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Alastair Reid Schanche

Alastair is a features writer at London X London. He joined the team in late 2022 hot off the back of a five-year stint in Shanghai where he wrote for Time Out and ran a very niche blog about Chinese food.

He’s unable to shake his addiction for Sichuan noodles, but will be found devouring London’s other glorious cuisines when he’s not warming seats at the Prince Charles.

Discover the best of Belgravia’s Eccleston Yards with this insider’s guide of what to do, eat and drink in the area.  Eccleston Yards was once the site of a power station that powered Mayfair and Belgravia back in the late 1800s and a good part of the last century.  As with much of London’s red-brick …

Read More about Time To Explore: Eccleston Yards – Belgravia’s Uber Cool Ex-Industrial Hangout

Is there anywhere as beautiful as London in November? We think not. Spooky season has finished which means one thing… It’s time to get out the tinsel and start to celebrate all things Christmas. Ultimate cosy vibes await. Not sure where to start? We’ve got you. Here’s a roundup of the top things going on …

Read More about Unmissable Things to do in London in November 2023

We check out a restaurant with a menu of vegetable-forward cooking and a very unusual setting – a working fabric factory. One of the great things about dining out in London is the enormous range of restaurants you have to choose from.  There are the fancy spots, as much about style as they are sustenance, …

Read More about SlowBurn: The Full Review – Does This Restaurant have the Coolest Setting in London?

The history of a country house turned community centre in the heart of Dulwich.  London’s full of stately homes. It’s actually kind of staggering to think how much of it is still taken up by palaces, relatively speaking. Sometimes we get to thinking we wouldn’t mind a little bit of that land back… No, we’re …

Read More about Kingswood House: The Landed Home that Went From Country Estate to Council Estate

Your guide to the best places for quiet cafe breakfasts, noisy bottomless brunches, and everything in between in the uber-cool neighbourhood of Brixton.   Brixton is one of London’s most happening neighbourhoods. Whether you’re talking about great street art, the buzzing music and nightlife scene or the killer array of restaurant options in this part of …

Read More about Where to Find the Best Breakfasts and Brunches in Brixton

Looking to drink is style? Or perhaps in secret? Here’s your insider’s guide to tracking down the best speakeasy bars London has to offer. With one of the best cocktail bar scenes in the world, we feel like we could never get bored of drinking at London’s top bars – you could literally find a …

Read More about Hidden Away: Your Guide to Discovering the Best Speakeasy Bars in London

We explore the hidden secrets of The Jewel Tower – the lesser-known cousin of the Tower of London.  The Tower of London gets too much credit. What about the little guy? We think the Jewel Tower is way too easily overlooked. For example, if you walked through Westminster you probably wouldn’t even turn your head …

Read More about The Jewel Tower: Westminster’s 700-Year-Old Treasure Keep and Its Fascinating History

Our insider’s guide to the best restaurants in Belgravia.  For fine-dining restaurants and upmarket places to eat, you can’t do much better than Belgravia. The neighbourhood is one of London’s poshest and is bordered by the equally ritzy neighbours of Knightsbridge and Chelsea. Where there’s money, there are quality restaurants. But which of them are …

Read More about The Best Restaurants in Belgravia: Unmissable Places to Eat at the High-End

With Christmas fast approaching, London neighbourhoods are announcing their light switch-on dates. Here’s the lowdown.  Would you believe it: Christmas is on the horizon once again. It always seems to swing around so fast. Not that we’re complaining. We love the festive season, and we especially love it in London (We might even go as …

Read More about Lights Up! All the Dates for London’s Christmas Light Switch-Ons Announced So Far