Emily Watson

From daffodils blooming on College Green to the humble Bristol Onion (yes, really) popping up its head in the Avon Gorge, Bristol is a city that loves its little blasts of nature. That gives the city's florists a lot of inspiration. And speaking of inspiration, we're sure you have a few special occasions coming up and you need help, don't you? Don't worry, we're here to save you. We've put together a list of amazing florists that deliver to Bristol, for every occasion, including birthdays, new babies, and promotions. Whether it's your traditional florist offering classic designs, or even more well-known brands delivering contemporary flowers, this is everything you need to know to make your loved one happy.  This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, click here.

There's always a reason to need to buy flowers, isn't there? Like birthdays, anniversaries, and housewarmings. Oops, you forgot again, didn't you? Don't worry, the perfect petals are only a few clicks away. And because we’re super helpful, we’ve compiled a neat selection of some of Edinburgh’s best online flower delivery services that can be with you with just the click of a finger and in time for any special occasion. On this list, you’ll find all types of flowers- from cheap and cheerful to boujee and bespoke – and many options for last-minute delivery. Which, as you can imagine, is the most popular choice. Hey, we’re not judging. We've been there before. So take a look, pick the perfect blooms and you’re all set. Well, it would be rude to say no, right? There are plenty of candles, chocolates, champagne, and other things too, of course. We'd accept it all.  This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, click here.

It‘s no secret that veganism is quickly becoming mainstream. And buying Christmas presents is tough enough as it is, finding gifts that are totally free from animal products is a much harder feat. We’ve put together a list of eleven of the finest vegan-friendly gifts on the market right now – and absolutely zero animals were harmed in the making.  Looking for more inspiration? Check out our full Christmas gift guide. 

In London alone, food waste amounts to around £840 a year per family, generating approximately 19 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. If we dealt with food waste more consciously, we could remove the equivalent of one in four cars from our roads. The Hotpoint Fresh Thinking Café have an ethos we can really get behind – all the meals served are composed of surplus food sourced from local suppliers where possible, and all proceeds go to FoodCycle who serve community meals to those in poverty and social isolation. What's more, they operate on a pay-as-you-feel basis.The tasting menu features dishes such as Moroccan chicken, sweet potato croquettes and crushed harissa carrots or salmon kedgeree with a crispy egg and spicy fruit pickle. Sounds good right? And even better knowing that all money spent at the café is going to charity.  Fresh Thinking Café is open from October 10 – 11. Get booking now via the Hotpoint website.  

A few years back, Arthur Smith – known to all as DJ don Artwork – casually decided to install a soundsystem and lasers in a random Rinse FM listener’s living room. It was the start of something small and big at the same time. Having been an unsung hero of British dance for years (from the ’90s garage scene to owning dubstep with Benga and Skream as part of Magnetic Man), this small-yet-epic party has made the DJ a star for the first time. That unabashed, non-chin-strokey party vibe became the template for Art’s House: his nomadic club strand that’s grown via venues like The Nest and Dalston Roof Park into a raging UK-wide success. As well as hosting his very own festival in August, Artwork is about to embark on a 13-week residency at XOYO, so we had a chat with the king of unbridled fun to find out exactly what he thinks makes the perfect party. He made us do it at his gaff in Peckham, where he’s had a sweet new bar installed. ‘Fifty fucking quid! Can you believe it? It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen. Having a bar in the house can be a bit of a problem, though…’

