Posts Tagged ‘dating ideas’

Summer Dates – London’s Beer Gardens

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

England’s weather unpredictable and changeable; England’s pub gardens empty and lifeless. No more; at last the summer has finally decided to grace us with it’s good friend the sun.

What would you say is one of the most popular places for us to be whilst the sun is out? For me it has to be a pub garden – it’s a fantastic destination for a summer date. So next time you are planning a date, check the weather forecast and find the perfect pub garden to enjoy with your beau. And waste no time, as remember; “unpredictable and changeable”.

Here are some popular pub garden destinations in London to get you in the mood:

The Albion, Islington:

It has an attractive courtyard surrounded by lovely trees and colourful flowers and the smell of the barbecue is sure to remind you that it is actually summer.

The Albion Islington

The Avalon, Balham

This pub garden boosts a very large green and luscious space and the perfect place to enjoy a chilled glass of rose, a refreshing pint and a bite to eat.

The Avalon Balham

The Garden Gate, Hampstead:

Being so close to Hampstead Heath many people come here to quench their walking thirst.  Has a great atmosphere with a chilled out and friendly vibe as well as great food, including homemade burgers.

The Garden Gate, Hampstead

Edinboro Castle, Camden:

As soon as the sun is out the beer garden buzzes with atmosphere. Close to Regents Park as well so it is green and tree lined. They often fire up the hog roast so make sure you are apart of that. When nightfalls, the twinkling fairy lights are switched on to add to the alfresco fun of an evening.

Edinboro Castle Camden

We would love to hear about some of your favourite pub gardens.  Do you have any?

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Lunch Date? Try Tokyo Simplicity

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Whenever I have a lunch date, I always try to pick restaurants that meet certain criteria. 1) Is it close enough to where I need to be afterwards 2) Will we able to get a table (nothing is worse than lunch time rush and overcrowding) and finally, 3) Can we enjoy good food, good atmosphere etc.- essentially get the most out of this micro date. Time on lunch dates is of course, of the essence.

Tokyo Diner

I was in Central London on Monday looking for somewhere to grab food (in the mood for sushi), and ever impressed by an iPhone’s ability to find places to eat, technology guided me towards Tokyo Diner, Chinatown. So unassuming, Tokyo Diner is very very simple with a few good guiding principles that has ensured its success since setting up in the early 90’s.

The sushi is some of the best and there’s noodles, bento boxes and you can grab the house special “Katsu Curry” if you “don’t do raw fish” (my date’s initial complaint). Everything is incredibly fresh and if you’re feeling extra ambitious, they will let you order up big rice portions for free, as long as you don’t waste it. That’s one of the things that makes this such an endearing epicurean hot spot – it’s a restaurant with a heart.

Big believers in sustainability will love their eco mentality to business. Tokyo Diner uses electricity sourced from Ecotricity (renewable only) and has a firm policy on tuna (as in they won’t serve it). Though I love my tuna sashimi and though it’s normally such a focus of Japanese cuisine, I was not going to get any here. As tuna is expensive and therefore heavily over-fished, this restaurant refuses to serve it until sustainable fishing methods are found. At the core of the restaurant’s philosophy is also a no tipping culture. They won’t accept them and if you even try to leave some cash behind, they will donate to charity.

Having never really thought about how a restaurant could do their small part in helping the environment (and I’m the most unlikely activist), it was a great topic of conversation over the date and with good customer service and great food such a focus of this restaurant, it’s no surprise they serve up an average of 300 covers a day. If you want to have a look, check out their website, there’s a live webcam so you can get a glimpse of it as it is right now. It’s the ideal antidote to lunchtime rush hour madness and a great casual date spot. When everything else is complicated and over-thought, this small corner of simplicity might be just what you need.

Need inspiration for great date restaurants? Go here for some ideas.

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Could You Be A Weed Dater?

