Samson Miro & Harvist

Two comments today, Iain suggests it is all over as the sign has gone, and anonymous says that there is activity inside and the walls have been pasted a light pastel colour. The website is still up and running (although gives no information). I think we are still expecting a more bar-like outcome.

Harvist to open on Wednesday 1st? Is that what the sign says?

Google Street View

Google Street View is now available in the UK, with lovely clear photographs. Some people are worried about the rather invasive nature of it, and certainly it means if you have a postcode of someone you can see exactly where they live - we'll see how it gets used. But you can also see what a restaurant or shop looks like before you head off, which might be handy.

The Source

I'm not entirely sure what this online magazine's raison d'etre is, but it's about Kensal Rise & Kensal Green so here's a link.

Tesco minor update

I see Tescos now has some posters on the boarding so I think we can safely assume they are coming. I'm for the move, although I see it could put a lot of the small shops out of business which will have some negative effects.

Harvist remains 'about to open'.

I've not seen anything else new. I'm working on a Kensal Rise/Green map which I'll put up soon.

New things

I see the cafe on the corner of Chamberlayne Road and Harvist Road is about to open, looks like it might be the answer to the prayers of the commenter here who bemoaned the lack of places to lounge around and check your emails. Also I notice (perhaps a bit late) the Jamaican restaurant that used to be the Indian/Thai combo now has a menu up, and has taken the old sign down.

Tyler Brule noted in the FT yesterday that many shops have closed down in Notting Hill (a check of Street Sensation confirms this) and I think we've been lucky so far in Kensal Rise that - for whatever reason - we've seen more openings than closures.

Update: Apparently called HARVIST, as the road, according to our comments.

Eat Sushi

So we tried out the new sushi place at 16 Station Terrace, Eat Sushi. Website is here although (8th March) it's not fully operational. We has a box of ten sashimi (that's just fish), the sushi starter pack (which had six nigiri, which is the rectangle of fish on a bed of rice, and salmon rolls) and two miso soups. This came to about £20.

I eat quite a lot of sushi when at work, until recently from Itsu and more recently from You Me Sushi, on Marylebone Road, which is excellent. I would say this seemed tastier than both of their offerings, although the portions of fish were perhaps a little on the small side (but in some cases cheaper too). The miso soup was very good and it all tasted very fresh.

So we will definitely use it again, although sushi is never a cheap option.

Retro collectables

On our way to the library today we spotted the Solicitors at 81 College Road seemed to be selling furniture, and on peeking in found that in fact it was no longer a solicitors as the solicitor himself, David Goodman, had sold his practice and entered the business of selling collectables. Called DG Retro Collectables, it sells a nice range of homeware and is worth a look.

Lexi Cinema - the March/April schedule

It is here (pdf).

Link added

I've added a link to the Kensal Green Forum. This is, as you might expect, a forum about Kensal Green/Rise, and covers some of the same ground (and other issues) that we do here.