In a nutshell...An inconspicuous dive bar with makeshift interiors, a chequered dance floor and dangerously cheap cocktails. Where is it?Tucked away in the truly global, often fishy-smelling Ridley Road market, this place has an atmosphere that more than makes up for the odd whiff outside. What’s the vibe?Think ‘Club Tropicana’, but slightly less glam. There’s no bookings, no guest list and it doesn’t even have a phone. The best bit? It’s a little too far from Shoreditch to attract suit- shirt, weekend wankers. What makes it a great venue?On the surface, Market Bar encompasses everything Londoners love to hate about Dalston: grungy exteriors, DIY decor and a clammy dance floor. Don’t take that last fact lightly – during the summer, even the disco ball drips with sweat. But this little place is as lovable as they come: DJs spin hip hop, funk, soul and everything in between; staff are friendly; the hooch is cheap, and there are vibes aplenty. What’s the booze situation?Drinks aren’t quite free, but they’re not far off. A can of Red Stripe is three quid, cocktails are a fiver – the ginger mojito is a must – and the house plonk is £15 a bottle. Heads up: they’ve just gone cashless, so it’s cards only, people. What’s coming up soon?On November 12 it’s the next instalment of One Stop – a monthly celebration of the Golden Age of Jamaican music – with a guest appearance from Rasta Queen. While there’s often queues after 9pm, pizza babes Slice Girls serve up their wood-fired cheesy di

In a nutshell…An unassuming sushi-bar-cum-late-night drinking den with DJ sessions and a remarkable soundsystem. Where is it?You’ll find it nestled slap-bang in the middle of the ever-changing strip of hip basement bars, Turkish grills and oddball pound shops along Kingsland Road. It’s about five minutes from Dalston Junction, leaving you just enough time to sink your train bevs before you get there. What’s the vibe?Though it looks massively understated from the outside, this little place kicks on till midnight on weekdays and 1.30am on weekends. Go for the top-notch – albeit slightly expensive – Japanese cuisine (especially the sashimi) and DJs covering all jazz sub-genres, as well as other soul, world and leftfield sounds. And don’t let the initial restaurant layout put you off. Come 11pm you’ll catch punters mid-vibe, dancing where the tables and chairs were. What makes it a great venue?Its soundsystem. Period. The sound fidelity at Brilliant Corners is near-perfect, and its team of trusty selectors combined with forward-thinking programming earned it a stage at both Farr Festival and Houghton earlier this year. What’s more, DJs spin on a vinyl-only basis. Sound nerds, unite! What’s the booze situation?It doesn’t come cheap. You can get a glass of house wine or a teeny beer with your spare change, but anything stronger may get pricey. The wines are natural, though, so they’re both environmentally friendly and hangover-reducing – everyone’s a winner. What’s coming up soon?S

From humble beginnings can come great things; that’s certainly the case for this former public loo, now an outrageous little cocktail den beneath the streets of Covent Garden. It was hard to get a table on a Tuesday evening – clearly Blame Gloria has already earned a loyal following – but the bar itself felt a little over the top. It’s a sister to Tonight Josephine, which has become a drinking destination thanks to its lurid neon. As such, this spot has gone for more of the ’gram gold: yet the interior – a mix of green and pink lined with flowery velvet booths and neon-pink striplights – felt a touch reductive. The drinks needed some work too: a Lemongrass Collins was tasty but more of a minty lemonade than a cocktail, and at the other end of the spectrum the Ziggy’s Stardust was overwhelmingly strong. But service was swift and cocktails are 2-for-1 during a daily happy hour. The real hit at Blame Gloria, though, is the toilets. We’re talking disco balls, dance anthems to wiggle to while you do your business, walls plastered with cut-outs of female icons and hand-sewn messages above each loo (mine said ‘don’t be a dick’). If you’re after a splash of ’70s extravagance with your tipples, then pay Blame Gloria a visit, even if it’s just to spend a penny.

Londoners have plenty to thank the Italians for: great coffee, Aperol spritzes, more on-trend restaurants than you can shake a breadstick at – and now this picture-perfect wine bar. Bottles is located on the edge of Old Spitalfields Market and boasts an impressive wine list; it’s tight, focused and reflects a deep knowledge of the grape, with emphasis on Italian wine, of course. Those eponymous bottles have been sourced from independent producers and small vineyards, and if there’s anything that tickles your fancy, you can buy one to take home from the wooden crates that line the bar. The space is a moodily lit stretch of brick walls, wooden counters and leather stools, with an outside area backing on to the market and a cosy basement should you want to settle inside. All the waiting staff are sommeliers, fully equipped to chat through the options. They let me taste-test a few flavours, before I opted for a smooth, savoury Puglian red. My companion went for a white from Abruzzo, and it’s fair to say, both hit the spot. Wine is served by the glass (in 125ml measures only, might I add) which range from a palatable £5.50 to a whopping £23. Should you want to make an evening of it, though, you can tuck into a bottle from just £20. Most wine bars tend to operate on the cheese and charcuterie model, but Bottles has teamed up with southern Italian restaurant concept Sood Family to create a menu of stylish, wine-friendly small plates listing flavours like ‘tomato elixir’. Wine bars i

