Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with london

I urgently need a seriously good cosmetic dentist in London.

Specklet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:48:49 -0800

I urgently need a seriously good cosmetic dentist in London. I have a temporary Maryland bridge replacing one of my front teeth. It's made of composite material, is very fragile, and now it's loose for the fourth time. (I've HAD it with this thing.)

I need a dentist who will make me a very nice RPD (flipper) to replace what I've got now, to use until I can afford an implant. When I'm ready for the implant, I'm going need a bone graft, so the dentist needs to work with a good surgeon as well.

I'm not concerned with finding and NHS dentist, this really cannot wait. I'd like to be in a dentist chair in a week.

Thanks!

Recommended business shoe companies/designs/shoeshops in London?

Cantdosleepy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:00:06 -0800

Business shoes in London for a man? I've been making do with a pair of leather shoes that I bought in Next seven years ago. They are at this point essentially one big scuff held together with cheap rubber.

Now I've got a grown up job and a Summerful of weddings to attend, I'm looking to buy a solid pair of business shoes.

I want these things to be multi-purpose - they need to be able to close the deal, congratulate the bride, and commiserate the bereaved. For this reason black is really the only colour option. Simple is best, too - no logos or gaudy patterning.

I'm a big-footed gent - size 11, width G, and am thinking of spending around £100.

Anyone have any recommended companies / designs / shoeshops in London?

Thanks!

Hooked on junk

WPW — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:14:09 -0800

Does anyone know of any "good" junk shops in east London? I've lived in east London (Mile End) for a year now, and have only ever found one "good" junk shop, on Roman Road.

I say "good" because what I mean is "crammed with junk, mostly of no value, but with the strong possibility of coming across something very nice indeed; not a forgotten Prouve, just a decent piece of old furniture". I've been to the one of Romn Road three times and once came away with a beautiful c1920 trunk; that easily repaid the investment of time and effort.

So, does anyone know of any place like this between the City and the Lea Valley?

Cockney hair-slicers sought.

greytape — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:34:44 -0800

Looking for a relatively inexpensive men's haircut in London. I don't want to pay £12 for a basic barber, or £35 to go to Toni and Guy, I want that happy medium, to pay around £20-25. Must be in London.
Any suggestions?

What's the best place to view the Red Bull Air Race in London?

ajp — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:39:49 -0800

What's the best place to view the Red Bull Air Race in London? Buying tickets to the London Red Bull Air Race is apparently daft, since it gets totally crowded and the view isn't great. I'd like to see it clearly, from an uncrowded spot. It can be from a distance, as long as I can see most of the course.

One possibility I'm considering is renting a hotel room for one of the days. It would need a good view of the river. If anyone knows of such a hotel, that would be great.

You HAVE to have the...

roofus — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:30:57 -0800

I would like suggestions for London restaurants that are worth visiting just for one unmissable dish. I really like restaurants with a menu that is totally dominated by one stand-out dish.

Some restaurants that got me thinking along these lines:

Jen Cafe in Chinatown, where most of the customers just order the Beijing dumplings

Pham Sushi in Old St where the crunchy tuna roll is legendary

Atelier de Joel Robuchon, where everything is special, but the truffled mashed potato is actually world famous

I hope that makes it clear the kind of thing I am looking for.

Bonus marks for actual sit-down restaurants that only serve one dish.

I need to find a quiet space to write in downtown London

electric_counterpoint — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:44:02 -0800

I need a quiet place to write in London. A library would be great, but... ...but I'm not attached to a British school. I thought the British Library would be my ticket, but they require a reader card too, and I don't live here permanently, so I don't have the "proof of address" they require.

My criteria:

- Quiet*
- Outlets to plug in a laptop
- Free wifi
- In or near Camden

*By "quiet," I don't mean totally silent, just no Muzak and nobody at the next table carrying on a conversation.

Buy Asus 901 EEE PC in London?

bollockovnikov — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:46:10 -0800

EEE PC Filter: Where can I buy one of the new Asus 901 EEE PCs, in London? Preferably today. I can go to central London, near Tottenham Court Road maybe? But I live in North East London.

Any ideas? Cheers

Chippy in Central London?

