The Time Out London blog team

A new list of the very best bakeries in Britain has been published, and three London-based bakehouses have made the list. The Telegraph’s ranking spans England, Scotland and Wales, and focuses on independent and artisan bakeries. ‘Some are noteworthy for their ethical practices and imaginative flavours, others for their unexpected locations,’ says the piece. ‘... they are all friendly and welcoming, imparting a genuine passion for their craft.’ The trio of London bakeries are made up of one in central London and two in south London. The central London spot is Miel on Warren Street in Fitzrovia. The bakery is run by pastry chef Shaheen Peerbhai. Most of Miel’s ingredients are sourced with care from France (Normandy flour, Charentes butter, Valrhona chocolate), and all the pastries and breads are baked small-batch throughout the day. The newspaper praised the bakery’s striped hazelnut gianduja croissant.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Miel Bakery (@mielbakery) In south London, the ‘sleek’ Mahali & Co on Battersea Park Road was included. Opened in 2024 by Ru-Yan Foong and Miguel Jocson, The Telegraph explained that here ‘Viennoiserie takes its cues from the owners’ Chinese and Filipino heritage’, with the writer recommending getting your hands on their miso and white chocolate cookies, and pineapple and lime Danish pastry.    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mahali & Co (@mahaliandco) The other south London spot...

Last year, we reported on a thinktank that said housing in London has become ‘impossibly unaffordable’. If you’re a Londoner, you’ll know exactly what we were talking about. This is down to a myriad of factors, of course, but the housing shortage is a big one. A whopping 10,000 proposed new homes in and around Billingsgate Fish Market may be – ahem – a drop in the ocean, but Tower Hamlets Council would no doubt argue that every little helps.    The council has explained, in a new pamphlet promoting the area to developers, that it’s working with the City of London Corporation on the project. And don’t worry: the fish market isn’t disappearing completely; it’s moving from Poplar to the Royal Docks in Newham, as we reported at the end of last year. Naturally, given the speculative nature of the plans, it’s not clear when development might begin, but the pamphlet suggested that the council is asking developers to consider the site as a prospect for 2026. Councillors for Aspire, the local leading political party, approved the promotional pamphlet last week (on March 24).  Dubbed Future Places, the pamphlet explained that the collaboration would seek to ‘bring forward the redevelopment of the site that will create a significant new mixed-use quarter with improved connectivity between Canary Wharf and South Poplar, providing thousands of homes and jobs’. It added: ‘This is the single biggest opportunity for growth in the borough, creating a whole new mixed-use neighbourhood that...

Halloween has horror, Valentine’s Day has romcoms and Christmas movies are a genre unto themselves. In cinematic terms, Easter is the odd holiday out. The day doesn’t really have a definitive movie, and those that count lean either biblical or bunny-centric. Don’t fret, though: we’ve done some searching, and dug out a basket full of treats suitable for everyone – whether you’re devout, lapsed or just in it for the jellybeans.  The Passion of the Christ (2004) It’s the goriest story ever told! Maybe the only movie to appeal equally to both ultraconservative Catholics and Fangoria subscribers, Mel Gibson’s depiction of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is praise meets torture porn. No joke: it’s two hours of the Messiah (played by Jim Caviezel) being flayed, stabbed, beaten and ultimately crucified, all of which is shown in graphic, close-up detail. Honestly, you’d have to possess Pope-level devotion to suggest throwing it on after dinner, not to mention a strong stomach – but given how much money it made, there are more people who fit that description than you’d think. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) Not wanting to offend the world’s bazillion Christians was the furthest thought from the Monty Python gang’s mind in this lol-rich departure from the gospel story. Instead of Jesus, we follow Brian (Graham Chapman), a young Jewish man who is hailed as the messiah, has a run-in with the People’s Front of Judea (and the...