One thing you should know about this Hackney rooftop bar is that there’s a bit of a walk before you get to the top (nine flights of stairs to be precise, and there’s no lift). But boy, when you do, it’s simply divine. First things first: the view. I’d be seriously suspicious of anybody who doesn’t get at least a hint of an urge to document the aptly named Netil360 on Instagram Stories as soon as they arrive. More could be done with the space – the artificial grass flooring scattered with wooden benches and upcycled furniture isn't the most aesthetic look, but the panoramic, full-circle views of London make up for it tenfold. As such, people don’t come for the drinks – which is probably a good thing, as the menu is limited to wine, beer and little else, and those don't come cheap. But they were served with a smile, and an Aperol Spritz (£10.50) was big, refreshing and just the right combination of bitter and bubbly. You might expect a bar of this nature to be chock-full with a rowdy after-work crowd, but the clientele seemed to be surprisingly unassuming. The disco ball and funky music suggests that Netil360 can get quite lively as the sun goes down, plus punters have the option to move inside if it gets nippy. Believe me, once you’ve climbed those stairs, you’ll want to settle in for sunset.

Spoiler alert: there’s an ace rooftop bar in Peckham, and it’s not Frank’s Café. The Bussey Building might be best known for its club nights, but it’s got another string to its bow in the form of a trendy rooftop bar, which has just reopened for the summer. Perched atop the multi-purpose venue on Rye Lane, Bussey Rooftop Bar acts as an ideal precursor to an impending night out. Views of the London skyline come practically unobstructed, making this little watering hole a scenic drinking location both day and night. It’s very low key: chilled-out tunes, palm trees, fairy lights and pastel-coloured decking give the space a beach bar feel – the perfect urban getaway to soak up the sun’s rays (rays aren’t guaranteed, though; this is still England). The bar itself is small and service was sluggish, but tipples are worth the wait. The cocktail list oozes summer: the Meloncholy – with gin, honey, prosecco and elderflower – was light and zingy, while the Berry Garcia was a refreshing blend of white rum, berries and mint. Cocktails run to no more than a tenner, but if you’re feeling thrifty you can get a glass of wine from £5.50. There’s also a shack hosting a range of street food pop-ups on rotation – RockaDollar was serving its hot dogs and nachos with an impressive homemade jalapeño salsa when we visited. Frank’s might have written the book on rooftop drinking, but this bar offers the next chapter, and it’s filled with style, good music and cracking cocktails.

Having impressed Peckhamites with its wacky Christmas pop-up, Batch bar has now settled in for the long run among the coffee shops and brunch spots of Peckham Rye. It’s easy to miss this little cocktail bar, but if you do happen to stumble across it, you’ll step into a stunning – albeit slightly rough around the edges – indoor oasis of flowers and foliage. Unfortunately, it went somewhat downhill from there. Since the bar has partnered with drinks consultancy Twist London, we expected the cocktails to be the stars of the show. The menu impressed, but after being given recommendations on which drinks to order, we were then informed that both our choices weren’t ready to be served. Apparently their ingredients needed time to ‘brew’, but this was at 8pm on a Saturday – peak drinking time. Not ideal. The cocktails we did end up with lacked flavour, and the complimentary pitta bread from a neighbouring pizza joint was stale and tasteless. Luckily, there’s beer from Peckham’s Brick Brewery and a decent wine list to fall back on, and you can order your Deliveroo to the bar should you get hungry. Batch is a pretty place for a drink, and it certainly beats eating your Saturday night takeaway on the sofa, but maybe don’t visit for the cocktails – or, in our case, lack thereof.

