The first anniversary of a relationship is one of the most important milestones for a couple. It implies a level of commitment larger than your high school romance or your university fling.
Therefore, the restaurant of choice had to be special, maybe a little more up-market and one to remember. We chose Mowgli’s, which sits snugly on Boar Lane. We discovered this restaurant one year ago when my parents visited and agreed to go back one day for a special occasion. This restaurant has already featured in the Date Night Diaries (check out Chapter 6 for more details) and it was founded by the British chef Nisha Katona MBE who has featured on TV shows such as This Morning and MasterChef. Safe to say, I did have exactly the same meal as I did last time. Shame on me, I know, but it was too delicious not to taste again. We even managed to get a little table for two in the window with swinging chairs hung by ropes from the ceiling. It was such a romantic setting, with the lit-up tree in the centre of the restaurant draped in twinkling fairy lights. I wore a short, strapless red mini dress and long black boots with my leather jacket, while my boyfriend wore a crisp white shirt. We looked the part, that’s for sure. We enjoyed two curries, one chicken and one beef, treacle fries and warm naan bread. By the end we were stuffed from food, and soon onto the drinks.
Tonight was a celebration, so obviously we had to go to multiple bars on a cocktail bar crawl. We had never been to that end of town before for cocktails, so we enjoyed exploring Boar and Call Lane. First, we went to Slug & Lettuce, which my boyfriend helpfully calls ‘Slettuce’. There we had colourful cocktails with sides of party rings and candy floss. Slettuce is always a must for its 2 for 1 cocktails bursting with flavour, as well as floral decor and private booths. It was romantic, for sure.
Next up we went to Be At One, another bar on Boar Lane. This was a small, narrow room which felt intimate, in a good way. Every seat and bar were within a metre of us, making it a prime private bar exploding with hustling drunken youths. My boyfriend and I chose a cocktail for each other. The service was slow, but the drinks were incredibly good. I chose the ‘Man Goes Bananas’ cocktail for him, which was banana flavoured rum, cider and passion fruit. It was decorated with dried passion fruit, a slice as thin as paper. It looked so aesthetically pleasing, not that my partner really notices that stuff, although the dried passion fruit was definitely not edible. Trust me, we tried it. Safe to say my drunkenness had hit at this point, three cocktails and a cider down, and I honestly cannot remember what cocktail my boyfriend chose for me. If he’s reading – it’s not that I didn’t appreciate it, it was very yummy at the time.
Next up on our whistle stop tour we discovered Call Lane for the first time. Here we wandered along the street peeking into each bar. We saw live music in one bar, the panes of glass painted black as the condensation shadowed the blurred image of guitars and microphones. We stepped inside to be greeted by crowds of people who I presumed to be university students, cheering on a boy band. This was not a cocktail stop – I am just a sucker for live music. Our drunken energy had risen further and our dares we decided before we came out for the evening came into our minds. My partner had to make a public declaration of love, much to my amusement. I was picturing standing on the table, arms wide and voice loud as he announced his love for me to the entire venue. But no, he decided to just put a picture of me on his Instagram story as apparently that is still ‘public’. I disagree. To make up for his failed dare I told him he had to go up to the band and act like a crazy fourteen year old girl seeing her favourite pop band for the first time. In his drunken state my partner agreed and went up to the lead singer.
“Mate, I’m such a big fan! Can I take a picture with you?”
This selfie, which I wish I could attach to this article, was the most blurry, drunken image of my messy-haired drunk boyfriend and a very confused lead singer. Credit to him for taking it, though.
The night didn’t stop there, obviously, and our next stop was the famous Headrow House. Here, we made the most of yet another 2 for 1 cocktail deal, although I again could not tell you what they were. They certainly tasted amazing at the time though. Here we decided to book for £10 each (10 whole pounds!!!) a game of bowling at Roxy. This, of course, was a mistake. Me, tipsy, in my red mini dress and boots trying to avoid just throwing the ball into the gutter must’ve been amusing to watch. I really tried to be good – I remember concentrating so hard. Alas, I lost, and I was reminded in the morning that I managed to lose a bet and had to pay for the next meal we have together. We even paid £10 each (again!!!) to play half an hour in the pool. Safe to say our bank accounts were not in a good state by the end of the night, but surprisingly we were a good level of happy tipsy.
I could not recommend a drunken night out on the town more than that, including a lovely meal before bar hopping home. Just don’t claim that you’ll pay for dinner if you win bowling while drunk. Because I can tell you now, you’ll be the one losing that bet!
Written by: Madeleine Brooks
Edited by: Hannah Clarke