Shepherd's Bush

Multicultural neighbourhood in West London. A lot of ethnic shops and restaurants, huge shopping mall and stalls selling all kinds of things. Large venue for rock. This area has more poverty than some of the neighbouring areas and this brings some interesting aspects to West London. At a first glance, Shepherd's Bush is an ugly piece of council housing in the middle of West London prosperity, but when you dig deeper, you'll find many great places.

Shopping: 

• One of London's huge shopping malls called Westfield is here. All kinds of chain shops and restaurants. You can find what your looking for, but there isn't anything special about the place.

Clubs & gigs:

• Shepherd's Bush  Empire hosts concerts for fairly big rock acts. It's one of the O2 trademarks. If a gig has been sold out, the standing areas may be really crowded. If you want to avoid that, I suggest you get seats from the balcony where the view is very good.
• Bush Hall is a beautiful venue for smaller concerts. It generally hosts singer-songwriter kind of gigs. This is one of the most beautifully decorated rooms I've ever seen.

Markets:

• Shepherd's Bush Market sells all kinds of bric-a-brac and fresh fruit. Not the most pleasant market. 

Eating:

• Tian Fu is a great Chinese restaurant serving Sichuan food. There aren' too many vegetarian options available, but the ones they have are quite delicious. The atmosphere is cozy, but the service could be a bit faster.
• Esarn Kheaw is a cozy Thai restaurant with delicious spicy soups, succulent noodle dishes and tasty curries. Service is a bit slow, but the place is quite adorable and food great!

Drinking:

•  Despite of absolutely delicious beers, the Brewdog pubs in East London are not that pleasant places. In West London, however, Brewdog has managed to build a nice atmosphere along with great Scottish craft beer. They also have excellent imported microbrewery beers from around the world and some seasonal Brewdog treats. There are some retro arcade games, such as the Space Invaders and a set of pinball machines in the back.

 Areas around Shepherd's Bush: Notting Hill, Kensington, Hammersmith, Acton