The Time Out London blog team

If you’re a regular user of Bond Street station, you’ll be familiar with the tired-looking 1970s building that sits above it. With shops lining the ground floor and office space above, the building is in major need of modernisation. Over the next three years, it’ll finally get a facelift.  Plans for West One were given the green light by Westminster City Council in 2024 and last week McLaren Construction was chosen to deliver the project alongside property developers British Land.  Once the £99 million scheme is complete there will be a total of 94,000 sq ft of office space across seven storeys. It also promises new terraces and landscaped areas, improved retail frontages and pedestrian experience at street level and better connections between Davies Street and Stratford Place.  Photograph: John Wreford / Shutterstock.comBond Street Station, London The development will almost doubling the existing office space above the shops and station by adding three new floors. The current building’s top four storeys will be demolished and its first and ground floor levels will be partly removed. The facades of the 1970s building will also be partly stripped back.  It doesn’t look like the construction work will cause too much disruption to the shops or to services on the Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines – they’ll all stay up and running throughout. Preparatory work is already underway and the whole scheme is expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2029.  ICYMI: London’s...

Chuku’s started life as a pop-up in 2016. Supposedly the ‘world's first Nigerian tapas restaurant’, it was founded by siblings Emeka and Ifeyinwa Frederick and opened as a permanent restaurant on Tottenham High Road in 2020. In our opinion, it’s one of the best west African spots in the city.  Now, a decade after it first launched, Chuku’s has gone back to its roots and popped up as a fast food stall at Boxhall Liverpool Street. Chuku’s Chop Stop moved into Kitchen No.8 at Boxhall on May 11 and will be there until August 3.  The Chop Stop menu will look a little different to Chuku’s tapas menu in Tottenham. It’ll serve up jollof rice bowls with sweet fried plantain and Chuku’s house salad with a choice of toppings like honey suya chicken, banga chicken, suya meatballs or smoked tofu. They cost between £14.50 and £16.  Hungry customers can also pick up fries loaded with the same toppings from £12, familiar sides like the sticky zobo wings and the vegan chocolate yam brownie.  Photograph: Chuzu’sChocolate yam brownie Emeka Frederick, Co-Founder of Chuku’s said: ‘Before Chuku’s, I worked in the City and Nigerian food was never part of the available lunch options. Back then, the idea of being able to step out and grab Jollof nearby felt far-fetched. ‘So I feel incredibly proud to now be bringing Chuku’s Chop Stop to Boxhall. It speaks to what we’ve always set out to do - make Nigerian food more accessible and part of every day London life.’ ICYMI: This American health food...

After three years, the Ukrainian bistro Mriya, run and staffed by refugees, is due to close its doors. Mriya, or ‘dream’ as it translates in English, opened on Chelsea’s Brompton Road in August 2022 – just six months after Russia launched a invasion of the country. Its mission was to provide culinary and emotional sustenance for homesick Ukrainians, as well as to keep the struggles of the conflict in Ukraine on the agenda.  ‘Mriya was created at a time when millions of Ukrainians were displaced by war. More than a restaurant, it became a meeting place for the Ukrainian community in London – a space where people gathered to share food, culture, music, conversation, and a sense of home, while the local community learned more about Ukrainian cuisine and wines,’ said Mriya in a statement.  Created by Olga Tsybytovska and her celebrity chef husband Yurii Kovryzhenko, the restaurant was entirely staffed by Ukrainian refugees, including lawyers, business owners, teachers and students. ‘For many on the team, Mriya was not only a workplace but also a source of stability, friendship, and a sense of belonging during an uncertain time,’ the statement continues. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYFT23cDG_R/?img_index=1 As well as serving traditional dishes like chicken Kyiv, borscht, herring pâté, fermented vegetables and oxtail, as well as serving a formidable collection of vodkas, the restaurant itself is decorated with paintings by Ukrainian artists, and full of salvaged furniture. It...