6.00pm - 7.00pm

The Warwick Castle
6 Warwick Place, W9 2PX

- A nice little pub in a posh, leafy suburb on the Maida Vale/Paddington border. It does decent beer, with Pride Bombardier and Young's on the hand pumps and there's food (pub grub) up until 9 o'clock which is when they stop serving and you can bring your dog in. The service is friendly as is the mood of the clientele, it can get a little crowded at times, but it's all good-humoured. With a few seats and tables outside it's nice for that out of the way quiet pint with the paper.

7.10pm - 8.00pm

The Bridge House
13 Westbourne Terrace Road, W2 6NG

- This place is just great, it must have one of the nicest canal side settings in London, but when you're in here all thoughts of narrowboating and other navigational pursuits are quickly forgotten. Set in a grand Neoclassical terrace, you'll easily recognise its 21st century gastropub aspirations from the interior décor. But this place is not your run-of-the-mill give it a pretentious name and overcharge for a bit of Rocket and Foccaccia place, as they are so often are nowadays. It's a place where you come to enjoy good drink, food and company. There's an excellent range of booze on offer, Adnams and Broadside for example on the hand pumps and de Konninck, Leffe, Hoegaarden on tap and more. There's a damned decent wine list and a choice of Champagnes (including a vintage), cocktails and liqueur coffees. All alcoholic preferences seemed to be taken care of here - there is something for everyone. The food is pretty decent - it's relatively unpretentious and it's reasonably priced - the service is good and the atmosphere pretty relaxed. If that's not enough for you, there's Newsrevue in the Canal café Theatre upstairs. The only downside (and it's minor) is there are a load of offices round here (with more on the way) and for obvious reasons this is the place of choice for office leaving dos around here. Who could blame them?

8.10pm - 9.00pm

The Waterway
54-56 Formosa Street, London, W9 2JU

- Stylish canalside restaurant/bar. The terrace provides pleasant views over the canal.

9.10pm - 10.00pm

The Prince Alfred
5A Formosa Street, W9 2JS

- Once upon a time this was one of the most stunning pubs in London - a glorious Victorian building of etched glass, high ceilings and separated off booths. The games machines and pool table may have distracted from the nineteenth century ambience, but the pub was a large affair and so you hardly noticed them. A different story now, as the Alfred has had its walls painted, its back room redesigned and has now restyled itself as a clinical gastropub. It's a depressing affair and unless you've come for the food, you'll get slow service and little space in which to drink. You still should give the place a look - if only to imagine how much more comfortable it used to be.

10.10pm - closing

The Warrington Hotel
93 Warrington Crescent, W9 1EH

- On entering the Warrington Hotel, you are greeted by a stunning Art Nouveau interior of stained glass, orange lanterns and painted wood furnishings. There's a special atmosphere about the place too, with the handsome semicircular bar setting the tone for the spacious downstairs area, which retains the air of its previous incarnation as a grand hotel lobby. Happily, there is also a very good range of ales on draught including Fuller's ESB. However, changes are afoot. Ben's Thai restaurant has now shut and is about to be replaced with something entirely different. For the moment then, this one is still well worth the journey to Maida Vale. We only hope we can still say that after the refit.