ATEI, ICE and ICEi: three days of the latest gaming and gambling products from 600 companies over 100 product sectors in front of 25,000 excited visitors. Persuasive reasons to visit London between Tuesday 22nd and Thursday 24th January. If, however, you need greater convincing, consider that, when night falls, England’s glittering capital sparkles and crackles into life with some of the world’s greatest restaurants, theatres, pubs, clubs, museums, sporting events, places to visit and things to do.
We asked ten of Clarion Gaming’s finest to tell us where and when to sample the capital’s best wares. Our capital crowd, who work at Earls Court, play in central London and rest amid the city’s bosom, are John Fenna (Head of Marketing), Paul Mills (Senior Operations Executive), Charlotte Skinner (Marketing Manager), Rebecca Kinder (Marketing Executive), Dan Wiseman (Events Co-ordinator), Emma Green (Sales Manager), Jon Hales (Senior Sales Executive, ICE), Laura Mountford (Sales Executive, ATEI), Anthony Medica (Sales Executive, ICEi) and Lee Hadden (Market Analyst). Here are our decadent dectet’s recommendations…
Restaurants
“Scalini is a great Italian restaurant with a buzzing atmosphere on Walton Street while the food and service are first class. It’s behind Harrods and not too far from South Kensington.” – DW Location: Walton Street. Tube: Knightsbridge
“The Astor is a gorgeous cocktail bar and sumptuous restaurant. The Art Deco interior has been well maintained and whisks you immediately back to the roaring 20’s. Great place for an indulgent meal with colleagues or clients.” – CS Location: Glasshouse Street. Tube: Piccadilly
“Covent Garden is a great place to visit. My hot tip for fine dining is Clos Maggiore on King Street. The food is great and wine list lengthy. When you book, ask for a table in the garden. They close the glass roof, light a log fire and the room is decorated with lights, making it like a fairy grotto – an age away from the crowds outside.” – LM Location: King Street. Tube: Covent Garden.
“Meanwhile, one of the best gastro-pubs in London is to be found in the rather unlikely surroundings of The Cut, a narrow street close to Waterloo Station. The Anchor & Hope at number 36 has a great reputation for its cooking, beers and wines by the glass. But go early, as they do not take reservations.” – LM Location: The Cut. Tube: Waterloo
“Crazy Bear is a cool bar and restaurant near Goodge Street tube; the friendly staff and great Thai food make it an inviting place to eat and drink.” – EG Location: 26-28 Whitfield Street. Tube: Goodge Street
“Dans Le Noir is a restaurant in total darkness so it enhances your other senses. Upstairs has a lovely bar, have some drinks before being led downstairs for food. It’s a fun evening and experience.” – AM Location: Clerkenwell Green. Tube: Farringdon
“My favourite meal since I've been with the company has to be the one I had at The Collection. It looks great, the food is superb and I recommend, after dinner, you sample at least one of their extensive range of whiskies.” – JH Location: Brompton Road. Tube: South Kensington
“Maggie Jones’s has a wonderful homely feel and a traditional English menu. The generous portions mean you need to be hungry - food and service both very good.” – DW Location: 6 Old Court Place. Tube: High Street Kensington
Pubs
“Gordon’s Wine Bar is a nice place to visit for a glass of post-show wine; it’s a quirky wine bar – London’s oldest – hidden away and easy to get to from Earls Court.” – RK Location: 47 Viller Street. Tube: Embankment
“Zebrano Bar on Carnaby Street is a lively underground bar and club with a delicious array of fresh cocktails.” – EG Location: Ganton Street (just off Carnaby Street). Tube: Oxford Circus
“The Harwood Arms is a warm and friendly ‘boozer’ just round the corner from Earls Court at the Seagrave Road car park.” – PM Location: Walham Grove. Tube: Fulham Broadway
“The Living Room on Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, is great for unwinding after a hard day; they have a grand piano near their long bar, and often have jazz singers creating a unique atmosphere.” – CS Location: Heddon Street. Tube: Piccadilly
“The Farm on the way to Fulham is a classy but cosy bar-restaurant with superb sirloins while Kettners in Soho is good for big groups of people out to have a good time.” – PM (The Farm) Location: Farm Lane. Tube: Fulham Broadway.(Kettners) Location: 29, Romilly Street. Tube: Leicester Square
“If it’s not already cold enough outside for you, there’s the Absolut ICE Bar just across the piazza from The Living Room. It’s London’s only bar where everything from the bar to the walls to the glass you drink from is made entirely from crystal clear ice transported from Sweden.” – JH Location: Heddon Street. Tube: Piccadilly
“For a taste of Morocco and Thailand in one, head to the Sugar Hut in Fulham, for a great night out with some fun and funky music.” – AM Location: North End Road. Tube: Fulham Broadway
