Great staff makes you feel very welcome. The best selection of drinks I've seen in any hostess bar in Phnom Penh apart from DV8. Now it's the most popular bar on the street.
#25 street 104, Phnom Penh. www.phnomphennightlife.com
The Summit bar at the top of the Radisson SAS Hotel in the centre of Oslo has absolutely stunning views of the city and Oslo fjord, especially if you go there around dusk to watch the sunlight fade and the streetlights and neons come on all over the city.
If you go at the right time you can get a comfy seat right by the window, the best vantage point. Apart from the urinals apparently - they are right up against the glass so you can enjoy the view whilst, you know. Oh, and in the ladies' there is one cubicle with two toilets in it - in case you and a friend need to finish a conversation, especially urgently I suppose?!
Drinks aren't as expensive as I'd feared - it was around 300kr for two (small) bottles of beer and two glasses of red - pricier than the UK but that's to be expected I think.
When we went there was an especially good bar tender - she paid loads of attention to getting drinks just so and gave us some free peanuts!
A great atmosphere, stunning views and perfect company meant the Summit bar was the highlight of my trip to Oslo.
It's near the Royal Palace. The address is Holbergsgate 30, N-0166, Oslo
A pub overlooking Peckham Rye. It's an old-style bar which has been given a bit of a makeover. However, they've got it just right in not changing too much. It's spacious enough with solid wooden tables at dining hight and a fire in winter.
The main bar is now non-smoking but there's a space out back for the chokers and in summer they open a huge beer garden.
Best of all is the food. Great varied menu featuring mezes, Thai/Chinese food, burgers, salads and roasts.
There's also a decent range of wines.
It's not that cheap but it's worth it for a treat or just to get a seat.
Rye Lane, Peckham, South London.
Five Minutes walk up from Peckham Rye Train station.
The writer Schiller is a local celebrity and this restaurant and beer garden commemorates him in an attractive way by serving good quality food and drink at reasonable prices.
The tables outside are crowded from about seven o'clock on, but there seems always to be room, and the atmosphere is welcoming and cheerful.
Schillerplatz, Loschwitz; about 15 mins out of the city centre, on Tram 6 or 12 from Postplatz (Dresden), or bus 85.
www.schillergarten.de
A French cafe in the middle of the Old street of Yangshuo. It has a great terrace from where you can observe the street life enjoying fresh home-brewed beer.
In the middle of the West Street, Yangshuo, Guilin, China
This Cuban bar & restaurant promises the best Mojito in London - my boyfriend says they're ALMOST as good as his own, which is a great recommendation!
The food is satisfying and good value - great tapas including smoky patatas bravas and gorgeous melting sweetcorn fritters. Perfect to share. Mains such as steak won't break the bank, and are delivered to the table quickly even on a Friday night.
The cocktails are no more expensive than other bars but the atmosphere is much more laid-back.
This is not a "see and be seen" bar, more a place you can relax and have fun with friends, lose some inhibitions and cackle wholeheartedly while the attentive staff look after you.
Kensington Court, off High Street Kensington
W8 5DA
020 7938 4147
www.bdelmlondon.com
Nearest Tube : High Street Kensignton
A great tapas bar/store on the edge of Elvira (so it is convenient for late nights). A deli by day, you can sample local wines by the glass, each with free tapas- carefully made by the young team.
Order a tabla mixta and you won't need to eat any more, all night! If you want foodie souvenirs they also sell a wide range of local specialities, fresh and dried as well as wines and liqueurs. It is a surprisingly buzzy and friendly place and very popular with locals.
Calle Elvira 150
www.alsurdegranada.net
Tel: 958 270 245
A beautiful Australian restaurant, very central. Delicious dishes and a wonderful dessert called 'death by chocolate'.
Jernbaegade 4, 1608 Copenhagen
www.reefnbeef.dk/
A perfect place to spend the day. Enjoy eggs and chips or proper tea at one of the three beach cafes, walk up along the cliffs towards Seaton and beyond.
Take a boat trip, go mackerel fishing (on a mackerel pleasure trip as the sign used to have it) or buy fresh fish down on the beach. Get drowsy and happy in the cliff top garden of the Anchor Inn.
Go second hand book shopping in a hidden garage book shop (look for the sign on the pavement near the top of Fore Street), stock up on surf gear at Jimmy Green's or pick up some well-priced art at the Steam Gallery.
In the summer there's a regatta, but I've always preferred it a little out of high season, when you can enjoy the peace that fills this little town.
Jimmy Green's Surf 'n' Sail, Lower Fore Street, Beer, EX12 3JH
Tel: 01297 625125
Anchor Inn, Beer, Devon, EX12 3ET
Tel: 01297 20386
Steam Gallery At Beer, Fore St, Beer, Devon, EX12 3JH
Tel: 01297 625144
A well designed friendly bar serving a wide choice of excellent food and beverages to a crowd of young, vibrant locals who radiate a positive, relaxed vibe.