HaloMan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:12:15 -0800

Are there any proper "traditional" chip shops within central London (zone 1 and 2)? I've had several friends who live in London remark to me there's not a 'real' British chip shop like you'd find in the rest of England in central London, but rather just lots of restraunts and places that appeal to tourists. From what I've seen of London, this seems to be true, sadly. As someone who is considering moving to London, this seems very unfortunate as I like a good visit to the chippy every now and then.

Is there one that's hidden away somewhere that's managed to elude me? If not, where is the closest one?

London by limo in 3-4 hours?

cowbellemoo — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:35:15 -0800

I will have a ~6 hour layover in Heathrow. Can anyone recommend a good private sightseeing tour of London? (More details: just me, Sunday arrival at 11am, departure 5pm, 2 weeks hence)

I'd love to hire a chauffeured car with a talkative driver and 5 minute curbside stops to get out and take some photos. Something like this, only shorter and with stops for junk food. I'd prize punctuality above all else, naturally.

Should I try and work out an amended tour package or just hire someone for 3-4 hours and try to map my own route? Does anyone have advice or recommendations?

London, Dublin, Cork, Here I come!

majikstreet — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:21:39 -0800

TravelFilter: Things to do in London, Dublin, Cork. Places to stay in Dublin and Cork. Indian Restaurant recommendations in London. General restaurant recommendations for either London, Dublin, or Cork I'll be going to London, Dublin, and Cork in August. Do you have any recommendations for things to do? Or places to stay in Dublin and Cork? I know that there is good Indian food to be eaten in London, but I don't want to just wander around trying to find food. Other restaurant recommendations also appreciated.

Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

holdkris99 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:03:06 -0800

Tell me some indie/punk shows/venues I MUST see in England/Amsterdam/France/Spain (but mainly England) this fall (mid-August through October). I am most interested in small to midsize shows (bands that haven't broke through in the U.S. would be great) and venues that I might not necessarily find unless I am looking for them specifically on Pollstar or something similar. I know this is a very open ended question, but so is my trip. Thanks. Oh, and, As great fun as they may (or may not) be I am too old in body (if not mind and spirit) for the giant festival scenes.

Shove off, potato features!

cooker girl — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:41:04 -0800

AdCampaignFilter: Poster in the London Underground that read "Shove off, potato features!" My google-fu has failed and I really want to know what the product was. Bonus points for a poster I can get my grubby little paws on. It was mid-1999 and I don't remember anything else about the poster. Sadly, I did not take a picture of the poster. Help!

Best Coffee in the Square Mile?

vacapinta — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:06:40 -0800

Best Flat White in the City of London? Coffee-lovers, please advise! I'm a big fan of Monmouth and in fact I often get my morning coffee at their Covent Garden store before heading to work.

But I work in the City, not too far from Moorgate station and all there is here is the Starbucks/Costa chains! Are there any cafes around here worth checking out? Perhaps ones using Monmouth beans?

At the moment, I'm going to try out the Coffee guys on Whitecross but even if that works out, any other options?

Scotland-a-go-go Land

santojulieta — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:08:12 -0800

Travel Slash Honeymoon Filter: Help us coordinate in-country travel options between London and Edinburgh. Based on previous recommendations, we've decided to do it up right one night of our honeymoon and stay at The Witchery in Edinburgh. This is going to be one night in the middle of a 9 day stay, so we're looking for the best options to minimize time wasted travelling.

Right now, our best option is to book an Easy Jet flight that takes about 1:30 and will only run us about $200. However, we'd have to travel to the airport from (what we assume will be) central London.

What would you recommend?

Here are the essential details:

1. We're booked at the Witchery for October 17th and will be returning on October 18th.

2. We're both 27, so we're too old to apply for the student travel program with Britrail. Looking at Britrail tickets, it seems that a flexipass is going to run us in the neighborhood of $600, which seems nonsense to me.

3. We have no problem with renting a car and driving, except that I have no concept of what gas will cost in Europe. And it appears, according to Google Maps, that the drive will take 8ish hours.