You know those Shoreditch bars that have undergone a costly makeover to look so deliberately dump-like, it just seems desperate? They’re everything Bar Story is not. This rough-around-the-edges dive bar tucked beneath Peckham Rye station doesn’t care about pretence, and that’s what makes it so damn great. It’s not the biggest of boozers and the loos are a bit ramshackle, but boy, has this place got atmosphere. The spacious outdoor seating areas make it – I’d imagine – an ideal spot for alfresco drinking when the sun’s out. That said, when we visited, cosy indoors environs filled with candles and low-lit lamps made it a welcome shelter from the snow. Cocktails are the main event, and I was piddled after just two of them. A Hemingway daquiri packed a fruity punch, while a whisky sour was refreshing and bitter-sweet. They’re modestly priced between £6 and £8, or go between 6pm and 7pm and you’ll snap up an extra drink for £2. Warm, freshly baked sourdough with olives and hummus was pretty tasty, but I had my eye on the thin-crust pizzas being devoured by other punters – a steal at no more than £9 each. Be warned though: service is slow and happy hour queues assemble quickly. It’s not much to look at, but Bar Story is trendy without being stuck up, and its charm has clearly made it a go-to haunt for locals. If you’re after booze, a buzz and a distinct lack of the posers you may get in other parts of town, this is a great place to start.

Please note, Evans & Peel Pharmacy is now closed. Time Out Editors, January 2020. On first impressions, Evans & Peel – a pharmacy-themed bar just off the Chiswick High Road – gets it very right. Us Londoners love a quirky gimmick, and the idea behind this drinking den is as unique as its sister bar’s ‘detective agency’ guise. This time though, it’s about booze in medicine bottles? Yep, I’m into it. But after arriving at an inconspicuous shopfront – a dusty old chemist circa 1920 – being greeted by a pharmacist and receiving a ‘tincture’ to swig before we entered (swigging’s not compulsory, but we were thirsty) we were led into a dimly lit, cramped speakeasy and the drugstore theme was somewhat left behind. Drinks-wise, they’ve got the experimental cocktails on lock: the What A Melon was a tangy mix of vodka, watermelon liqueur, fennel cordial, bergamot and cardamom bitters. If cocktails aren’t your bag there’s a short wine list, with a glass setting you back £7 and a bottle £27. If you want nibbles with your tipples there’s a modest snack menu, advising customers to ‘take with liquids’. Portion sizes were good, and the food itself impressed: cornbread was served warm and buttery, while padrón peppers were grilled to perfection, if a little on the salty side. Evans & Peel knows its cocktails, that’s for sure. If the bar could double down on the theatrics, I might pay the pharmacy a second visit. After all, I did leave feeling considerably better than when I arrived.

On first impressions, Mr Fogg’s Tavern – a cosy, Victorian-style watering hole specialising in premium ales – seems little different to a traditional pub. It’s warm, it’s crowded and the hooch is cheap (well, by Covent Garden standards). But as you delve further into the story behind this little boozer, you’ll find it’s inspired by the protagonist of Jules Verne’s adventure novel ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, and it’s overflowing with Phileas Fogg regalia. Look up and you’ll see ageing souvenirs and knick-knacks hanging from the ceiling and taxidermy mounted on the wood-panelled walls. Even the loos are in keeping with the theme, airing old-style commentary through a crackled mic. Despite this populist theme, and the central London location, the exterior is discreet enough to keep the place from swarming with tourists. There’s an extensive drinks list, but real ales are the crowd-pleasers here. After sampling a few, I went for the Whitstable Bay Blonde lager – a light, floral ale that avoids the bitter aftertaste common in many hoppy lagers. Drinks are modestly priced, served in tankards and pewter cups by staff dressed in aprons and hats, all with a fun sense of humour. You can expect typical pub grub – mini fish and chips hit the spot, but mushroom and potato croquettes were bland and (like most things) could have been improved with the addition of cheese. This pub manages to pull off the old-fashioned feel without seeming like it’s trying too hard. An hour into the evenin

