.B. Closed for Tuesday lunch, Sunday dinner and all day Monday

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Still hungry? Yeah, me too. My second recommendation is an instant Soho hit - Shotgun BBQ. Authentic American barbecue from The Lockhart's Brad McDonald, and killer cocktails from Matt Whiley & J.H.Stevenson, in a New Orleans-influenced bar and dining room on the rapidly improving Kingly Street. AND YOU CAN BOOK!

I've already been in twice since it opened, once for lunch, and more recently for eats and drinks from the late night menu (served from 10pm til 11.30pm). With any luck, a late license in the new year will see that extended. 

It's a fantastic place for a date, but also for solo dining and drinking, especially if you grab a seat at the bar near head bartender James. Jay Rayner, Marina O'Loughlin and Giles Coren have already given the food their seal of approval, so I needn't say much. Check out Jay's full review in The Guardian.

@MarinaOLoughlin @ShotgunBBQ @jayrayner1 sure is. I've been once and already offered it to one of those dumb lists as my restaurant of 2015.

— Giles Coren (@gilescoren) November 4, 2015

The much talked about Pig's Ear & Pancakes hasn't been on the menu when I've been in, but I was perfectly happy scoffing on Smoked Ox Tongue, Carolina Style Pulled Pork, Fried Bologna, Brisket and Boston Butts, BBQ Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Fondant, Beets & Marrow, and more! At lunchtime (or late night) £12.50 will get you a hefty sandwich with two sides. At dinner, you can order particular cuts of meat by size or weight, or combo plates with a variety of sides, plus some great bar snacks.

What Jay skips over is the quality of the cocktails. The drinks at Shotgun are on a par with the superb food, and £8-10 is a reasonable price for a serious cocktail, especially in Soho. At lunch, you can kick off with some simpler but super fresh mixed drinks (e.g. Bloody Mary, Paloma, Seasonal Mimosa) that start at £6.

The cocktail menu is soon to change, so I'll be reporting back on that in full next month, but for now, make sure that you drop in for one of these outstanding boozy creations before they disappear: 

- Shotgun Sazerac - Woodford Rye, Maxime Trijol Cognac, Brown Sugar, Absinthe and Peychaud, in a glass coated with Cocoa Butter that gradually seeps in to the drink. 

- Carré Cuit - Rittenhouse Rye 100, Cognac, Italian Vermouth, Benedictine, and Coffee Cherry, "cooked" sous-vide-style in a vacuum packed bag.

- Lagniappe - Ilegal Mescal, Fermented Pepper Brine, Jalapeno Bitters & Lime, garnished with beer!

There are also some great photos on Shotgun's Tumblr page - shotgunbbq.tumblr.com

N.B. Thanksgiving is coming up on 26th November, and Brad McDonald is putting on specials at both Shotgun and The Lockhart. 

Shotgun will be offering a Thanksgiving Sandwich with smoked turkey, cranberry, and mashed potato with giblet gravy on the side. It will be available at lunch and post dinner on 26th November. Then, in honour of the best part of Thanksgiving (the left overs, naturally) the sandwich will remain on the menu for those who don’t quite manage to make it there on Thanksgiving.

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26 Kingly Street, W1B 5QD

Shotgun BBQ - shotgunbbq.com

Mon-Sun 12pm-11.30pm (Bar shuts at midnight)

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My third pick is a rowdy little spot called Black Axe Mangal on Highbury Corner which needs a bit of back story.

Chef Lee Tiernan (ex-St.John Bread & Wine) spent the summer serving up Mangal-style bread, meat and kebabs in a Copenhagen club called Bakken, with lots of help from guest chefs. This entertaining Vice video is well worth a watch - click here.

With his wife Kate, he has now brought his metal and mangal concept (see Kiss oven below) back to London, a few doors down from popular Islington eateries Le Coq and Trullo. With quick turnover, and limited space, no reservations makes sense here. If you can face being bumped in to a fair amount, standing in front of the open kitchen is great fun.

There are 12 or so items on the menu, so you could tackle the whole thing easily with a group of four, but you should really focus on the Tartine Bakery-influenced flatbreads, especially the signature Lamb Offal bread which is a filthy work of foodporn art, and a steal at £5.50. In contrast, a delicious bowl of Broad Bean Falafel, Curd, and Squash is curiously priced too high at £9.