4. Taking a coach, cheap though it might be, seems terribly unromantic and a huge waste of time.

Parking my hired car in a car park

Dec One — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:13:58 -0800

24 hours in London (arriving at Heathrow and leaving from Stansted). Where shall we leave our luggage while we see the city? Three of us arrive Thursday at 6:45 in the morning at Heathrow Airport. A fourth is already in London, on the Northern line of the tube. All four of us are spending Thursday night at a bed & breakfast near Stansted Airport and we fly out of that airport at 6:45 Friday. We want to see the city, while leaving our luggage in a secure location. So here's the plan I came up with. We will rent - I mean, "hire" - a car. I found this list of park and ride stations. Finchley Central has about the most parking spaces of any stop on the Northern line. So we will park there, the fourth member of our party will meet us, and we will leave all the bags in the car and take the tube into the city. After a few hours in the city, we'll go back to our car and drive to the B&B.

Is there a better way to do this? I'm guessing it'll probably be 9:00 by the time we get to Finchley Central. Will all the parking spaces be taken by then? Will there be any place to park nearby the station? Should we park at a different station? Or should we do something else entirely?

Disabled Parking & Restaurant combo in London

Wilder — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:46:21 -0800

London, England: Disabled car parking space & Restaurant combo needed near Waterloo station. I've been asked to arrange a dinner meet at very short notice for Tuesday 17th June, and need a very particular type of set up.
As close as possible to Waterloo station.
A place where a party of 6 can talk business comfortably (although being overhead is not a problem so it doesn't have to be a private room)
One of our number is a bilateral amputee who can walk relatively well on prosthesis but a nearby disabled car parking space would be ideal.
I know I could probably google all this in an hour (I don't have the google-fu of many on here) but work pressure makes it difficult. May I abuse my fellow mefites for once, please?

Looking for a good place to get a tattoo in London.

Specklet — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:22:10 -0800

Looking for a good place to get a tattoo in London. Any recommendations for a highly skilled artist in a reputable studio would be most welcome. The piece I'm getting is relatively simple, but I don't mind paying extra for good work.

Incidentally, is there any difference in tipping etiquette between the States and the UK? I've previously only gotten tattoos in America.

Thanks!

Where can I take studio art classes in London?

huzzahhuzzah — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:26:33 -0800

Where can I take studio art classes in London? Does anyone know where I can take a short course in painting (or printmaking or art history) for credit in London? I live in the US, but I will be in London for the month of October (my husband will be there for work) and would like to take some art classes for credit. I am building a portfolio to apply to a painting MFA program (I already have a BA), so I am looking for something serious and academic.

If there aren't good short courses, I could stay in London for longer than my husband and take classes for the semester. Any thoughts on strong programs where I could enroll as a continuing education student?

London+England trasportantion, baggage shipping and hotel chains

elpapacito — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:09:47 -0800

London+England transportation/extra baggage shipping / hotel chains questions. A minor question about Scotland as well. Hi there. After looking at previous posts tagged london+travel, I'd like to ask the following questions:

- Hotels: I am used to book Ibis/Mercure (Accor Chain) alike rooms, which are often spartan , but clean, with air conditioning + tv and the occasional in-room wifi and broadband, which are a good bonus.

http://www.premiertravelinn.com/ and http://www.travelodge.co.uk/ were both recommended in a previous thread, and I get the impression they both are of very standardized, tiny, corporate just-to-sleep in chains. I'd like to know wheter my impression is correct or not OR if you know of any similar, no-frills no unpleasant surprises chains in London (even better if present all over England)

- The tube relative to tourism attractions: It seems to me that most of the attractions in London are quite concentrated in the center, which is Tube's Zone1 or 2 at worst, except for Kew, Greenwich and Windsdor. I was wondering wheter a locally bought Oyster card + Pay-As-I-Go (which I assume can be bought by non-nationals as well) could be more convenient than a x days Travel Card (which I also supposes is routinely contained in a Oyster)

- Excess baggage shipment: I have noticed that Royal Mail doesn't seem to be shipping packages internationally (to europe) whose weight is greater then 2 Kg. That's quite inconvenient as I will
prob have to ship books and other goods, but airplane extra weight fare is out of question. I'd like to know if there is any less expensive (in comparison with Fedex ad UPS) and reliable shipping company that can organize a pick-up of a +-30 Kg baggage/package or have a drop off location
in central london.

