The National Portrait Gallery opens late on Thursday and Friday evenings for the Late Shift. There’s a bar, a dj playing chilled out tunes and lots of talks and tours, most of which are free. We went on the ‘Queering the Portrait’ tour, which runs each Thursday at 7.30pm from 9th – 23rd February. We were taken round the gallery by a group of...

Poppies Fish & Chips in Shoreditch serve up proper chips, fish cakes, battered sausages and pasties in a gorgeous retro 1940s-Britain-themed restaurant. The chips were just like they should be – fat, and crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Service was great, our meals came quickly and the food was cheap too. Two fishcakes and chips cost £7.90,...

Fancy some free theatre and music tonight at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane? Two wonderful ladies have set up a new theatre company called Oryx and tonight is the launch night. There’ll be free pop up plays, Folkroom Records DJ’s and actors from the Mountview Academy for Dramatic Arts. On their website, they explain what they’re all about. “We aim to...

Toasters ‘Everywhere’ Teaser Trailer from Toasters on Vimeo. Ever noticed pop art style toasters on walls, lamp-posts and billboards? They are the work of the Toasters. Originally from Wolverhampton, the Toasters have emblazoned their work in cities all around the world. They released a docu-film of their work last year called ‘Everywhere’....

Last night I experienced the best dumplings I’ve ever had in London. A trip to China Town has never been very successful for me. The food is over-priced and greasy and they rush you out in an hour to get more tourists in. So I still to east London for my Asian food-cravings. But last night, I was taken to Jen Cafe, a tiny place with about 8 tables, jutting out...

London Ice Sculpting Festival happened this weekend in Canary Wharf and was completely free. After a day of chipping, sawing and chiselling, the international teams came up with some pretty impressive sculptures. The creations were based on ‘Winter Sports’. My favourites are...