The other must-order dish is the Bakken special - a comforting bowl of slow smoked lamb shoulder, roasted peppers, onions, and puy lentils that set us back £14 when we visited. It easily stretched to three when sharing a range of plates.

On the booze front, a couple of canned beers do the job, and there's an unexpected list of £6 cocktails created with bartender-of-the-moment Mr.Lyan.  If you want a more leisurely drink, I'd recommend heading over to the cosy Taproom down the road for a beer or two.

The Taproom on Upper Street

N.B. Black Axe Mangal is closed on Sundays and Mondays

Open Tuesday-Saturday 6pm-10.30pm

156 Canonbury Road, N1 2UP

www.blackaxemangal.com

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Finally, a quick look at the most-talked about restaurant in London at the moment - Hoppers. Yes I know, Sexy Fish, you've made quite a splash too.

In a nutshell - it's a classy introduction to Sri Lankan food, focused mainly on dosas and their open-faced cousins, hoppers. And everyone's gone gaga for it:

"A seductive, come-hither menu" - Fay Maschler

"...clearly the best thing since sliced bread/Bao" - Rocket & Squash

"Nothing about my meal there could be faulted... 10/10" - Cheese & Biscuits

The Sethi siblings (restaurateurs extraordinaires) have the midas touch - Bao, Gymkhana, Bubbledogs, Lyle's - all runaway successes, and Hoppers is their latest. It's taken over the much loved Koya space on Frith Street, and already has Londoners queueing down street for food they didn't know they wanted.

The no reservations queuing was a bit of a shambles, but I'm sure they'll find a system soon. Once inside, you might find yourself sharing tables, but it's that kind of place. We had a natter with both of our neighbours, including some bona fide Sri Lankans, mostly regarding unfamiliar words on the menu.  Most questions can be answered by the helpful glossary on the reverse of the menu - I do love a bit of learning at dinner time.  Feel free to ask me about Jaggery, Varuvals and Watalappams - they aren't rude, I promise.

I took a few photos as usual, but it's one of those dark, orange rooms that my camera doesn't get along with, so the next few photos taken by John Carey were provided by the Hoppers PR team. It's an attractive space with some lovely design touches including funky coat hooks and toilet seat handles - you've got to enjoy the little things!

Photo Credit : John Carey

Photo Credit : John Carey

London does already have Sri Lankan food of course. In fact, it has Apollo Banana Leaf - a marvellous, outrageously cheap restaurant in Tooting where mutton rolls are 90p a go. At Hoppers, they are £4, but, to be fair, most of the pricing is in fact reasonable.

From the "Short Eats" section, we enjoyed String Hoppers (steamed handmade rice flour noodles pressed into string pancakes) served with Kiri Hodi (a mild coconut milk gravy cooked with fenugreek and Maldive fish) and Pol Sambol (relish made with ground coconut, Maldive fish, onion and red chilli). See - lots of learning to do.  Duck Roti with Rasa (gravy) was also a big hit. The Bonemarrow Varuval (a Chettinad masala) is currently doing the rounds on Instagram.

Then it was on to the hoppers and dosas. A hopper is simply fermented rice batter and coconut milk fashioned in to a bowl-shaped pancake. The Sethis were probably hoping to introduce Londoners to hoppers, but quite by chance, a small street-food operation called Weligama started doing it at Druid St. Market earlier this year, so be sure to check them out too!

Anyway - you select your base, add some relish and chutneys, and pick a kari (curry) to go with it. We opted for a fish kari with our dosa (£9.50) and a lamb kari with our egg hopper (£10). Both were delicious, though the fish took a while to materialise.  N.B. Sri Lankans like it hot - if you don't, let them know, and get yourself a load of yoghurt (which I'd rather they didn't charge £1 for).  

Dosas at Hoppers - Photo Credit : John Carey

Egg Hoppers at Hoppers - Photo Credit : John Carey

There's another section with larger sharing plates, but after short eats, hoppers and dosas, we didn't have room for Buffalo Buriani or Ceylonese Spit Chicken - maybe next time.

