"It’s been 21 years since cult homewares brand Labour & Wait opened its celebrated first shop on Redchurch Street in London’s East End. The retailer, which stocks all manner of goodies from throws to candles, kitchenware and garden gear, has celebrated in style this year by opening a second London shop at 48 Dorset Street – across the road from Monocle’s London base, Midori House. Welcome to the neighbourhood."

"Not many hotels allow you to roll out of bed and stand Thames-side in front of Tate Modern within five minutes. Tucked away in super-central (but underrated) Southwark, the third London property from the Hoxton group – its Shoreditch and Holborn sites also come highly recommended – offers just that."

"Kaffeine has been setting the benchmark for speciality coffee in London since 2009 when Peter Dore-Smith noticed a gap in the market for a Melbourne-style café. Good coffee, quick and friendly service and fuss-free interiors make it a favourite with both residents on the go and passers-by."

"London’s Lambs Conduit Street is a menswear stronghold that hosts a parade of credible independent stores including that of Oliver Spencer, who opened his shop here in 2006."

"Bringing art to the East End for more than a century is not the only headline that the trailblazing Whitechapel Gallery can lay claim to. With Iwona Blazwick as gallery director since 2001, the contemporary-art house has taken risks and redefined the niche of public galleries."

"Thomas Heatherwick’s addition to King’s Cross is essentially a retail development but really it’s much more than that. A testament to both old and new London, it’s worth visiting for the architecture alone."