Friday, October 8th, 2010

If you think of yourself as greenfingered, get your best gardening gloves and trowel as this newly sprung dating craze might be for you. Forget speed dating, the aspiring Alan Titchmarch’s and Charlie Dimmock’s amongst you will adore “weed dating”. Agricultural lovers are getting back to their roots (literally) and branching out to meet new people by weeding…

The idea was born in Vermont, USA where founders, Jean and Wendy Palthey noticed how many young, singles there were in the local farming community. They don’t work 9-5 jobs and tend to not “get out much” – well, if you can’t bring Mohammed to the mountain…
Also, the shared interest in farming and agriculture allows for great conversation hence more opportunity (forgive me here) for love to bloom.

Jesse Metcalfe

Remember the sexy gardener from Desperate Housewives?

Julie Roop, coordinator of the Young Farmers and Ranchers Program of the American Farm Bureau, whose program targets the 18-35 demographic has seen a few romantic connections blossom, even though the focus of her events aren’t necessarily geared towards dating. It seems that those young farmers just love the idea of getting down and dirty behind rows of onions and potatoes.

 One weed dater told USA Today:

“It’d be really neat to meet a woman, but I’m not pressuring myself. I’m just thinking that you get to meet people while you help out a local farm, weeding. It says something about people that they’d like to do something like this.”

 What it exactly says about you, I’m not sure, but the emphasis on bringing people together through their common interests is certainly a great way to meet a potential love interest. The young single and ready to mingle farmers claim people always have something to share whilst weeding. They meet in the fields to weed together and at intervals of seven minutes, a cow bell is rung and you switch partners. Not that I’m particularly opposed to this bizarre, albeit interesting idea, but if I’m to date I would rather be armed with a cocktail in my  hand than a trowel…

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Shopping For Boys – Advice From A Seasoned Online dater

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

You’re new to the meeting online idea. Nervous? Unsure what to expect or if the experience will be a good one? Heard a few horror stories? Well, with a little bit of guidance and managed expectations, you can have a ball. Here are some pointers to get you off on the right foot:

picture of girls window shopping

Shopping for boys

  • Expect to be contacted by some guys that you don’t like the look of or who you think are ‘below your level’. See it as flattering and understand that guys are way more confident online – they may not walk up to the most beautiful girl in a bar, but online, they will have the confidence to message the most beautiful girl on the site – which might just be you.
  • Watch out for a one-photo-wonder. A genuinely good looking guy will have plenty of photos where he looks…. well, good looking. If there is just one snap, be suspicious; ask for more or get on his Facebook.
  • Expect to receive the odd rude or unappealing message. Don’t let it offend you or put you off. Ignore it, block the sender and move on.
  • Engineer a phone call into the pre date negotiations. If you can have a decent phone chat with a guy, you will probably be able to enjoy a few drinks as well. If there’s no rapport on the phone then it’s a big no-no to a date.
  • Be prepared for, and understand, that the guy you’re chatting to is likely to also be chatting to other girls at the same time as you – that’s the nature of meeting online. After a date with you that may well all change, but at the outset, gracefully accept that information. After all, you’re likely to be doing the same.
  • Send some messages, or if you really aren’t keen to do any chasing, at least add some favourites or use the flirting tools on offer. That will bring your profile to the attention of the guys you like the look of whilst leaving the ball firmly in their court to start the real interaction.
  • Be online – this is the best way to attract the boys. Guys are looking for someone they can speak to now, and if you’re online, it’s going to be you.
  • Take control over where you meet – a lunchtime rendez vous will be more light hearted than a candle-lit dinner, it can also be shorter and easier to escape from if you need to!
  • If you’re 50/50 on whether to meet someone or if you’re nervous about the one-on-one pressure, make the meeting more low key. Meet him with some of your friends and some of his friends, or meet him at a Click Party – where you can potentially have 10 dates in one night!

The bottom line is that you should view meeting boys online, like you do shopping, which all girls are masters at. Expect plenty of window shopping, to make the occasional return and if you look really hard, to discover a few real gems.

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