For dessert, we braved odorous Durian Ice Cream served inside a Milk Hopper with Kithul Treacle & Jaggery (unrefined sugar) and found it to be quite delectable and moreish! Who knew? Again, there's more to enjoy on the menu here (Love Cake anyone?) - a return visit is bound to happen soon. 

Several thumbs up for Hoppers, but don't forget about Weligama and Apollo Banana Leaf amid all the rave reviews.

N.B. As at Shotgun, the cocktail list has been kicked off by Talented Mr.Fox Matt Whiley - always a smart move. I'll be back to work my way through them separately.

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Open Mon-Sat 12-2.30 / 5.30-10.30 - No Reservations

Hoppers - www.hopperslondon.com

49 Frith Street, W1D 4SG

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To finish, here are some top tweets and reviews from the fast moving London food scene:

So @zelman_meats is a bit of a stunner. Sexy beef at a friendly price in the middle of Soho https://t.co/iw8H4WnIui pic.twitter.com/7qwAVWtnEm

— Ben Norum (@BenNorum) November 18, 2015

Zelman Meats has taken over the Rex & Mariano space in Soho and early signs are promising.

Date and walnut babka at @TheGoodEgg_ with @clodaghmckenna - breakfast doesn't get better https://t.co/PXMiCIrpVH pic.twitter.com/RYqbLFayc3

— Felicity Spector (@FelicitySpector) November 13, 2015

The Good Egg has finally opened in Stokey for all-day brunch inspired by Tel Aviv, Montreal and more after successful crowdfunding and a slow build.

*THAT* pumpkin ice-cream with honey meringue & chestnuts @Mission_E2 🎃🍯🌰🍁🍂 https://t.co/l4QnGTRR2f pic.twitter.com/aokJwLqior

— Clerkenwell_Boy (@Clerkenwell_Boy) October 23, 2015

Mission has relaunched with a £30 tasting menu from new head chef Sebastian Myers.

It's heeeeeeeeere! #50Faves #restaurants https://t.co/QejJgneMIq

— Marina O'Loughlin (@MarinaOLoughlin) October 24, 2015

If you need a good giggle, read Marina's review of Hotel Chantelle.  I'm guessing it won't make the next #50Faves:

"I have no idea how they’ve fashioned this nightmarish chicken centipede... Hotel Chantelle is, in every sense of the word, utterly, utterly tasteless."

Kitchen Table

List Dad Guest Post - Matt wrote above my first guest post on 30 September that this would hopefully be the first of many offerings from me. Whilst on the surface this sounds like a compliment or, at the least, a ‘buttering up’, I’m not convinced. Could it be that, having set such a fast pace with his dazzling succession of reports from the front line of London bars, bistros and street food, he wants others to share the burden?

There are several potential elephant traps from my point of view. 

For example, how to describe food without ending up in Pseuds Corner? Does anyone remember Jilly Goolden who stuck her nose into glasses of wine on the original Food and Drink programmes in the 1980s before coming out with phrases such as oodles of freshly turned manure laced with the aroma of a camp fire plus the occasional hint of wellington boots? 

And how does one define a great meal as opposed to one which is good or adequate?  I believe I know when I have had a really outstanding meal but am unsure of my ability or qualifications to put it into words. Could this be why the legendary A A Gill and Giles Coren spend two thirds of their reviews philosophising about anything other than the food or the restaurant in question? 

And, speaking of Adrian Gill, he once said of a certain food guide:- 

It’s no accident that the legacy of 100 years of Michelin is not just an emaciated, inhospitable French table but the legion of score-settling adjective junkies populating unreadable Internet blogs. Nerds who photograph their lunch as a bedroom metaphor for feelings and a simile for friends. (Vanity Fair - November 2012) 

Ignoring these words of warning, I will plough on, beginning with a comment on the lists of best UK restaurants which have been appearing on the Internet or falling out of the Sunday papers with great regularity over the past weeks. There will always be the same few restaurants near the top but, lower down, the divergence of opinion is remarkable. How can Dabbous be at number 11 in the 2013 National Restaurant Awards and not in the top 100 of others? In passing, at number 1 in the NRA list is The Hand & Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire which I am visiting for the first time in January. This may have missed out on other lists because it is a pub. 