Great music and atmosphere - a taste of real Israel.
8 Pika Street, Haifa
+972-4-8114010
www.barbarossa.co.il
(site in hebrew only)
Friendly and comfortable Scottish family-run hotel. Very relaxing for a weekend away.
On the doorstep of The Isle of Arran, great golf courses and other attractions.
Very nice restaurant and bar, and the rooms were very clean and comfortable too.
31 Ardrossan Road, Seamill, Ayrshire, KA239NA
www.merrickhotel.co.uk
01294 822649
West Kilbride Station
Medium size, you can usually get a seat although it gets quite packed.
Gritty with a good healthy crowd, DJ spinning at the back with a very good taste funky/disco/indie rock.
Film projections on the walls. Drinks are cheap. Dirtily-hip, a lot of skaters hang out here, quite like the Raval neighbourhood. Info on BCN areas:
www.way2stay.com/area-info-Barcelona-en-52.htm
Manolo bar is Moog's answer to pre-club bar as you can pick up the free entry fliers here. Shuts at 3am.
It's 2 minutes from Las Ramblas.
Turn onto Nou de La Rambla off Las Ramblas. Take the first street on your left, Calle Lancaster, its 20 metres down on the left.
Great place, wrong location, Joe's cafe bar on Oldham Street is a little gem lying in the mud.
Decked out in leather sofas and dark wood tables it could fall into the trap of being yet another Bar 38 or Pitcher & Piano but it's all saved by well cooked food and service that just falls neatly into place.
Get in there and pretend you're in St Anne's Square. It's just as far, as owld Will Mossop would no doubt pipe up.
Oldham Street
A new trendy Edinburgh restaurant in the Bruntsfield area.
They do some great traditional Scottish food and have been awarded an AA rosette for food and service quality.
69 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh EH10 4HH
Tel : 0131 622 8163
www.thebruntsfield.co.uk/CardoonRestaurant.asp
The Cyber Cafe internet & coffee shop is a tourists' home away from home in Brasov. Different from other internet places in town. It is clean, safe, and has good music.
Facilities include desktops, Skype, headphones, colour printer, CD burner, laptop/notebook area, and a large selection of coffees, juices, wines and beers.
Opening hours: weekdays 11am-10pm; weekends: 12.30pm-9pm.
58, Republicii Street
Vivaro is a new bar on the main Amalfi coast road as it passes through Praiano.
It opened at the beginning of June 2007 and specialises in Italian wines.
It is contemporary rather than traditional in design, more like a bar in Milan or Florence in looks but much friendlier.
The English-speaking owner Gennaro is very welcoming and enthusiastic in sharing his knowledge of regional wines, of which he has many examples.
The food is simple (panini, torte etc) but tasty. We popped in for one drink and ended up staying the whole evening and going back the next evening as well. We got talking to one of the regular customers, Sylvia, who, it turned out, had once worked in Ipswich. It is indeed a small world.
Highly recommended.
Via Capriglione, Praiano.
Telephone: 3355624805.
No train station.
Sita buses pass through Praiano.
Great old-fashioned beer cafe with brown walls, beer posters and two dimly lit, smoky rooms. Friendly staff and not really a tourist trap place. There are over 200 bottled beers on the menu, plus five draught beers. Brugse Zot is a good one to try.
't Brugs Beertje
Kemelstraat 5
8000 Brugge
www.brugsbeertje.be/
Two-storey pub/bar down a tiny cobbled side alley between the Markt and Burg squares (you'd be lucky to stumble across this if someone hadn't recommended it.) A medieval building with creaky, sloping floors, it actually feels like a place for locals rather than a tourist attraction. There are hundreds of beers on the menu, and tasty cubes of cheese to nibble on. Their housebeer is recommended, but watch the stairs after trying a few glasses of the 11% Brugse Tripel!
De Garre 1, Bruges
On a recent trip to Thailand, I finally made my way north and on a visit to the night bazaar in Chiang Mai, I found a good English pub - the originally named Red Lion.
They had a great range of beers (Strongbow and Blackthorn Cider) and I was quite surprised that they had draught Kilkenny and Guinness. Despite that, I went for the local brew - Singha.
They had a big screen showing the Premiership and my team was on, so I was well happy. I love Thai food but after a week in Thailand I was ready for some old-fashioned English stodge. They had steaks, and the likes, but I tried the chicken pie and chips and I was not disappointed.
The staff were very friendly and the service was good. Well worth a visit.
A wine bar with fantastic locally sourced food and a very enthusiastic owner. We had an excellent meal, great guidance on the wine we'd like and a lot of impromptu tastings of things that he thought we really should try. Welcoming, relaxing and a good introduction into the more interesting Sicilian dishes. Probably the best meal that we had on the island and one of the cheapest. It is in Ortigia which is the picturesque old town of Syracuse.
Via Cavour,8 (near Piazza Archimede), Ortigia, Siracusa
Tel: 340-0602428