ANOTHER XMAS MOVIE NIGHT ALRIGHT!

Yet another cinematic festive treat for you - the Stags Head’s Christmas movie nights. There are two screening left to catch, tonight and tomorrow so take full advantage because it’s totally FREE! Tonight you have Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and on Thursday it’s White Christmas. All films will have a 15 minute interval for a smoking a break and so you can get your orders in at the bar of course! Popcorn, Candyfloss, Mince Pies and Mulled wine will be available to purchase, well it is bloody xmas.

Films start at 8pm guys.
The Stags Head Hoxton, 55 Orsman Road, Hoxton N1

PAPER DRESS...

Shoreditch is all about doing something a little different, a little trendy and a little off plan. One venue jumping on the bandwagon is Paper Dress a vintage clothing boutique by day and a speakeasy bar by night, host to range of alcohol induced activities. If their opening party is anything to go by you can expect go-go dancers, burlesque and rock n roll bands - the Noisettes appeared as a secret headliners. The great news is the one-stop boutique is holding a special New Years Eve party with live music from Dead Coast and Speak & The Spells, Lava wheels, drinks specials and DJs playing a mix of psych, mod, northern soul and vintage rock n roll up till 4am.

Tickets costs £15 in advance and can be purchased online or in store. However we managed to score two free tickets to the NYE party for two lucky readers - All you have to do is email couplesontheinside@gmail.com with Paper Dress as the subject - the first one to do so wins!

Paper Dress, 114-116 Curtain Rd, EC2A
www.paperdressvintage.co.uk

NEW YEAR'S EVE 2011

It's already that time of year when new years plans need to be made. Every venue in London will be hosting some sort of shindig but what are your options?

Putney boozer Citizen Smith (160 Putney High Streeet) is hosting a ski lodge themed party to help bring in the new year in alpine style. £15 gets you a party from 7pm until 3am with residet DJ Matt Lisle while over in Battersea, The Lost Angel (339 Battersea Park Road) is throwing a masquerade ball, so dig out your sparkliest mask for a night of mystery! £25 gets you into a party hosted by DJ Phatplastik with cocktails from £4.50 until 9pm or alternatively a £45 ticket will see a two course dinner also included.

If you fancy a more retro feel, Blind Tiger and The Lost Society have combined to create The Lost Tiger (697 Wandsworth Road) to create a 1920's style speakeasy. Standard tickets are £10, or tickets including dinner are £25 for two courses or £30 for three courses. The evening promises to be a decadent night of excess, all curated by DJ Trixta. Meanwhile in Clapham, Powder Keg Diplomacy (147 St John's Hill) are hosting a seven course Victorian banquet featuring a particularly enticing cheese course and espresso martinis. Tickets cost £65.50 for all seven courses or £50 for a mere five courses. Alternatively, tickets without dinner are £10.

Alternatively one of our favorite bands The Horrors will be taking to the decks at one of our favourite East London boozers The Shacklewell Arms - tickets are a mere 10 pounds.

2012 looks to be an exciting year around London, so make sure you start it in style!

DALSTON WINTER FAIR...

Looking for something to do this Sunday? Then look no further! Check out the Dalston Winter Fair taking over Gillett Square and the Dalston Culture House from 12pm - 6pm. There will be a swap shop, swing dancework shops, festive songs, games, craft workshops and lots more - plus it's all free!

If you're broke why not head on down and make some xmas presents - homemade pressies go down a treat!

Sun 18th Dec, 12pm - 6pm
Gillett Square, N16
www.gillettsquare.org.uk

THE PECKHAM HOTEL

The latest in a long line of festive pop-ups to cross our path is The Peckham Hotel. Open for just one month the hotel which isn't really a hotel at all is open every night for food, booze, music and entertainment with a different host each night.

Just remember to pack your swimwear, we've heard there is a hot tub - oooo la la!

Open throughout December
The Peckham Hotel, 137–139 Copeland Road, Peckham, SE15 

http://peckhamhotel.com

CINEMATIC DELIGHTS...

Another couple of classic Christmas heart warming cinematic treats have crept in on our festive radar. First up the Berkley Rooftop; this minuscule cinema experience with just four seats is perfect for a treat with some close friends or a double date. The roof top terrace has been made into a winter hideaway with heating lamps, fluffy cushions, warm blankets, hot water bottles, hot chocolate and mince pies to keep you warm! Tickets for these screenings sell out super fast, even with a price tag of £55 a show. So be uber generous this xmas and splash out on your nearest and dearest!

Today - 31 Jan. Daily 5pm & 7 pm
The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1X
www.the-berkeley.co.uk


If that seems a little too out of your price range as you’ve been spend, spend, spending on prezzies already well you can enjoy just as good an experience on Wednesday at the Nave on St Paul Road which is showing Miracle on 34th Street. A £6 advance ticket gets you entry to watch this 1947 classic, housed inside a beautiful little church. And yes there are mince pies, yes there is mulled wine and yes there are DJ’s. DJ’s? Yes there are, a very non festive but ultimately brilliant time can be had, all proceeds go to the homeless so everyone benefits.

