Restaurants

The Key
It takes dedicated dancers and dirty stopouts to find The Key, which is tucked away down a dark alley (ironically called Lazer Road) around the back of King’s Cross. The underlit dancefloor and lounging areas are a welcome treat for wannabe Travoltas, but whether you come for cosmic disco, filthy house or twisted techno, it’s an ace space for some of the most intense parties we could wish for.
Diary date DDD Christmas party on Dec 16, 10pm-6am, £10 in advance, £15 on door.
The Key, Lazer Rd, King’s Cross Goods Yard, off York Way, N1 (020 7837 1027) King’s Cross tube/rail. Feature continues

Notting Hill Arts Club
Time Out devoted two big previews to the Arts Club this year. One was about Thursday’s brilliant funky block party YoYo (where Lily Allen played her debut gigs), the other raved about its range of globally inspired monthly nights, from Brazilian Love Affair and Future World Funk to Beach Club and Bombay Bronx. What’s incredible is how much more it packs into the 215-capacity space, making this local club one that’s always worth crossing town for.
Diary date Bombay Bronx on Dec 19, 7pm-2am, free before 8pm, then £5.
Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, W11 (020 7460 4459) Notting Hill Gate tube.

SeOne and Canvas
The weekly Rollerdisco at Canvas is worth getting your skates on for, but SeOne and Canvas are primarily included here for the spaces they offer. A multitude of big (but not unfeasibly enormous) rooms make them ideal for adventurous all-night rock and rave and events like Breaking Ground at SeOne (December 2) and Adventures in the Beetroot Field at Canvas (AITBF) on December 9.
Diary date AITBF’s free rave on Dec 9, 10pm-6am, free.
Canvas, King’s Cross Goods Yard, off York Way, N1 (020 7278 2777) King’s Cross tube/rail.
SeOne, Weston St tunnel, SE1 (020 7407 1617) London Bridge tube/rail.

T Bar
Free nightlife was confined to DJ bars until the T Bar started delivering top-quality parties gratis. The Shoreditch High Street space multi-tasks as a breakfast and lunch joint and has banks of low sofas and café chairs to lounge in, but it’s the mix of some of the world’s finest DJs, a great Funktion 1 sound system, the free admission and the carefree raving spirit behind the club that draws the plaudits.
Diary date Haywire Sessions Christmas Party on Dec 7, 8pm-1.30am, free.
T Bar, 56 Shoreditch High St, E1 (020 7729 2973) Liverpool St tube/rail.

Turnmills
Turnmills has responded to the desire for more dancefloor diversity by opening as many rooms as possible. The Gallery keeps piling on extra rooms at its all-star trance-dance weekly, and Kinky Malinki will be moving in here from Pacha on December 16 to add more colour to its musical palette. Together is Turnmills’ showpiece, a live rockin’ bands to intense techno all-nighter that majors on quirky, fun themes as much as the fierce robofunk.
Diary date Together on Nov 25, 10pm-7am, £10 in advance, £15 on door.
Turnmills, 63 Clerkenwell Rd, EC1 (020 7250 3409) Farringdon tube/rail.