- Transportation: So far I have tried http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ site to figure out expenses and timetable, but I have also learned about https://www.nationalexpress.com/ buses which seem to be even less expensive. While I try contacting them, I'd like to know if their bus service is, in your experience, usually on-time and reasonably clean. Also information about better bus/train services
and sites would be appreciated.

- Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh

Damn, why is so damn expensive in august? Additionally, where's the best nearby location to get the highlander/trainspotting alike highland experience and what else is noteworthy
in Scotland (no lockness thanks) , except Edin of course.

Thanks for your time!

Rollin', rollin', rollin' on a suitcase.

mdonley — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:33:21 -0800

I am looking for two very specific things regarding my one-night layover in London this Wednesday/Thursday and my insanely heavy rolling suitcase. 1) A hostel with a lift/elevator (or all on one level!). I will have a huge rolling suitcase full of a year's worth of stuff and would prefer to not throw out my back hauling it up stairs.

Budget: £20-25 (less is fine); Zone 1 preferable, near Paddington Station or a Piccadilly Line station (with a lift/escalators!) perfect.

2) The path of least resistance (fewer/no stairs, more lifts/escalators!) to this hostel from Gatwick on Wednesday evening, and from this hostel to Heathrow T5 on a Thursday morning (my flight departs at 12:50, so I won't have to deal with an early morning scrum, hopefully). I'm happy to take buses/coaches, the Tube, overground trains, whatever, as long as I'm not paying, say, £10 more than I would or some alternate transport.

How do I get into the Kinky groove in London?

laumry — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:09:43 -0800

Any ideas for cowboy and country-and-western themed places in London, UK? A friend and I are going to watch a Kinky Friedman gig in London (UK) in a few days. We'd like to have a full-on cowboy/Texas/country & western-themed evening before and afterwards. Can y'all recommend some appropriate places in London where we might get dinner or have some drinks? (And does anywhere in London do decent frozen margaritas?)

How to find a house boat to rent in london?

YouRebelScum — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:32:04 -0800

What's the best way to look for a house boat to rent in London? I've been checking the usual suspects, Loot, Gumtree, but there don't seem to be many options popping up, unless I'm missing an obvious subcategory. Is it just because they're few and far between, or is it that I'm looking in the wrong places?

Where to buy a suit that's comfortable when it's warm, in London or San Francisco?

adrianhon — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:13:01 -0800

Where to buy a suit that's comfortable when it's warm, in London or San Francisco? I'm looking to spend up to £400 (that's $800) on a suit that I can wear in summer for business occasions; I already have a good dark wool suit, but it's basically unbearable to wear when it's warm. What sort of fabric should I be looking for?

I'm based in London, but I'll be travelling to San Francisco in July, so I'm also wondering if I should take advantage of the strong pound... but I have no idea where to go in SF.

(BTW, I have seen the old thread where everyone recommended M&S - would people still repeat that recommendation, given the recent drop in quality in stuff like socks and underwear?)

Job advice for a burnt-out graphic designer in London?

linus587 — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:09:06 -0800

My life sucked, so I moved to the opposite side of the world. I'm a former mid-weight graphic designer in London, and I need a new non-design job. What should I do for a crust? I want to write, paint or find some other creative outlet. That's why I don't want to keep designing, as it is creatively draining and non-rewarding. I thought about working at a bookstore, or museum but I'm in too much debt, in too dear a city to earn minimum wage.

I consider myself a generally competent person, and I'm confident in my ability to learn something new. I've got a basic office & retail skill set. My only conditions are: no hospitality, not deadline-driven and not creatively draining. I will work hard, but want to leave work at work.

I've got some travel experience, having backpacked over the US, Brazil and Europe for 9 months independently (booked all my own flights, accommodation, etc and funded myself). I speak near-fluent Swedish. Maybe something in the travel industry? I have a natural computer literacy (programmer dad) -- I'm assuming selling computers is about as low-paying as selling books?

Any suggestions to help me get off my mate's couch and into a new job paying over minimum wage will be greatly appreciated!