90's London

[Sweetasstevia]

I've lived in London for nearly 25 years now but rarely get into the centre these days (I last worked in town in 2008.) I'm always stunned how much things have changed and have been feeling very nostalgic lately for the London of my uni years and youth: 1990 - 2000.
For starters I miss how Covent Garden used to be with the mechanical toy museum and Neal street East around the corner. I miss burgers at Ed's Diner and Jonny Rockets. I miss seeing arty films at the ICA, the montepulicano lounge club and whirligig, the mad market in South Kensington and how Camden used to be before it got all posh!
What things do you miss?

Flip in Covent Garden Well done that's been bugging me since last night!

Smoking in the night clubs and pubs - not all this having to go out nonsense!

Quibbler I totally agree, everything was less corporate

Chaz - I remember the Astoria - went to loads of gigs there and they did indie club nights too didn't they?

There was also a nightclub somewhere off Regent Street which had coloured glass disco squares on the floor - did great Indie nights and kept bumping into my Brit indie heroes (like Pulp) there. Can anyone remember the name of it?

I also have memories of a grubby club in a basement on Oxford St, Tottenham Court Rd end

Samantha's? rings a distant bell

Dinky - think the club was called Eve's?

Quite a few of these are still there! Ed's Diner is still in Soho, as is the Stockpot and of course Bar ITalia.
Freud's in Covent Garden is, amazingly, still going strong, and Barbarella Fulham Road has reopened (the other one is now Boujis I think). Quo Vadis still going... Met Bar is still there... The Atlantic has reopened as something or other but the staircase is still there to fall down.

Hyper Hyper is a frigging wagamama and TK Maxx which upsets me greatly, as much as the hurt of Ken Market becoming a PC World :-(

Go and eat / drink at the survivors to keep them going!

I was there in the 80s.

The past is a foreign country.

Libertys, when it was still dark & old-fashioned and hadn't turned into a scary fashion-forward hellhole for billionaires

The Aroma Café on St Christopher's Place - they used to put a little square of dark chocolate on each saucer

and Stock Pot, and the mechanical toy museum at CG...

Dinky - just googled Eve's and found this article from the Independent:
Eve's
The indie night was called 'Smashing'. I remember going there, used to work nearby - thanks, had completely forgotten it :)

oh for the 80s... I throw Oriel, Sloane Square into the mix. And Courts wine bar, Roberto's nightclub. Stocks. Blushes. Kings Road was great then, hardly a billionaire russian in sight. THe Shuckburgh and the Pheasantry and Sissors haircut people hustling in the street. Mr Henry shoes. Punks you could have your photo taken with for £1 if you were a tourist. Unlimited pasta at some place at World's End (viv westwood & Timney Fowler still going down there)

That's the one HeyLuciani - thanks!

Lived in Angel and Camden. Have very fond memories of the Lyric pub in Soho, Borderline Night Club near Charing Cross, the Electric Ballroom in Camden, Steel's pub on Haverstock Hill, the vegetarian all you can eat on Chapel Market, the bookshop near the Screen on the Green on Upper Street, oh God, those were the days!!!!

I was at Uni in London in the 90s and it was all kitkats kept behind the counter at the late night shop in Kings Cross so the junkies didn't get them for the foil.
I drove past the Brunswick Centre last week and it's got a Carluccios ffs, it was builder's caffs and bakeries then.
I wonder whether that sandwich place Onion ONion is still in Holborn?

151, Crazy Larry's, Mass, Dogstar, The Markham, Phoenix and Shuck, Fred's on Smith Street, Scissors, Great Gear Market and the hours spent sitting at the Milk Bar. Happy happy fucked up days.

Ah, don't dismiss her - she's still a grand city with individuality!

Blushes

I used to work at Antenna in kensington

Oh yes, Flip, that's it.

Some of you know london from way back. Anyone here go to Legends, in Mayfair? Or the embassy club, same area, where all the waiters were in satin shorts, on roller skates.

Oriel is stil there, isn't it, and so is Blushes, more or less the same, but with a diff name.

Losing kenny market was serious balderdash. But we still have portobello!

no way! doing nylon extensions? (I used to buy stuff from the 2nd hand designer shop on the corner from it)
you might like www.theblitzkids.com (are you in it?!)

What was the name of the takeaway sandwich chain where you could get a cheese sandwich for £1? they were wrapped in plastic and stacked in wire baskets. Saved my life on many skint occasion when waiting for payday.

I lived in Covent garden and would walk to Legends like it was my local. The ladies loos were a bit like a spaceship with all the cheap metal sheeting. I used to find a lot of money on the floor in there - careless dealers or something? All the boys were always called Dave. Always.
How about bars with tequila shot girls with glasses in holsters? not enough of them around these days.

God I feel old after reading this.

Legends rings big bells as does the embassy although I might be confusing the later with the bar in Islington.

oh god and t shirts from World in covent garden! I loved that shop... Kinky Gerlinky tickets on sale in there.
(Benjy's was the sandwich bar and mum says I need to get off the internet now... must step away from this delicious thread)