London has an East Village too.  And it just turned two – so have second.  The stellar Shoreditch club is on 89 Great Eastern Street.  Not only known for its acclaimed mix of top-notch and newby DJ talent,  East Village also has an award winning menu.  For those who worship int he house of  music, East Village is famous for its annual Good Fridays.

Get a feel for the beat by downloading one of their live DJ sets.

More info on the East Village and other clubs, check out the list of top DJ bars in London.

No one can deny the fact that the recession is a bit of a bore.  You’re skinter than ever and can’t afford to live the champagne lifestyle you feel you so very much deserve; even if you can still afford to buy drinks AND dinner, chances are your friends cannot, and eating alone in public is so… brave.

The knock-on effect of all this austerity is that lots of great bars and pubs have been forced to close. Some venues however, are getting wise to the times what are a-changin’ and have created a sort of New Going Out scene.

The New Going Out bars have worked out that to lure patrons off their sofas and away from their hard earned pennies, you need more than just moderately priced drinks and a little background music. The Book Club in Shoreditch hosts a diverse range of nights, from craft fairs and philosophical lectures to club nights and art exhibitions downstairs and has a ping-pong room upstairs, while the Proud Galleries in Camden manages to be an art gallery, a bar, a gig venue and a club all at the same time. Still, our props have to go to The Victoria in Mile End. By day it is an old fashioned pub with a bizarre collection of taxidermy, a wide food menu and lovely homemade cupcakes. By night it variously transforms into an achingly cool club, a teeny cinema or a gig venue. We recommend, especially if you are a fan of dioramas featuring boxing squirrels.

- Anya Driscoll, Contributor

Bet you never thought you’d hear that.

Famous Jellymongers Bompas & Parr, who are the creators of the U.K.’s first walk-in cocktail (a sauna-like room of vaporized gin and tonic), are teaming up with Courvoisier to create the world’s largest, drinkable, punchbowl as part of their Architectural Punch Bowl competition.  Contestants who submitted their recipea for the Courvousier cocktail competition will have the opportunity to see 4,000 litres of their punch – the equivalent of 25,000 serves – in the world’s largest punchbowl – and Londoner’s are invited to have a glass and even boat across the surface of the punch on a raft.

Bompas & Parr will be using new techniques and technology to flood an entire building and then throw a party – “It’s going to be a mighty structure and is not without its complexities. At one stage we were worried that the weight of punch would cause the building to collapse!”

Bompas & Parr, one of Britain’s premier Jellymongers (great title for a business card, no?) explore how the taste of food is altered through synaesthesia, performance and setting.  They have conceived events ranging from breathable cocktails, to  glow in the dark Jelly club nights,  to custom jelly molds – even one of the entire United States out of Jell-O for Kraft.

The Architectural Punch Bowl will be open on 8th, 9th and 10th December at 33 Portland Place. Tickets are a mere £6.50 and on www.jellymongers.co.uk.  Proceeds with benefit charity.

And in case you thought this concept was somewhat fruity -”there is strong historical precedent for the Architectural Punch Bowl. In 1694 the admiral Edward Russell created a punch bowl so large that it took 2,500 lemons to make the punch that was served by a small boy in a boat.”

That’s justification enough, for me.

contributing editor – Jurek Lipski

Personally, nothing beats underground places to hang out.  Something unexpected and hidden, almost always turns out to be one heck of a night out.  Take Lounge Bohemia in Shoreditch, London.  I’ve been raving about this place ever since my first visit to Britain.  To get in, you have to press a button under a door’s mail slot, which grants you access to its bomb shelter-esque bar.  Think New York’s PDT (Please Don’t Tell).

Just recently, a former colleague of mine flagged down a list of the latest and greatest underground supper clubs in London.  Bless her heart for helping fuel my obsession with the cool unknown. 

Some argue The Secret Ingredient is one of London’s first underground supper clubs.  It’s housed in a flat in the neighborhood of Stoke Newington and serves up vegetarian Japanese inspired dishes at prices that made me do a double take.  Six courses starting at $25.  Insane! 

For those of you who don’t know what marmite is, let’s just say it’s an acquired taste.  Marmite is a bitter and potent spread made from yeast extract.  And that’s exactly what draws me in to Ms Marmitelover’s Underground Restaurant.  The owner is a former rock magazine photographer who hosts guests in her Kilburn home.  Can’t beat fresh local dishes with a celeb anecdote here and there.

Cross-dressing waiters and tarot card readers.  Enough said.  The Pale Blue Door is home to set designer and former chef, Tony Hornecker.  He welcomes guests to his London home for a night of robust comfort food and what The Times, London calls a cabaret extravaganza.

Writing this is making me hungry.  Marmite, anyone?