The Time Out London blog team

When you think about London icons, the things that come to mind are probably Big Ben, the late Queen Liz, David Bowie or the London Eye – people and landmarks that had a huge part to play in the making of the city as we know it today. London is also one of the best places in the entire world for food and so there are a number of restaurants here that are deserving of ‘icon’ status, too. To give those places their dues, restaurant reservation platform OpenTable has put together a list of 26 places that it reckons are defining the capital’s restaurant scene.  The list of 26 icons and ‘powerhouses’ was compiled with help from industry insiders who know the London dining landscape like the back of their hand – people like Good Food Guide owner Adam Hyman, food content creator Seema Pankhania and critic Jimi Famurewa. It was revealed as part of the first ever OpenTable Restaurant Awards, which also gave out Restaurateurs' Choice and People’s Choice prizes.  Laura Gallant for Time Out Trad British spot, ‘goddamn institution’ and Time Out favourite St. John features on the list (and was named Neighbourhood Gem in the People’s Choice category), as does our former number one restaurant in the city Mambow. Naturally, a couple of pubs made the cut too, including The Plimsoll in Finsbury Park (also voted Gastropub of the Year by OpenTable users) and The Ledbury in Notting Hill (which also received the Bucket List award).  Photograph: The Plimsoll Laure Bornet, senior vice...

London offers pretty much everything you could possibly want. Incredible restaurants, top-notch boozers, world-leading theatres, galleries and museums, acres of gorgeous green space, loads of places to swim and even a bunch of adorable city farms. So, we wouldn’t blame you if you told us that you’ve never stepped foot outside of the capital. But we would tell you that you’re missing out.  The Big Smoke is home to a dozen or so major train stations, meaning that we have extremely convenient connections to almost every other part of the UK. So, to help you switch your weekends up a bit, Time Out has put together a ranking of the best places in the UK for a two-or-few-day break from London. In first place is none other than the country’s second city: Birmingham. B’ham is around a tenth the size of London, but is still full to the brim with brilliant stuff worth travelling for. So much, in fact, that you’ll certainly struggle to fit it all into one weekend.  Photograph: Shutterstock The city is an easy hour and half train journey from Euston. If it we were heading to Brum, we'd spend at least an afternoon roaming around Digbeth (which we named the UK’s second coolest neighbourhood last year). You can while away the time in the former industrial district digging through through vintage gems at Redbrick Market, browsing titles at indie bookshop Voce Press, trying a filthy burger at Original Patty Men, catching a niche movie at Mockingbird Cinema, sinking pints at The Ruin dive...

What constitutes a luxurious train station? In Britain, most travellers would probably be happy with a café that serves a decent flat white, clean toilets (that you don’t have to pay for) and an M&S for train snacks, if you’re lucky. Apparently, some are even better than that.  A new study has revealed the most premium train stations around the globe – these are opulent hubs that boast swanky passenger lounges, high end shops and fine dining restaurants, in locations like Zürich, Tokyo and Florence. Somewhat surprisingly, one British train station made the top 10.  London Paddington was named the world’s ninth most luxurious train station in the study, which was conducted by travel insurance specialists at AllClear. To create the ranking, AllClear analysed stations around the world for premium waiting lounges, retail density, fine dining options, premium hotels and overall reviews.  Photograph: Shutterstock Paddington came after New York’s Grand Central Station in eighth and Amsterdam Centraal in seventh. It had an overall ‘Premium Score’ of 65 out of 100. Paddington ranked highly for its lounge access, nearby hotels and review rating – with the latter mostly thanks to the glowing reviews praising the statue of Paddington Bear found inside the station. It scored poorly on dining and retail, with respective scores of six out of 25 and seven out of 20.  Maybe the British rail service isn’t so bad after all. Do you agree that Paddington is one of the world’s top 10 premium...