• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Food and Drink

Manchester M1 5QA
0161 236 2209

kgc said
Great place for lunch
This is a great place for a quick bite to eat. Cheap, convenient and really nice as well. Freshly baked pasties and pies are served every lunch time. The main bad point is that at lunch they tend to be quite popular and build up quire a queue. Due to this I normally go around half-past one to avoid the normal lunch hour crowd as they bake continually throughout the day basically. They also do a good range of muffins and cakes as well, which I sometimes get. All in all a great lunch and one that would be hard to surpass. There are many branches so finding one where-ever you are based is not too difficult.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Events and Entertainment

Manchester M2 3WS
0161 907 9000

kgc said
Good concert venue
I think that this is the best music venue in Manchester. I’ve never been to the MEN Arena and so I can’t really comment on it. Having said that, I pass the Bridgewater Hall every time I come into Manchester city centre and the building looks modern, stylish and very well built. It impresses me each time I pass it. Inside the building is just as good and the building has brilliant acoustics, so even if you sit right at the back you’ll still get the full concert experience. Home of the Halle Orchestra, several pop concerts are also now performed here. I think it could well rival the MEN arena.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Leicester Square
• Category: Events and Entertainment

London WC2H 7LP
0871 224 4007

kgc said
Worth going to once
I went here so that
1. I could say I had since this is where all the premières in this country are held
2. To see what it was like/ for the experience

Yes it is expensive but you pay for the status. I was very impressed by the large size though and I also thought the screen was much larger than normal. It is more of an experience than other cinemas and it’s also great waiting outside watching the stars arrive for the latest blockbuster with the cinema all dressed up and the red carpet out along the square. I would recommend going to see a film you know you’re going to enjoy here, and then you’ll be able to justify the price.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Farringdon
• Category: Sightseeing and Attractions

London EC4M 8BX
020 7236 4128

kgc said
Decent place, unhelpful staff
The building of course, is amazing even when half covered in scaffolding. Famous from films like Mary Poppins, Doctor Who (The Invasion) etc. Having said that I went here to attend a debate on global warming that was being supported by St. Paul’s and held in the building and I left distinctly unimpressed. First off, the cathedral staff directed us into “reserved” seats and then we were told we had to move. As it turned out, half of these so-called reserved seats ended up being empty anyway. The actual debate started significantly behind schedule and had to be cut short when one of the guests had to go on elsewhere.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Lambeth
• Category: Hotels and Travel

London SE1 8UD
020 7928 6083

kgc said
Convenient for Victoria
I stayed here when I had a conference to attend early the next morning at Victoria. The big plus is it is literally less than 5 minutes walk from Victoria tube station and it’s also inexpensive. However, I did not find the staff very helpful, especially when I arrived – he didn’t seem to know what he was doing at times I felt. The room was small but OK I suppose. The TV didn’t work (or rather it did but did not get any reception). The bathroom instead of being central was at completely the opposite end of the corridor I was on, which didn’t help.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Lisson Grove
• Category: Sightseeing and Attractions

London NW1 5HT
0870 400 3000

kgc said
Was never very good to start with - now closed
This attraction is now closed in the first place if you’re thinking of visiting it. It’s now some sort of celebrity show in there. Having said that, I was not particularly keen on it in the first place. It was very small and did not have much information. The main show was OK and repeated every 15 minutes. However, they always interrupted all other displays to announce a new one was starting and this always irked me.
If you have time pay a visit to Greenwich to visit the newly refurbished Royal Observatory (unfortunately it is not listed on this site) – good for adults and children. Lots of information, very hands-on and an all-round brilliant attraction.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Bloomsbury
• Category: Arts and Culture

London WC1B 3DG
020 7636 1555

kgc said

Whilst the collections are very impressive, even if at times stolen (prime example being the Elgin Marbles) I found the staff were rude and very unhelpful towards me. The galleries are confusingly laid out and where there are descriptions of artefacts they are generally most unhelpful. My advice would be that this place is worth a visit but don’t donate any money towards them. The British Library are much better. I went with an archaeology student, who had studied some of the collections and even she found some their descriptions hard to find and was confused by the layout. Related galleries tend to be on different floors I found.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Covent Garden
• Category: Events and Entertainment

London WC2E 8BE
020 7304 4000

kgc said
Best to save for an ultra special date
The Royal Opera house is a very nice building located right in the Centre of London’s West End and the performances they put on there are usually very good. However I find the ticket prices astoundingly expensive e.g. when I wanted to go and see Candide performed here. Generally, for the back seat at the opera you could afford 1-2 best seats to go and see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Haymarket. I realise not everyone likes musicals who likes opera but this is what I generally do. Save this for a very special occasion, otherwise do something else on your day/ night out.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: South Kensington
• Category: Arts and Culture

London SW7 2RL
020 7942 5000

kgc said
One of the best London Museums
This is a simply brilliant museum and is free to enter, although you have to pay to enter the special exhibition area, but this is standard with most museums. Collections include dinosaurs, spiders, life sized models of some of the largest mammals, impressive geology collections an earthquake simulator (I found this particularly interesting). Yu could easily spend a day here and still not get around everything there is that much to do. If you’re into nature and only have a day to spend in London then this is the place to come and visit. It’s just as short walk from South Kensington tube station.

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Barbican
• Category: Arts and Culture

London EC2Y 8DS
020 7382 7105

kgc said
Good concert venue
Very nice venue. I went to see Dave Brubeck perform here twice, they were amazing concerts and the Barbican carried the sound well and the seats were comfortable. It is only a short walk from the Barbican tube station and there is a blue line on the pavement – all you have to do is to follow it. If there was another concert I was interested in going to see here I wouldn’t hesitate in buying tickets (price permitting of course). As I’m sure you all know the venue can be very important with regards to how much you enjoyed the concert.