Kitchen Table, the restaurant I wish to recommend this week, has only featured in one list seen by me, but it stands apart from other eating places not just for the quality of its food but for its theatricality. Chef James Knappett has taken the concept of a chef’s table offered at other top restaurants and has turned his dining room behind Bubbledogs into one big chef’s table where nineteen diners sit round the kitchen on leather high chairs at a horse-shoe bar. 

James (late of Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley and Noma) is a most engaging host and is happy to chat to his guests as he and his team prepare twelve to fourteen courses, describing why he has chosen the combinations of flavours and where he has bought, found or foraged the ingredients. On our night, for example, there was foraged wild garlic and a dish of sand eels (not cooked there before) with nettles.

James Knappett (credit: Paul Winch-Furness)

The menu varies daily, and follows the current fashion of describing each course (on a blackboard) with one or two key words. When we visited, one of the most intriguing courses was beetroot and liquorice. This turned out to be a fabulous pudding comprising a warm beetroot cake, sorbet and meringue matched with liquorice ice cream. James explained that this came about because he snacks on liquorice as he cooks and can’t resist trying it out with other ingredients he has to hand. 

This is an experience like a great night out at the theatre, with the best seat in the house.

Attendant - Rev JW Simpson - Bubbledogs - London Cocktail Club - Artesian Bar

Tuesday 26th March - Last week I went to a Monkey Shoulder whiskey event called Malt Jockey (read about it here) with Sam.  A few days later they announced on Twitter that they would be holding a follow up after party at London Cocktail Club near Goodge Street with their ambassador bartender, Dean Callan. Sam wasn't around to attend but luckily whiskey enthusiast Will was ready to step up in his place, eager to get off the mark on The List.  After a quick check of the area, we found some other List-worthy places nearby to add to Will's score for the day.

Dean Callan - pic from http://misswhisky.com

We started off at 4pm at Attendant on Foley Street, a fantastic new café located in a restored Victorian toilet.  We were lucky to get a urinal seat (didn't think I'd ever say that) as it is a popular place.  It is currently open Mon-Fri 8.00-18.00 and Sat 10.00-17.00.  

They have daily hot food specials which seem to sell out around lunch time so get there early. There is a "banquette" table that can be hired from 8.00am for an unorthodox office meeting! We had some excellent tea served in individual teapots and I went for a blueberry crumble cake (provided by Bittersweet Bakers) that was delicious.  It is definitely worth heading over there just for the novelty value but then you will probably find yourself coming back due to the high quality produce on offer (at reasonable prices). Satisfied, we had a check on the Bubbledogs queue, which thankfully hadn't started to form, and went for a quick pint in the excellent Draft House (one left to complete the set) followed by an even quicker cocktail in Rev. JW Simpson.

Look for a little black door on Goodge Street with Rev. JW Simpson written at the top and head down the stairs into a cold basement bar with peeling wallpaper that has a slightly creepy feel to it. This is probably down to the fact that this space was lived in by Reverend JW Simpson until the late 1980s before it turned into the seedier Capricorn Club that was apparently raided by the police in 2009. We went for two £8 cocktails - Mead Feast (mead, basil, honey & quince liqueur, lemon juice, bitters) was the winner - with an enjoyable free bowl of nuts on the side.  It's nice enough, with high quality cocktails from the Bourne and Hollingsworth team (it's a shame I didn't realise that they were round the corner too), but it really doesn't stand out from the crowd with its limited menu and dodgy décor.  We quickly made our way back on to the street to beat the Bubbledogs queue.

Bubbledogs is insanely popular for what it is - hot dogs and champagne.  Have a quick look through their guestbook to see baffling messages left by people who queued for two hours and were still delighted! Luckily we walked straight in at 17.30 when it opened as it quickly started to fill up.  The restaurant looks great (although there is very little room for the many waiters to squeeze by) with amusing hot dog themed artwork all around.

The hot dogs were tasty but on the small side considering this is a restaurant not street food.  The main problem is that the hot dogs take about a minute to eat and then you are just left drinking champagne for as long as you like, while the crowd builds up outside. For a bigger, better and quicker hot dog & champagne experience, order from the Big Apple Hot Dogs van whilst swigging from your own bottle of bubbly.  More interesting is the hidden room in the back which is the home of Kitchen Table - an intimate restaurant set around one table with room for 19 guests run by the same people as Bubbledogs.