December 21st 7.30pm-12am
The Nave, 1 St Paul’s Road, N1

BREW DOG...

BrewDog is a fresh, modern brewery shaking up the world of commercial beverages by creating good old fashioned ales and giving them an exciting kick into the 21st century. The independent Scottish brewery certainly has its own way of doing things and has created a brilliant concept and identity with names like Punk IPA and Trashy Blonde. Not only have they previously served beer in road kill, they have also brewed the strongest strength beer in the UK and hold the record for the strongest beer on the planet. WOWZA!! Now the company have headed South and opened a brand new bar in the heart of Camden.

Just off the main drag, the pub itself is an industrial-style space with a beer cellar downstairs featuring secluded seating, private vaults and a wide bottle selection. If you like your ales oaky, dense and full of difference aromatic flavours you will certainly be in for a treat at Brew Dog. When we visited they had a HUGE selection of draft and bottles including the strongest beer in the UK named ‘Tokyo’ served in a half, be warned though this comes in at around the 18% mark – four halves in and things could get messy!

Food comes in the form of burgers and pizzas with a menu created by 2011 BBC Masterchef winner Tim Anderson – great for soaking up the booze if you feel yourself sliding. We have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be one popular bar!

BrewDog,113, Bayham Street, Camden, NW1
www.brewdog.com

ZOROKOVICH CHRISTMAS BASH

Fancy doing something a little different this Sunday? Well head on down to the old dentists on Chatsworth Road for the Zorokovich Christmas party. For one day only the company have created an exhibition of limited edition hand printed photographs from behind the scenes of the feature film How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire, by Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell.

There will be cocktails created by two of London's finest bartenders including our fav Stav Bee at the brand new Zorokovich Cocktail bar and guests are encouraged to dress to impress! Live music and dancing will be standard. Just make sure you remember the password below because if you dont know the password you ain't getting in!

Sun 18th Dec, 3pm - 11pm

33 Chatsworth Road, E5
PASSWORD: DOSVIDANYA DOROGOI

COCKTAILS AND ICE SKATING

Head along to the Natural History Museum Ice Rink on Thursday for a night of ice skating and cocktails. There are a host of ice skating rinks in London but the Natural History Museum Ice Rink set amidst 76,000 sparkling white pea lights is recognised as one of most special locations in the capital.

Cocktail Nights are organised by Zafferano and feature half price Bellinis alongside a range of classic cocktails with a twist - Mango Mojitos, Moscow Mules and Gin Royales. Prices start at just £3 so it could be tempting to go a bit overboard but remember nothing good ever came out of drunken ice skating and no one wants a trip to A & E.

Skating is priced from £11.50 per adult.

Thurs 15th Dec
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7

BUM BUM TRAIN...

You may remember us telling you about the Bum, Bum Train last month, well as usual those shows sold out Mega fast! But it's not all bad news, the show will be releasing even more tickets although they are going all camelot on us and offering them in a lottery style ballot on the Run Riot website.

You can apply for tickets for shows in January on 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th. Tickets cost £37.50 and the lottery closes Saturday, 17 December 2011.

Register here: https://tickets.run-riot.com - GOOD LUCK PEOPLE!

21-31 New Oxford St, WC1
bumbumtrain.co.uk

CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT AT LONDON ZOO

By now, hopefully you're in the festive spirit and London Zoo are getting in on the Christmas fun by hosting a carol concert on Saturday 17th December. The evening consists of two events, firstly a children's concert which kicks off at 5pm, followed by a concert for adults and older children at 7pm. We're guessing that, as a zoo, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer will be a particular favourite. All I Want For ChristMouse Is Emu? Perhaps Silent Nightingale? Or maybe Away In A ManGerbil? (Ok, we'll stop...)

Mulled wine and mince pies are available and a mini German market will be selling gifts and decorations. There's also a rumour that Santa himself will be there! This promises to be a wonderful evening for all the family that would make even the least festive Scrooge feel Christmassy. Tickets are available online and priced at £16 for adults and £12 for children.

Sat 17th Dec
London Zoo, Regents Park, NW1
www.zsl.org

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE SLOE GIN.....

Earlier this week we were lucky enough to be invited to a Winter Sloe Gin masterclass by Bombay Sapphire taking place at the Bombay Sapphire Blue Room in Vinopolis. We have to admit we're already big fans of Bombay Sapphire so learning a new way to drink our favourite gin went down a treat.

Hosted by brand ambassador Sam Carter we were greeted with a sloe gin cocktail before learning about how Bombay is made and which botanicals go into the gin. We were then led through to the bar area where we were shown how to make sloe gin at home (jeez there is a lot of sugar in there!) using a method which takes approx 3-4 hours. Basically all it takes is sloe berries, gin and sugar, mix them up and add them to a sealed container then it's into your dish washer, 3 hours on a 60 degree rinse and walla, you have your batch of sloe gin!

