I’d been sick. Struck down after a wedding. I swear it wasn’t a hangover, though I’m not sure work believed me. Something I ate maybe? Who knows, but by the time Monday came around I was done for. Cue a day in bed spent whimpering and tapping my foot on the mattress in a bid to distract from the nausea.
Luckily I rallied, and by Thursday I was back in the game and keen for a cheap date.
I met Tim outside the Ritzy cinema in Brixton. There was a free Caribbean photography exhibition in their upstairs space. As we climbed the steps we heard the thud of drums and realised a band were warming up. We found the pictures but stayed for about 30 seconds, driven back by the noisy rehearsals. It was cheap though.
Next up were cocktails. Around the corner from the Ritzy we saw a sign for 2-4-1 cocktails at Three Little Birds. I’d walked past this bar before but had never been in. The interior had a long bar running down the right hand side, with wine crates attached to the wall behind acting as shelves. We were greeted by a friendly waitress who seated us in the window overlooking the street. Cocktails with rum arrived – surprisingly good. Not too strong tasting at first but then then the alcohol hit us with each subsequent sip. Delicious.
One drink down and we decided to shuffle a few doors along to Three Eight Four. I’d been there before and liked it. I thought it had just the right type of exposed brickwork, friendly staff and interesting cocktails. The food, we also discovered, was pretty good too. The place was packed. Luckily we had reserved a table so some poor couple were shoved aside. It was still happy hour and you didn’t have to order the same one as your date. Boom. Tim ordered a mint flavoured whiskey concoction whilst I plumped for something with egg white – my first mistake.
They arrived and we tucked in. The idea was to eat food at home, saving the precious pennies for more booze, but then we decided to order snacks. First up was a generously filled plate of teriyaki chicken wings, glistening, sticky and covered in chilli. Then we had spicy, lemony tasting calamari followed by mozzarella arancini balls with a creamy tomatoe sauce. D-E-L-I-S-H. Three snacks later and we’d blown the budget so decided to head home. Cheap dating, I’ve discovered, can often mean quick dating.
Within half an hour of leaving a familiar feeling returned and I was once again back in bed fighting off nausea. Me thinks I spoke too soon…
The damage
Exhibition at the Ritzy: free
Two cocktails at Three Little Birds: 2 for £12.25
Two cocktails and food at Three Eight Four: £32.33
TOTAL: £44.58 – technically a fail but we were close!
Romance rating: Good enough, though would have liked more of the cocktails and less of the nausea.
Dirt Cheap Dater 