London Date Ideas – T20 Cricket, The Anthologist & The Shed

I may not have a man to fall in love with at the moment, but I am certainly head over heels for a city!  I’ve loved every single moment of my time living in London so far, and every day I discover something new!

The thing that’s so incredible about London is just how many incredible options there are out there.  You just have to be open to doing stuff – which definitely suits someone with a ‘Yes’ mentality like me.  As you’ll have seen, this week alone I’ve been to the Tower of London, The Shard, and tomorrow I’m checking out the Bond in Motion installation at the London Film Museum!

So what are my date suggestions this week?

Twenty20 Cricket

I’ve always been a cricket fan, and hardcore 30 Dates fans will remember that I was desperate to go to a T20 game last summer … which unfortunately Mr Twenty40 massively cocked up! (It was the worst of my 30 Dates!)  However this summer I’ve been fortunate enough to head to the Oval on three separate Friday nights.

 

I love the Oval, and have done since I was a child.  I just think it’s a really beautiful location, and when I was a nine year old girl and wanted to join a cricket supporters’ club, The Oval let me do that.  (Lord’s didn’t allow female members at the time … I’ll let you work out my views of the MCC, and what I said to them, when at the age of 21, the MCC asked me to be a playing member! 😉 )

Now, I know not all girls like cricket, but I promise T20 is a brilliant date, even if you don’t like the sport!  It’s proper carnival cricket – there’s pop music, fireworks, pyrotechnics and freebies thrown into the crowd.  Like an American baseball game, they have cameras on the crowds, and the whole atmosphere is brilliant.  Games start at 6.30, and go on to around half past nine.  And they genuinely have the best rose wine at the Oval that I’ve ever tasted!  I’m yet to have come away from a T20 match not drunk! 😉

Ooh and one plus side – as a girl at a cricket ground, you NEVER have to queue for the loo!  The ration of men:women at the ground was about 30:1 …. so maybe a pulling venue rather than a date venue!

 

The Anthologist, Gresham St

Blog regular Purdey Miles is a big fan of The Anthologist.  In her words it’s her ‘City hunting ground’, and she’s never gone there and not been surrounded by hot men!  So how does it fare as a date location?

I have to admit, I did walk in through a crowd of gorgeous City types on my way into the restaurant.  The Anthologist is a really popular bar, and the building is divided almost in two, with a really lovely open restaurant area.  My date was nestled on a raised section by the window, and when I turned up and said I was on a date, the waitress smiled at me and told me I “wouldn’t be disappointed”!  (Yep, my date was a hottie!)

He opted for ribs, followed by steak.  I went for a really nice dips platter of humous, babaganoush and flatbread, and then a fish sandwich.  The food is quite casual and pubby, but the atmosphere was a good mix of casual and relaxed, but also with a feel of quality.  I absolutely LOVED the ladies bathroom (and am gutted I didn’t take a photo).  I realise this is the second time I’ve mentioned the toilets in this article (!) but the loos at the Anthologist were incredible!  They were huge, and one wall was covered with antique hand mirrors.  The lights were suspended in vintage kitchen whisks, and there were cocktail recipes painted on the main mirrors.  AND there were baskets of free old fashioned sweets!  Incredible!  I’d definitely go back for cocktails with the girls!

The Shed, Notting Hill

Hand’s down the best meal I’ve had all week!

The Shed is literally a shed (albeit a really cool one!), just down the road from the Mall Tavern in Notting Hill.  Owned by two brothers from Sussex, the Shed is a restaurant with a daily changing menu.  Everything is made from produce from Sussex – a great deal farmed by owners’ youngest brother.  The tag line on the menu is ‘we farm, forage and produce seasonal British food’.

I genuinely can’t do the menu justice – it’s essentially British tapas – incredible mixes of game and incredible ingenius vegetarian options!

We dined on pigeon dippers, mushroom marmite, broad bean hummus, black taglietelle with brown creb, pan fried goats cheese, wood pigeon, grilled lamb and incredible nutbourne pork.

And then came the piece de resistance (apologies, I can’t find accents on this keyboard!) – Gooseberry Fool and Honeycomb Crunchy.  I have never had such a nice dessert as the latter in my entire life!

I’ll be going back … A LOT!

Definitely one to check out very very soon!

 

Miss Twenty-Nine xxx