The Setting

I live on Holloway Road. Now I am sure unless you lived in London, you wouldn't even know where Holloway Road was. Saying that, I'm sure some people in London don't even know where it is. The first time I ever came to this neck of the woods, I got off at a tube stop called Archway and was a little spooked out. Everything had the look of a dodgy LA street like you see in the movies minus the hookers. I promised myself I'd never come back again. Then I moved there a couple months later. Tastes change once you get used to a place and that happens fast in London.

Don't get worried...it isn't that bad. Let me tell you a little bit about what you can find in my hood. Let's start with food. Food is always important...especially for someone such as I who likes food. Now Archway (that's what the area is called) is blessed with the stuff. If you like the greasy late night variety, we got plenty of kebab shops and the ever faithful KFC. Since I am not an eater of chicken, it doens't hold a lot of appeal for me but for others, it's like heaven sent.

There are 3 places on my road, within spitting distance of my flat (though I never actually tried to spit on them from my house - seems quite rude), which are my favorites. The Sitara (nicknamed the Jazz Indian as the son of the owner Raj loves jazz and has pictures of Charlie parker and the like on the walls), the Peking Palace (100% vegetarian - no questions why I like the place) and the Tollgate Cafe (great for breakfasts with the added bonus of one time having the cutest. waiter. ever.).

If food isn't your thing, and why wouldn't it be?, there's also two other hotspots that have to be considered when rating the area for coolness. Our local record shop, Pure Groove (who also record acts as 679 Recordings such as the Streets and the Earlies and the Futureheads in their studio upstairs), and the coolest pub ever, Nambucca (live bands for a pound!), which we don't go to enough by far. If I make a stretch, I'll also include our favorite Indie dance clubs - The Garage (Saturday Night staple) and The Buffalo Bar (the venue for nights such as How Does it Feel to Be Loved and Art Rocker) that are located in Highbury and Islington but are on the same long long road that I live on.

That sound help a bit with the surrounding area. Though real estate agents are calling where I live Lower Hampstead Slopes to reflect the leafiness of Hampstead Heath, it's still the gringy place where Columbian "money Exchanges" pop up and get shut down and the store below us will give us alcohol late into the night. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. We like their dodgy ways.