Once we were shown how the gin was made we then got to try it neat and in six different cocktails - our personal favourite was the Quibble; a mixture of sloe gin, grapefruit juice and lemon juice topped with Creme de Mure. After getting the attendees up mixing and shaking we left with bottle of Bombay in hand vowing to make our own sloe gin....tbc

ONCE UPON A WINTERTIME...

With Christmas looming around the corner there is so much to do so we’d thought we’d make that choice a little harder for you. No really, this one is easy, everything is all under one roof; Amhurst terrace, E8 in the heart of hackney to be precise. Friday the 16th and Saturday 17th you can rollerdisco your ass to electro/mashup/rock n roll whilst eating a three course banquet by the Wild Game company which includes a spit roast wild boar. After that whizz down the night market for some last minute Christmas additions and have a peek at the works of some of the best up and coming artists in the UK and find yourself in one of the many secret rooms within the 70,00 sq ft location. Breathe! Once Upon A Wintertime is open until 4am both nights! Oh yes and tickets include a free cocktail, I knew we’d win you over in the end.






Once Upon A Wintertime
Tickets: £15 early bird, £20 normal
Fri 16th Dec & Sat 17th Dec (6pm till 4am)
Amhurst terrace, E8

HACKNEY PICTURE HOUSE...

The brand, spanking new Hackney Picture House has teamed up with cult film programming team Midnight Movies to throw a party to remember!

The epic event consisting of John Waters-inspired short films, cocktails, mince pies, a 'Grotty Grotto' and a Hot Breath Karaoke TV Party, kicks off tonight at 10pm. The dress code is festive sleaze so expect lots of sexy Santa’s and perhaps even a Rudolf-kini (run for your life!)

Costing just ten English pounds.

Fri 9th Dec, 10pm
Hackney Picturehouse, 270 Mare Street E8

THE CORONA EXTRA SUMMER POP UP BEER GARDEN...

We all love a beer garden in the summer, so what the hell do we do when its as cold as this? Well we think we may have found a solution...The new ‘Corona Extra Summer’ pop-up beer garden bringing a touch of summer to the UK while temperatures are plummeting outside. The UK’s first ‘summer in winter’ beer garden is built within a heated dome which allows guests to take off their woollens and thick thermals in favour of t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops.

No Christmas trees, no Christmas tunes, no mince pies and no mulled wine, just ice cold Corona. Swimwear optional.

The ‘Corona Extra Summer’ Pop-up Beer Garden
Thurs 15th Dec - Sat 17th Dec, 1pm - 9pm
Riverside Walkway at London’s Southbank

THIS IS ENGLAND '88...

They say Christmas is a time for forgiving and for forgetting, a time of love and laughter and joy ever after... With echoes of A Christmas Carol, Meadows is set to take viewers to places they never thought they'd go to. Haunted by the devastating events that took place 18 months ago, Lol and Woody both find themselves struggling to cope with the emotional fallout. And they're not the only ones lacking in festive spirit, as Shaun learns the hard way, just how much love hurts. This is Christmas, This Is England style.

This Is England 88 will air in three one hour installments over three consecutive nights starting on December 13th.

THE WESTBURY

We're dedicated to bringing you the lowdown of the best pubs and bars in town, and our journey around the boozers of London bought us to The Westbury, a great modern pub near Kilburn Park. Even on a fairly quiet Wednesday evening, the bar had a great atmosphere and a real sense of fun.
Wednesdays here means quiz night, but you don't need to be a trivia genius to win big money - on the spot challenges can be won that really pay out! For example, during our visit, the challenges included drawing the best moustache with face paint for £100 and throwing paper balls at a target for £200...A little bit of luck and the milkybars could be on you!

The food is worth mentioning too, we sampled the chilli burger with tangy chilli BBQ sauce and jalapeños and the Mexican burger with spicy guacamole, pineapple and lime and coriander dressing. The portions are large and cooked to perfection. On Mondays and Tuesday's you buy one and get the second for just £1. BONUS!

The cocktail menu is worth sampling with some unique cocktails designed by the bar staff. We tried the Gin Genie - a refreshing mix of gin, raspberries and lychee liqueur with apple juice, and the Morado Dorado, a potent blend of tequila, blackberries, passion fruit and creme de mure. On reflection, these may have been the reason we didn't win the quiz. Good food, good drinks, good entertainment equals great pub.

The Westbury, 34 Kilburn High Street, NW6
www.westburybar.com

7s-ELEVEN RECORD SHOP...

This Saturday music fans can gather at the 7s-Eleven record shop at Bloomsbury's Orange Dot Gallery. Open from 11am and 7pm, this is a great place for some of the most exciting independent labels in the UK.

Participating labels include:

Abeano
Cascine
Double Denim
Luv Luv Luv Records
Merok
Moshi Moshi
Pictures Music
Something in Construction
Sounds of Sweet Nothing
Tough Love
Transparent
Tri Angle
Young Turks
+ Live Acts TBA

Each label will have a small corner of the shop to sell records. For anyone making a day of it, there will also be a piano set-up with short performances from special guests aligned to those labels. The full-line up for those performances will be announced shortly before the event.

54 Tavistock Place, WC1H