Around Town

Skint mate from college
Grandparents
Teenage relative
Party animal
Friend with kids
Mum and dad
Long-distance lover
The seen-it-all-before cynic

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Skint mate from college
Lunch For a slice of Arab London, take them to Ranoush Juice Bar (43 Edgware Road, W2). This West London institution serves Lebanese to eat in or take away – shawarma sandwiches, tabouleh and houmous – and your pal can sample a hookah.

Museum The Hunterian Museum (The Royal College of Surgeons of England , 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2) is a visceral alternatative to the usual exhibits – packed with four centuries’ worth of body parts, surgical and dental instruments, and anatomical sketches.

Shop (and drink) Berwick Street gives a proper taste of old Soho – with its historic fruit and veg market, numerous record shops, wholesale cheap jewellery and , if you’ve got the inclination, plentiful porn down at its southerly end. Jeffrey Barnard lived in the stumpy tower block halfway down, and you can drink nearby in his traditional haunt the Coach and Horses (29 Greek Street, W1). Alternatively, buzzing Brick Lane has plenty of cheap shops – and plentiful places for a budget curry. Meanwhile a bagel at Beigel Bake (159 Brick Lane) still costs next to nothing.

Evening Fine dining is out of the question on a budget, so grab a bargain bite in Food For Thought (31 Neal Street). Nearby Lowlander (36 Drury Lane, WC2) is worth a visit for its superlative range of Dutch and Belgian beers. Then for dancing, Play at Mash (19-21 Great Portland Street, W1) is a soul and hip-hop night that’s free before 9pm.

Blue plaque The great thing about the plaque for John Logie Baird, inventor of the telly, isn’t so much its content as its location – just above Bar Italia (22 Frith Street, W1), the perfect pitstop for a reviving espresso before you tackle the nightbus home.