This hotel bar has been a consistent standout for nine years. It hasn’t had to reinvent itself to grab attention. The lounge’s brushed-shell interior provides a refined platform from which to sit and sip a drink. The bartenders are swift and attentive. But if you’re with friends, you may prefer the more intimate setting down in the so-called opium den, a cosy little enclave decorated with Middle Eastern drapes, couches and cushions. Most nights the den offers live music. One extra royal touch – the drinks are always served in a goblet.
July 31, 2009
April 16, 2009
Lunchan
In the heart of trendy Aoyama, this spacious, airy restaurant caters mainly to a foreign clientèle, with a hearty selection of pastas and curries. At lunch time, the set menus of sandwiches or pasta, at around 1,200 yen (£7), guarantee a healthy crowd, but the main reason people come here is for Sunday brunch. Served from 11am-3pm at a set price of 2,500 yen (£15), the menu features such decadent Western delights as American-style pancakes, fried eggs, sausages, bacon and eggs Benedict. To start the meal off with a bang, a glass of champagne or a cocktail is included in the price, as is endless coffee – a boon for those still suffering from the night before. Booking is definitely recommended, particularly for a party of more than two people.
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February 9, 2009
Mikulas
Christmas arrives early for Hungarian kids, as Mikulas – Santa Claus – comes down the chimney on the evening of Dec 6. Walking around town, visitors will see squeeky clean little shoes placed on window sills, waiting to be filled with chocolate, fruit and little presents. Consequently, shop windows will be filled with tack all week until the big day. Magyar children, however, do not sleep easy – a year of misdemeanours may result in the appearance of ‘krampusz’, the bogey-man, whose presence is usually a token gilded tree branch left on the window sill.
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January 17, 2009
The English Shop
Do continental breakfasts leave you peckish? Then a full Anglo-Irish plate of grease could be just the ticket. A newly opened tea room next to Brussels’ English shop has just begun serving up weekend brunch with meat and eggs supplied by Irish butchers, Jack O’Shea’s, next door. For under 500BF (£10), you can gorge yourself on sausages, rashers and black pudding and wash it all down with bladder-bursting quantities of tea and coffee at no extra charge. During weekdays, the tea room specialises in lighter fare, such as salmon rolls and quiche lorraine.
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December 23, 2008
Vonda Shepard
Cult-status is a good thing if you previously found yourself dropped by your record company. Vonda Shepard was without a record contract and a manager, having been dropped by Warner Bros, when she was spotted by ‘Ally McBeal’ creator David E Kelley; and the rest, they say, is TV history. Putting music to the angst-ridden lawyer’s TV life hasn’t done much harm to Shepard’s career, who started off as a backing singer to Jackson Brown. Now, she kicks of a European tour with this, her second visit to Dublin.
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November 4, 2008
Pipilotti Rist
Pipilotti Rist has created a total video environment, linking assorted video technologies, installation and music via a fictional Paris apartment, its occupant Himalaya Goldstein, and her body. The camera scans over, then pauses on details of the body projected above the white kitchen units, while in the living room, videos are projected out of sofas, over an old master, or on to the dining table, and photo furniture on a wall mingles with the real. If the individual elements are less captivating than the watery, maritime fantasy recently seen at the Swiss Centre, and there’s a hint of gimmickry, there’s no shortage of things to watch.
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October 22, 2008
Sigmar Polke
Sigmar Polke’s huge, striking paintings are being given their first major exhibition in Budapest since winning a number of awards in Europe and America. Born in 1945, Polke studied at the Hamburg Art Academy. Her work first made an impact at the Venice Biennale in 1986, and her canvases, which feature powerful juxtaposed images and a punchline at the bottom, have also been seen at the Liverpool Tate and the Munich Art House.
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October 7, 2008
Gaixample
A popular area of Barcelona has recently become firmly established as a centre for gay nightlife, thanks to the opening of several new clubs, bars and restaurants. Located in the eastern area of the Eixample district between Aragó and Gran Via streets are no less than 11 gay venues. These include the popular Dietrich bar, the two Arena bars – which give seven per cent of their take to help the fight against AIDS – and the Aire, a male gay restaurant which has now become a bar for both gays and lesbians.
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September 10, 2008
Kula Shaker
The post-Brit pop band from North London, Kula Shaker, are in town to promote their second and newest album, ‘Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts’. Led by Crispian Mills and Alonza Bevan, Kula Shaker’s blend of George Harrison-type mysticism and 1960s psychedelia, not to mention their home-grown self-deprecating humour, has gradually earned them cult status here – in the long, but successful haul since the band’s first shaky start in 1993 – and the venue could well be packed out. Booking in advance is recommended.
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