Kitchen Table

Fairly unimpressed, we moved on to London Cocktail Club for some whiskey cocktails from the Monkey Shoulder team. Don't be fooled by the ordinary name, LCC Goodge Street (there is another on Shaftesbury Avenue) is a fantastic underground bar decked out like an old gin palace. I can't comment on the drinks from the menu but everyone I talked to at the bar raved about the cocktails and the bartenders. The food menu also looks enticing, especially the pudding cocktails!

London Cocktail Club - Goodge Street Gin Palace

We were treated excellently by the Monkey Shoulder team (Olivier splashing the cash, Dean making the cocktails) who were giving out free drinks based on their whiskey and talking about their upcoming events and experiences so far.  It was great fun getting the inside scoop on Monkey Shoulder events (look out for Popcorn Flip on 21st November!) and the lifestyle of an ambassador bartender - Dean had coincidentally been to Paris at the weekend like me but had spent considerably more than I had done overall in just one place! We even found ourselves listening to Dean's grandfather's old jazz band on his brother's iPod - check out Theis Nyegaard Jazzband if you are interested.  We had an Old Fashioned (one barrel aged and one freshly made to compare - barrel wins) and a Morning Glory each. We could have stayed there a lot longer as we were enjoying chatting away but more hopeful malt jockeys were turning up so we disappeared into the nice Young's pub over the road (The One Tun) to watch England vs Montenegro.

LCC creations

Two hours and two goals later we emerged back on to Goodge Street (all these places are extremely close to one another!) and decided to go to one last place that Dean had recommended earlier on.  He told us to go to The Artesian Bar at The Langham Hotel, and to order a Pina Colada with an umbrella, so that's what we did!  It's an expensive place to drink but if you can afford it, this is the place to be.  The drinks are excellent - seriously, try the Pina Colada - and the bar staff are top class.  The drinks cabinet is a sight to behold - sit at the bar so that you can ask about their weirder bottles.  We had a cheeky taster of hisbiscus, rosebud and white tea syrup.

Ask about the mysterious Black Top rum

The drinks menu is well put together with an interesting cocktail flavour map complete with axes included at the back (I love a good graph), but you may well also want to ask them to make up something completely new on the spot.  Whilst we were enjoying our Pina Coladas, Dean unexpectedly walked in with friends and introduced us to the barman serving us that he happens to live with (they must have some crazy parties). I thought I already had the exciting umbrella on the side of my glass but it turned out he was talking about something much bigger and sillier - a pretty manly picture I'm sure you will all agree.  We decided to stay for one more as his flatmate offered to make us something a bit different to finish. Mine was Japanese themed, served in a small box on top of some anime artwork - see the picture below.  Just as we were on our way out, Dean said "Don't leave without holding Johnny Depp's gun". I wasn't expecting that but a few moments later I was holding a pistol from Pirates of the Carribean 2 and a hat that the cast must have left behind!

Thanks to Will for an impressive début List appearance (5 points in one evening) and to everyone involved in the Monkey Shoulder event at London Cocktail Club for their generosity, and finally to Dean and his flatmate at Artesian Bar for helping us to end the evening in style!

Also, please check out some of my talented/crazy friends:

Photographer Seb - http://www.searproductions.co.uk/

Comedian Andy - also part of the Austentatious gang - http://austentatiousimpro.com/ - @andrewhunterm

3000 Mile Athlete Fundraiser Ali - http://iwouldrun3000miles.wordpress.com/

Freelance writer and scientist Cassie - http://cassandracoburn.com/

Art journalist Maggie - http://maggiegraywriting.wordpress.com/

Travel Blogger/ Future Lithuanian Ambassador Max I - http://maxchilaquiles.blogspot.co.uk/

Writer Max K - recently won HJI-Reed Youth Unemployment Essay Prize - http://mbk1.tumblr.com/

Paris Blog Quiz Prize - It's still open! I have received a couple of incorrect entries, and two correct entries from Tim and Shan on Wire who can't win because they were involved.  Don't all rush at once!