Joe Thomas' My London

The Inbetweeners actor goes to Soho for spicy ramen and wants to climb Big Ben

Hannah Nathanson7 August 2014

Home is…

In Barbican with my girlfriend Hannah Tointon.

Best place for a first date?

A lovely French restaurant called Le Café du Marché off Charterhouse Square. There’s a pianist and candles to help with the romance.

Favourite shops?

Twentytwentyone on Upper Street and OneDeko in Old Spitalfields Market. I’ve recently had to furnish my flat, which has caused conflict with Hannah because of our mutually exclusive styles: I’m more Hogwarts study while she’s mid-century Scandinavian chic.

Biggest extravagance?

Brogues from Churches. They’re beautifully made.

First thing you do when you come back to London?

Go for a pint of ale and pork scratchings at The Swan next to the Globe theatre.

Best thing a cabbie has said to you?

‘Don’t use Uber.’ I do prefer black cabs. I like how well they know London’s streets.

Favourite discoveries?

Strange-sounding London road names such as Poultry in Cheapside and Norton Folgate, which connects Bishopsgate with Shoreditch High Street.

What would you do as Mayor for the day?

I’d declare it a public holiday and spend the day sitting on Primrose Hill, reading a book.

Building you’d like to buy?

Christopher Wren’s house opposite St Paul’s.

Earliest London memory?

Getting the train in from Chelmsford in the early 2000s, going to Camden Market and buying an extra-large vintage Colombian football shirt for £50.

Best place for a nightcap?

Jazz After Dark on Greek Street for a gin and tonic.

Ever had a run-in with a policeman?

One did play a joke on me once by coming up behind me and tapping me on the shoulder when all he wanted was my autograph.

Best place to let your hair down?

I’m not a big dancer but I do feel the need to move around to relax, so I’ll go for a swim or a run along the river. I always forget how hard it is dodging people on the Millennium Bridge.

Best meal?

Spicy miso ramen with pork neck chashu, padron peppers and sesame oil at Bone Daddies in Soho.

Best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Iain Morris, a writer on The Inbetweeners, gave me the best advice on acting, which was simply ‘Focus’.

Who do you call when you want to have fun?

Simon Bird. It was a big summer for me and Bird watching sporting events.

Building you’d most like to be locked in overnight?

The Houses of Parliament. I’d climb up behind Big Ben and give fake times with my arms and legs.

Last album you downloaded?

Cass McCombs’ folky album Wit’s End. It’s dark and brooding.

Favourite pub?

The Rising Sun in Smithfield.