LONDON LIFE - DINING

Bellydancing may not be the first thing that a visitor to Savile Row thinks of but it could well provide a diverting evening's entertainment in the nearby Mamounia restaurant.

This long-time favoured spot of Mayfair locals has recently emerged from an 18 month refurbishment, providing a plush cocktail bar and suitably lavish restaurant decked with Eastern promise. Having waited some weeks to ensure all the new décor and the kitchen had settled down nicely, a grand opening party was held to show off its attractions.

First and foremost, the food is a wonderful feast of Eastern confection, covering authentic Lebanese and Moroccan dishes. An extensive variety of dishes turned out to be just a starting salvo, followed by another lavish assortment of delicious surprises.

Replete with this rich fare, we were then entertained by quite the most accomplished and stunning bellydancer. What that woman can do with her hips and her enbonpoint was a remarkable feat of physical exertion. Though not the place for a quiet romantic dinner, it is certainly fun and the food good.

Go to mamounialounge.com.

LONDON LIVING - PROPERTY

Never mind Scottish independence. Is London to become a separate state? The great melting pot continues to power ahead, more than ever an international centre, and Mayor Boris is already seeking greater powers over its running. Could it join Monaco, Singapore and the Vatican City in becoming an indendent entity?

Not just yet, maybe. But as the elite from the rest of the world flock in (London has more multi-millionaires than any other city), and its financial centre and lifestyle provide a pace and buzz unrivalled anywhere but Shanghai, there's no denying the old place is a splendid place to be.

Inevitably, property continues to be at premium. The latest de luxe residential mega-heap to hit the skyline is the Canaletto, situated in what but a short while ago was an unfashionable region of north London, hard by the Regent's Canal. The City Road was chiefly famous for the once-popular ditty “Up and down the City Road, in and out the Eagle, that's the way the money goes, pop goes the weasel”. This was generally understood to be Cockney speak for pawning the coat, after spending too much in the Eagle pub.

Those well-heeled investors soon to be housed in the Canaletto will know little of popping, it is to be assumed. But they will know a good deal when they see it. The Canaletto is the work of Dutch architect van Berkel, best known for the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Raffles City in Hangzhou, and the Scotts Tower in Singapore. The first in what is to be a cluster of similarly curving, aluminium and glass edifices, it is situated adjacent to London's Silicon tech centre, the East End's creative hub, and the City.

Compared with similarly de luxe developments in the West and South West of Central London, its prices are positively reasonable. Due to be finished next year, the studios will initially go on sale from £500,000, while one bedroom and two bedroom apartments will cost from £710,000 and £810,000 respectively. There are also three-bedroom apartments and a penthouse.

A finished suite was unveiled early in October, to reveal the quality that investors may expect. The 31-storey tower of course has a residents’ swimming pool, gym and spa, cinema, 24th storey residents’ club with terrace, as well as a restaurant on the ground floor. And should residents wish to be reminded of the area's long history, they will find the Eagle pub still there on City Road, with the old rhyme on its wall. Agents Jones Lang LaSalle and Knight Frank