M.F.S: Observatory: A Local's Guide to London

Every day, London inspires me. I think it's the best city to live in if you're a music artist, as you breathe creative energy and good vibes here. Culture abounds in this city, and you'll find musicians, artists, and performers of all types and walks of life here, as well as chances to see them perform in high-quality venues. The original reason I moved to London was to study music and sound design, since this is hard to find in my native Italy. Here's a list of my favorite places in London, enjoy!

Bars and Cafés:

Cafe’ Oto (18–22 Ashwin street)

Cafe OTO provides a home for creative new music that exists outside of the mainstream with an evening programme of adventurous live music seven nights a week. They also are open as a cafe during the day, serving a range of pastries and snacks. You can also buy books, records, tapes and CDs.

‍

Sadie’s (224 Graham Road)

Sadie's is a family-owned, female-focused venue. They serve amazing quality coffee and cocktails. Located in front of the Hackney Central overground stations. Sadie's  is a great spot to meet up, work or to grab a cup of coffee to go.

‍

The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour (11 Mare St)

Absinthe — there is no spirit so notoriously favoured by the rebellious minds of art & literature. This is the world's most curious Absinthe Parlour & Cocktail Bar! The Last Tuesday Society's Absinthe Parlour is a hidden treasure of East London, filled with unusual spirits, from the old world and new, together in one curious exhibition of extraordinary elixirs. The Absinthe Parlour received the “Best Bar in London” – DesignMyNight Awards in 2019.

Restaurants:

Corrochio’s (76 Stoke Newington Road)

Corrochio’s is a Mexican cocktail bar and restaurant in Dalston which opened in 2021 serving Mexican food and drinks by Mexican cooks. The COCINA is an intimate Mexican restaurant with a weekly changing food menu consisting of regional Mexican dishes.

‍

‍Angelina (56 Dalston Lane)

Angelina, merges the techniques and flavours of Italian and Japanese cuisines to create distinctive and crowd-pleasing omakase and kaiseki tasting menus served in a warm, unfussy setting.

‍

‍Leong’s Legend (39 Gerrard St)

Leong’s Legend is a Taiwanese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. They serve fresh and delicious soup dumplings, oyster omelette, beef noodle soup, chilli crab and mouth watering Taiwanese pork buns. You must try the spicy chicken cooked in beer, but be careful  it is super spicy. I recommend you order a portion of plain rice on the side.

‍

‍Ceviche (17 Frith St)

Ceviche is inspired by Lima’s bohemian Barranco neighbourhood, a place that was home to poets, musicians, writers, artists and at the time, Peru’s Communist Party HQ. They serve different types of Ceviche and you must try the fantastic Pisco sour.

Club:

Fold (Gillian house, Stephenson St)

A new institution for the arts based in the heart of East London's Canning Town. Home to music and creative studios and a 500 capacity state-of-the-art performance space. I love the vibes of this club. No photos or video are allowed inside the venue and the music is fantastic pure and high quality Techno.

Record Stores:

Palace Vinyl (1 Victory Pl)

Palace Vinyl is a record emporium based in the heart of Crystal Palace which has a 25 year trading history. They specialise in underground dance music holding a massive stock, if you love electronic music / dance music you must visit this shop.

‍

Follow M.F.S: Observatory on Instagram

Listen to M.F.S: Observatory latest release East London Life.

‍

‍