“After dinner, if you're in the mood for somewhere with a Latin feel, go to Floridita. It is distinctively Cuban in its theme and a bar/restaurant/salsa club rolled into one.” – LM Location: 100 Wardour Street. Tube: Piccadilly
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Places To Visit
“Hungerford Bridge is beautiful after dark; it’s ideally located at a bend in the Thames, to see up to Westminster and east to the towering buildings of London’s Square Mile. It’s London at its absolute best.” – CS Location: Victoria Embankment. Tube: Embankment
“Covent Garden’s St Paul’s Church, made famous as the church under which Eliza Doolittle sold her bunches of violets, is the perfect way to seek sanctuary. Known as the Actors' Church, it is full of memorials to great actors and actresses.” – LM Location: Covent Garden Piazza. Tube: Covent Garden
“Vinopolis is a great way to top up your knowledge on wine. The experience takes you on a worldwide tour of all wine making countries and gives you tasters of the wine along the way. Afterwards an amble through the nearby sights, sounds and smells of Borough Market is a must.” – JF Location: No.1 Bank End. Tube: London Bridge
“Earls Court is only minutes from the grounds of two premiership football clubs – Chelsea and Fulham – so if you're here over the weekend why not try and get some tickets and experience the atmosphere.” – LH (Chelsea) Location: Fulham Road. Tube: Fulham Broadway. (Fulham) Location: Stevenage Road. Tube: Putney Bridge
“Try Urban Golf. Go and have a look at it at www.urbangolf.co.uk – golf through the winter and without the walking!” – PM (Urban Golf Soho) Location: 33, Great Pulteney Street. Tube: Piccadilly Circus. (Urban Golf Smithfield) Location: 12, Smithfield Street. Tube: Barbican
“Brick Lane is a street in the East End of London. The street links Whitechapel High Street with Spitalfields, which was built in the 17th century. Today, it is the heart of the city's Sylheti Bangladeshi community, and is sometimes known as Banglatown. Brick Lane is an excellent place to find a good cheap curry restaurant where you can take your own beer or wine.” – RK Location: Brick Lane. Tube: Shoreditch
“All the public museums and galleries are world-famous so here's a less well known gallery to visit. Between the Ritz and St James's, at 8 Bennet Street, is the Portland Gallery. This is one of the largest private galleries in the West End and stocks modern British art. In particular it has had a long association with Jack Vettriano, the Scottish artist whose paintings such as The Singing Butler, have been reproduced more than any other living British painter and are enjoyed all over the world. Afterwards, why not spoil yourself with tea at the Ritz?” – LM Location: Bennet Street. Tube: Green Park
“A stroll along the South Bank (in a big coat and scarf), where you’ll see street entertainers, the London Eye, Tate Modern and you could finish up in the OXO Tower restaurant for great food and stunning views.” – JH Location: South Bank. Tube: Waterloo
“The Wolseley, open from 7am till midnight, is another of London’s historic buildings. Originally designed as a car showroom, the venue was taken over by Barclay's Bank in the late 20's until 1999. In 2003 it was renovated and is a must visit whilst in London for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a drink.” – DW Location: Piccadilly. Tube: Green Park
Insider’s Tips
“Before you travel to London, get yourself an ‘Oyster card’ (www.tlf.gov.uk). If you charge it with prepaid credit or a travelcard, you can travel around London more quickly and for about half the cost than if you were to buy individual tickets.” – CS
“Have a wander around Holland Park, one of London's loveliest small parks, with woodland and roaming peacocks.” – EG
“If you want to get a feel for London in a way that you don't get from the tube, then you should take one of the many London walks – whether it's a stroll round London's historic hidden streets, or a look at Jack The Ripper's murder sites, you'll see London in a whole new light.” – JH
“If it is anything other than bad weather… walk, don’t take the tube for short journeys. The distance between these tube stations is roughly a 10-minute walk: 1) Notting Hill to High Street Kensington is just a few minutes walk and there are some beautiful antique shops on the way; 2) Piccadilly Circus to Charing Cross – a wander through bustling Chinatown; 3) Holborn to Covent Garden, through London’s world famous ‘Theatreland’.” – JF
“The Tower of London is running a series of special Twilight Tours led by Yeoman Warders. These after-hours tours offer a quieter and more evocative experience of the Tower and the legends and tales associated with it.” – LH
There is your unique Guide To London, courtesy of Clarion Gaming’s ten-strong panel of experts. We hope they’ve shown that there is every bit as much excitement to be had away from Earls Court as there is at the London Show. Go ahead and explore, next year we might be calling you! (E-11.30.07)
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