If my granny owned a bar, I would imagine it to be something like Mr Fogg’s Gin Parlour, since this extravagant West End cocktail salon is as vintage as they come. Dressed with embroidered chairs, chaise longues and other curiosities straight out of the nineteenth century, the Parlour is guaranteed to provide a sure-fire thrill to tourists from across the pond visiting London and expecting something out of a period drama. It was busy when I visited, which doesn’t excuse the mardy service, but may explain why the food took so long to arrive. Bar snacks were a little confused, with padron peppers and salami sticks an exotic sight in such a deliberately old-fashioned setting. Portions were measly, too, so I’d suggest saving your money for drinks, which were the real joy at this bar. The menu is an actual encyclopaedia of gin from which you can choose from around 300 varieties and have your perfect tipple custom made. The cocktails are incredible, as well as pretty unique – homemade Campari cordial isn’t something you see on every drinks menu – but they certainly don’t come cheap (I’m talking an astonishing £15 for a drink called Oscar’s Wild Raspberries). For gin fanatics happy to splash the cash, this bar – sorry, parlour – is a must-visit place. And grannies would be very welcome, too.

Being packed to the rafters on a Tuesday evening is a feat rarely accomplished by bars of a similar nature to Unwined, a wine bar in Tooting’s ramshackle Broadway Market. It’s not the most spacious spot for a drink – we were initially seated by the market’s fish chillers – but amazingly, I never once felt cramped. It’s lovely and buzzy, and totally relaxed as far as wine bars go. ‘Tidy mess’ would be an apt way to describe the setting, sympathetic to its market surroundings and pop-up roots with framed paintings adorning the mucky-looking walls and quirky fridge magnets fashioning a homely feel. Of the wine, let’s just say they know a thing or two when it comes to the good stuff – I even spied our waitress having a cheeky swig. There’s regular wine tastings, a unique selection of bottles to go and a new theme to the list each month. On our visit, that theme was ‘geeks and nerds’; a pretty lame concept in theory, but a great touch in practice. Our light and juicy Pinotage was dubbed a chemistry lesson due to two grapes bonding to produce it. Getting clued up while you drink up? I like it. I like it a lot. With chefs in Thursday to Sunday (the Raclette Brothers when we stopped by) but nibbles served every day, we tucked into a cheese board to compliment the vino. A mild Waterloo was squidgy-soft, but the truffle Pecorino stole the show: both elegant and fragrant, it puts other truffle-infused fare to shame. Perhaps it’s that Unwined brims with genuine character, or that the sta

Drake hits the O2 this week for seven mega shows. What can you expect? Bangers, basketball tricks and a flying Ferrari... It’s a wet Sunday evening and stilettos and bottles of vino with straws are the order of the day at the first night of the European leg of Drake’s Assassination Vacation tour. Well, with London tickets selling for between £80 and several hundred pounds a pop, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that fans at the Manchester Arena are treating this night out like it’s their last. You only live once, right Drizzy? By every conceivable metric, Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham is one of the biggest artists in the world. He was the most streamed act in 2018 – and nearly every one of the 25 tracks on his fifth album ‘Scorpion’ made it into the charts, netting it platinum certification the day it was released. So how do you synthesise all that into a two-hour show that works on an arena-scale? The answer: cleverly cherry-pick from that incredible back catalogue,  then throw in the ‘Austin Powers’ theme tune, video clips of him and Rihanna living it up, pyrotechnics (in time to ‘Jumpman’) and a halfway line basketball competition in which a punter tries (and fails) to win £20,000. In cash. Kanye West basically rewrote the rule book on staging for arena shows on his 2016 Saint Pablo tour by using a floating stage, and Drake has picked up where Yeezy left off. He performs the entire show from the middle of the arena, jumping about on a rectangular platform, which saw every seat in